Wiring Harnesses

I have kept the original harness but modify ends as necessary. Unless there has been excessive UV (read: sun) exposure or chafing issues, the wiring itself should not be too bad if left somewhat undisturbed. The wiring is no where near as good as aircraft wiring, but the vinyl jacket should still be ok.

Every Painless kit I've ever installed has been superb. My '76 had wiring issues from the moment I bought it back in 1980. My Dad and I tried everything, but that car absolutely burned through switches, voltage regulators and alternators. You could just be driving along, hit a small ripple in the pavement and the lights/accessories would go dim/slow down and the alternator light would come on. At that point, you had to hit a pothole or hard lump in the road quickly to make the alt light go off and regain all your normal power. We tried battery grounding cables attached everywhere, ground straps attached at various spots, installed numerous new parts, had an electrician look it over...no dice. When the time comes to drag that car out of mothballs, I will certainly go with a complete Painless kit and avoid the aggravation. Dealing with those issues at 17 years of age is one thing, dealing with it 30+ years later is quite another.

Save yourself the grief.

On a side note, I used to build a lot of Volvo 240/740/760 cars several years ago. Great cars, but the wiring is the worst. Oil and UV degradation of the vinyl coating would cause the wires in bundles to come in contact with each other and fuse together after the coating turned to a gooey soup. I became quite adept at wiring , since there was no aftermarket kit available and bought spools of various gauge wire. Although ours normally don't turn gooey, they do become brittle, crack, and corrode. No fun when you turn on the wipers and the lights go off, the radio cuts on, the blower stops and it's a cold rainy night.

I agree. Saw the video of the yellow restored Lambo that caught fire during a photo shoot. Just the thought of that happening to my finished project or my home is cause for instant nausea. I can attest the damage a small flame can cause to our cars - my carb caught fire on the wagon and before I could jump out, pop the hood and put out the flames, it ruined the element, messed up the carb, melted some wires, and smoked a bunch of things up. In less than 1 minute.

It will be the best $500-700 you will ever spend. About what the deductable on a claim would be...without the loss.

Fusible link on all hot leads?