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What AFtermarket Harness do you prefer, Why?

"Wiring Harness"

119K views 184 replies 115 participants last post by  Old Dude Rules 
#1 ·
Doc here, :pimp:

This question is asked so much, lets do a poll, What Harness Do you perfer?

Doc :pimp:
 
#4 ·
If you are not too confident about what you are about to do, then go with Painless. As stated their instructions are the best available. If however you have some electrical work experience under your belt, you can save a few bucks by going with other kits.

Vince
 
#7 ·
wiring harness

Painless! I have tried Francis,EZ,Centech,Painless in last 8 years. All have been good. Painless is easy to obtain from numerous sources/competitive pricing (some take 3-4 weeks to get), very simple install, the best tech assistance I've received not only in attitude but availability. Most important for me is just attitude of the tech rep- and they've always called me back in a few if the person I wanted was busy. Bill :)
 
#11 ·
I know I will be in the minority, but Ron Francis is top quality, most complete with room to grow and of course, top price. (you still get what you pay for). I have had top tech support from them but have read a lot of complaints about "attitude". I have used other kits, but they just don't measure up in my opinion. There are a couple of copy cats out there I would never deal with because they "poor mouth" their competitors, a trait that I have found is indicative of a less than desirable outfit.

Trees
 
#12 ·
I voted other. I used Centech. Before spending my money and mainly because I was stupid about fuel injection, I needed to ask some questions. Painless wouldn't talk to me unless I already had there product and when I called Ron Francis and asked why I should buy his product, he simply said it was the best. theres more to that conversation, but I won't go in to it now. When I called Centech they talked to me for about 20 min. and answered all my questions, without hesitation. I did that a couple of times before I bought anything and they were always helpful, so when the time came for me to buy I went with them and have not been sorry.
 
#13 ·
wiring harness

I also agree with Trees and IROC. Used to take harnesses from the junk yard. Ron Francis was my first aftermarket kit, bought it about 15 yrs ago. Great product, expensive, tech support was very rude and short to me. Centech is super. Jim is a really great guy. Longer delays in getting harness built and getting additional parts, ran about 3x the cost of the painless kit I just bought, Jim has many really cool add-ons however. Just finished my first painless kit, tech has been unmatched in courtesy and rapid availability. End results have all been the same near as I can tell. Bill :)
 
#14 ·
trees said:
I know I will be in the minority, but Ron Francis is top quality, most complete with room to grow and of course, top price. (you still get what you pay for). I have had top tech support from them but have read a lot of complaints about "attitude".
Trees
I agree....

Ron Francis....

I have installed a few other kits ( bought by the owners of the cars I was helping with ) ...Some were OK.....some were less than OK.....never helped anyone with a Ron Francis KIT...

Ron Francis could be installed by someone with NO electrical experience....good instructions......

DEUCE ROADSTER.....
 
#15 ·
I only voted other because sometimes there is just nothing available and you just have to improvise. I helped a friend with an early Corvette and a Ron Francis kit and it went very well. I just finished restoring a 1980 Harley Sturgis special and used a repop harness to keep the factory look. When I did my 53 Ford their just wasn't anything available so I used a mid 70's Ford Granada harness and slightly modified it for my use. It seems to me that if you deal with a quality company, let them know exactly what you have (options, ect) and have a fairly good understanding of electrical systems, wiring jobs go fairly smoothly. My buddy with the Vette is a great mechanic, good paint/body man and does killer interior work, But when those nasty electrons are involved, the first little thing that doesn't go exactly right will cause him to go into complete brain freeze. For anyone just starting out on electrical systems I say get the HP books " Automotive Electrical Systems" and read it cover to cover. A little knowledge goes a long way.. For those that play with wires and have a bunch of scraps to big to toss out, I discovered that if you take 1 liter pop bottles, cut the tops off, place about a dozen of them in a box, you can coil up the wires and keep them sorted by color for future easy access. I even have a set up for switches/sockets/ect. It keeps things neat ans easy to get too.
 
#16 ·
Wiring harness preferences

For aftermarket wiring harnesses, I highly recommend Enos Custom Components (San Luis Obispo, CA), especially if your vehicle's wiring requirements deviates largely from stock. I used them when it came time to rewire our "Blazord" ('55 F100 cab & bed on a '73 Blazer chassis), and couldn't have been happier with the results. Rather than receiving a complete, plug & play harness however, their custom hatness consists of individual wiring packages for each of the electrical systems used, (A/C, Horn, etc.), custom tailored to my specific application by wire color, length and gauge. The important colors all matched standard GM color conventions, and every 4 inches the specific application for that wire was printed on the insulation. Now I know some of you are probably saying "big deal, Painless does that too". Well Painless wishes they did it as well as Enos. My brother in law just ordered a Painless harness for his '68 Camaro and yes they do have the wire app. printed every few inches on the insulation, but between the text color, size and font type, some of them were honestly illegible. Enos uses big letters, an easy to read font, and text color that strongly contrasts with the insulation color. No problem reading their wires.

Also included in each of these wiring mini packages are hook up instructions for that application. There are also main installation instructions that outline the specific component hook up sequence, and it is all very easy to understand.

So you obviously spend a little more time running each wire & doing the terminations but the results (IMO) are far superior than an "One size fits all" harness. If you like to do wiring, it's a great way to go.

Daren
 
#19 ·
Have done home built ( NEVER AGAIN!) EZ and Painless. Last two are almost identical and I go with the EZ because it is quite a bit less expensive with all the quality you would want. Both are pre wired making installation very EZ. Francis' system looks like too much work -similar to home built - and you need to pay for every little adder driving the already high cost higher. Small operator kits scare me 'cause who knows how long they will be around or if they will support their stuff?
 
#26 ·
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