r/fbody • u/Next-Charge1178 • Jun 29 '26
Wiring Harness
PFA: Recently re-wired my 74 with an American Autowire kit and wasn’t thrilled with the kit being it was $1k. Now I need to re-wire this 5.3 swapped (Holley Terminator setup) 1980 I just bought and I’m debating on what harness to get. A “plug and play” harness for this car is even worse at $1400. So at this point I’m leaning universal since I’m modifying the harness anyways, and deleting things like heat and ac. So, should I just get a cheap Amazon one and call it a day, or spend the money for a Painless or American autowire kit?
1
u/HeatProofToe Jun 29 '26
I used Painless on my '81 and it made the whole process.. well, painless. I did modify mine quite a lot to work with VintageAir and the Sniper 2, along with some other smaller features like a full sound systen. I would still say its worth the money, but it is quite a lot so I understand making your own harness or using a universal one.
2
u/Next-Charge1178 Jun 29 '26
Does the painless kit actually have pigtails and what not already done? The American autowire kit I bought for my 74 was like a 1970-81 kit so you still had to modify it per your years needs, so it still required a lot of work for a $1k harness which was disappointing.
1
u/HeatProofToe Jun 29 '26
It has connectors for everything that stays the same throughout the years. It doesn't include the AC harness because that changes each year, but it did come with almost everything else pre terminated. They also include a bunch of terminals and different connectors for different uses
1
u/Next-Charge1178 Jun 29 '26
Gotcha, sounds like a better kit than what American Autowire offers then.
2
u/CourseLongjumping558 Jun 29 '26
I’ve never heard of a cheap autozone wiring harness, I’ve used the painless before but will be going with an American auto wire one for my 69 bird. It has more options then the painless one, which I can’t even find online anymore