Help me with this wiring plan

Question:

Reading about Santos Alicea’s wiring issues (September) I thought about what I just went through with my rewire on a ’62 Falcon sedan delivery. I’ve had experience with Painless Wiring and it is a great setup but it didn’t do what I wanted it to. So I bought the cheaper EZ harness so that if something went bad I wouldn’t cry so much about the money lost. The Falcon uses a fuse block that is attached to the light switch and has about six fuses. That was good for the time but those days are gone. I wanted to incorporate relays in conjunction with a full inclusive fuse panel and LEDs. This was a daunting task. All I wanted was an 18-circuit fuse panel, a relay box and good wiring.

The normal Internet searches brought me back to all the major suppliers of complete systems. I could find many of the components in several sites but no fuse boxes. I wrote and called places and they would not sell me the fuse panels alone. Reluctantly I bought the 12-circuit EZ system and dismantled it. If this idea turned out bad I'd hang it on the garage wall with all my other mistakes.

I purchased additional Weather Pack connectors and drew up a quasi schematic.

Since I had driven the car from California to Ohio it seemed OK, but after I removed the original wiring I broke out in a cold sweat. Lesson learned: Inspect the entire system before you set out on a 2000-mile trip.

The EZ came with the labeled GXL wiring which was superb, but I did not route it as instructed. The fuse block was good, 12 circuits and the flashers built in. Through eBay I purchased the relay block from England. All this took months of locating parts. Del City, All Electronics were helpful in assembly components. The choice of running a relay device and 8, 10, 12 gauge wiring throughout the car makes sense to me and I believe is safer. Secondly, building a wiring harness that centers on safety is a priority for (1 think) everyone.

On this car the tailgate could be operated without the key. Unsafe. Children get into stuff and the first thing that occurred to me was a pinch point for fingers, arms, legs and head. Also since all my cars are daily drivers, emergency flashers and driving lights are a must for today’s highways.

Additionally, since my sedan delivery had a factory delete radio, cigar lighter and interior lighting I’m now able to stow the flashlight I had on the front seat and I threw out my song dossier. There’s a win-win. The new full dash and Rally Pak are nice too. California has self-serve junkyards where I sourced good parts previously but not in Ohio. I like my fuses in one spot and my relays in one spot. Does anyone know a place where fuse blocks with flashers and relay panels are sold separately?

Answer:

The wiring in most old cars was designed to be adequate to do the job it was engineered to do, but these days we often demand more accessories and safety devices than were available originally. As I said in previous issues, I prefer Painless for aftermarket wiring upgrade harnesses because of the many options and innovations incorporated into them; and because installing their harnesses is relatively straightforward.

EZ Wiring makes great original equipment wiring for restorations and I have had good luck with them as well. But it sounds like you have enough savvy to make up your own wire loom the way you want it. Doing so is not as difficult as it sounds either. You merely start by pulling out your entire existing harness and laying it out on your driveway. Label everything so you know where it goes, and then lay out your new wiring along the old one to get the lengths right. Leave a little extra for trimming and fitting. You can use your old terminals, or attach new ones.

Be sure to use the same color-coding as the originals so you won't drive yourself crazy at some later point when you need to diagnose a problem. Going to a slightly heavier gauge wire is a good idea. It will just mean less resistance in the system along with a bigger margin of safety. As for combination fuse and component panels, try looking in modern cars to see if you can find what you want, and then order it from a dealer. Of course, Pick a Part junkyards are ideal but there aren't any near you.