AkumaNoZeta Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 I'm getting my 260Z towed to my friend's shop (the barn behind his house technically) so I can rewire the entire thing. I want to just get a Painless harness and hook that in thinking the more modern technology in the car would be a lot better but he says I should just go through all the wiring, remove the wires I'm not using (the ones that went to the AC and who knows what else, there's a lot of unused connectors here and there) and replace bad sections of the wires I am using. Which idea sounds the best to you guys and why? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rturbo 930 Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 Well, I don't have much useful to say but - From those who got a painless kit, I haven't heard anyone say it was actually painless. IE, painful. A painless kit came installed in my new Z. I ripped it out, and we're going through and cleaning it up. My dad is the electrician, so he's doing most of the hard work, and he says it's pretty much a PITA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrayZee Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 I have see some natsy rat's nests of wires underneath dashes. People that installed a alarm 10+ years ago and did a brutal job. The alarm being long gone but the mess remains. In cases like that I agree it's better to rip it all out and start fresh. However, rturbo is right, wiring is a huge PITA and unless you really feel you know what you are dong then leave it alone. You also have to be prepared to spend ALOT of time on it if you want to do anything resembling a good job. Oh and just for laughs I saw one car where a guy had installed foglights and bought a spool of wire to do the job. I guess he didn't have a wire cutter cuz he wrapped the wire around the bumper about a 100 times! LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AkumaNoZeta Posted October 24, 2009 Author Share Posted October 24, 2009 The car doesn't run, the turn signals don't work, and neither does a lot of other things. I don't really trust the wiring in it because I don't know if its just a lot of backwoods redneck kind of work or if thats just the way it came like from the factory. Either way I want it all simplified, cleaned up, and updated so everything works, the car runs, and I know it will last for quite a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rturbo 930 Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 The car doesn't run, the turn signals don't work, and neither does a lot of other things. I don't really trust the wiring in it because I don't know if its just a lot of backwoods redneck kind of work or if thats just the way it came like from the factory. Either way I want it all simplified, cleaned up, and updated so everything works, the car runs, and I know it will last for quite a while.Please correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like you haven't really put much effort into getting your current wiring to work. I think it would be a lot less work to try to get what you have working than to start over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AkumaNoZeta Posted October 24, 2009 Author Share Posted October 24, 2009 Well the car is sitting in the middle of the woods at my aunt's house with boxes and boxes full of junk parts I had to get out of my garage inside of it. That's why my friend is supposed to have it towed into his shop so we can actually work on it. I don't know when we'll actually get around to towing it but its pretty much impossible to work on it where its at now. I don't know how good the work from the previous owner is and when looking at all the wires under the hood the insulation around them is dry-rotted and flaking off and it just looks like a mess. The previous owner swapped in an L28 but kept the carbs from the L26 which I replaced with a 4-barrell AZC set-up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AkumaNoZeta Posted October 24, 2009 Author Share Posted October 24, 2009 And you're right. I really haven't tried fixing the wiring yet, I've just tried hot wiring the distributor in an attempt to get it running just enough to drive it home to work on. Thats why I'm asking after I do get it towed into town, should I just try going through the wiring that's there and fix what needs fixing or just go get a Painless harness so I can have more modern fuses/relays/etc? I need to get it running pretty quick because the Mustang is getting un-drivable so I don't want to spend weeks going through the factory harness when I could just spend days putting in a Painless harness or vice versa, but I also want to keep it simple because eventually I'll be doing an engine swap and when I get to that I don't want to make it more complicated than it has to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zzeal Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 If you do decide to go the custom wiring route, consider Ron Francis Wiring, less painful than Painless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l28t260z Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 If i where you i would start fresh.. when i got my 260z i thought of doing the same thing... after my engine swap (L28ET) I regret not doing it... still havent done it but thats what um looking into now just tryin to see witch one. EZ, pianless, or Ron francis wiring... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAG58 Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 I completely re-wired my Z using new wires and stock fuses and as many plugs as I could stand to salvage. Everything works and I have nice heavy gauge wiring in it, but if I had to do it again, I would definately go the Ron Francis or Painless route, it was a complete PITA. I feel that whoever designed the wiring for the Z was just not in the mood to be logical or simple. If I ever re-wire another Z I'm going to use a little factory plugs and switches as possible, I did my mini this way and it was substantially easier and more reliable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AkumaNoZeta Posted October 25, 2009 Author Share Posted October 25, 2009 I really want to have a plastic fuses too instead of the glass ones. Everytime when I start pulling out one of the glass ones I just keep on getting images of it shattering Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJBrian Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 I have already torn my harness out of my 71. I plan out using a painless 18 circuit or a Rebel wire 20 circuit system. I think it will be easier since Im installing a V8 and all autometer gauges. Only time will tell. Heres a question for the few here that have installed the painless wiring. What made them difficult to install?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJBrian Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 Heres a question for the few here that have installed the painless wiring. What made them difficult to install? Was it not having wiring diagrams or the stock plugs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsicard Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 What make it difficult to install a new wiring harness is the switches on the Steering Wheel Stalk. The 280Z and 260Z wiring diagrams are horrendous! These should be completely redrawn into something a LOT MORE USABLE. The 240Z wiring diagram is a lot more readable but lacks the disconnect sockets and plugs. Also consider using American Autowire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJBrian Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 What make it difficult to install a new wiring harness is the switches on the Steering Wheel Stalk. The 280Z and 260Z wiring diagrams are horrendous! These should be completely redrawn into something a LOT MORE USABLE. The 240Z wiring diagram is a lot more readable but lacks the disconnect sockets and plugs. Also consider using American Autowire. Where did you get your wiring diagrams from? Chilton or Haynes? I have a 73 factory manual it seems ok but looking for more. Thanks for the heads up on Autowire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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