Thread: painless or ez.

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Originally Posted by stovens

Just rechecked my kit it was an american autowire hwy. 22 kit, wow the prices have gone up since i bought my several years ago now, like doubled! Great kit though. I'd buy another for any future projects, great kits!

This is why I'm curious to why the EZ wire harnesses got a bad review here. I'll gladly spend money for a good part. But if one is just as good and a guy can save $100-$200, why not?

first thing to check is the block connections. give them a good tug. there have been many reports of poor quality and loose wires in the fuse block .

I have used 3 american autowire in the past and really like there products I am redoing and updating my 32 rite now getting ready for summer

Ryan, I installed an EZ kit maybe 4 or 5 years ago. I had done 1 prior with a painless and back then the wires were already attached in the fuse box. I hated that! Then I was asked to do a pickup for a friend who gave me the EZ kit to install.. It just seemed "chinzy" / cheap.. real low quality, and I swear the "directions" was just a copy of a copy of a copy! I was less than impressed. When it came time to do my coupe, I figured I'd shoot the works and went with a Ron Francis. It is nice.. but it better be for the price!

Based on my past experience, I'd steer clear of EZ and go with something that gets better reviews. my 2 cents.

I also have the American Auto Wire highway kit with the termination at the fuse block. It's so
much nicer not having all those wires hanging in your way.

Rich

I have used, American Autowire on 2 cars, one was terminated at the panel incorrectly from the factory, the dome light blinked instead of a turn signal, real sweet to try and fix since the car was done a 57 chevy, not much help from them when they kindly said send it back??? I used two Centech harness's Centech Wire Custom Wiring Harnesses which are my favorite you terminate the panel yourself, like a residential breaker box, wire sticks in and tightened, worked awesome and each circuit was tested upon hookup unlike the already terminated ones. and custom made for your car, you tell the guy what you have and he makes it and prints the wires, which had way more than enough wire, it aslo has ground lugs, nice addition.
I have used 1 Painless, worked good but still prefer the Centech, and one Rebel harness which was made in Tennessee I believe, it was ok but similar to the EZ harness, needed more wire! they where not quite long enough always, I always wanted to try Ron Francis but haven't since they are pricey. Definitely check the terminated ends if they are already terminated. If this is your first kit, hit Painless or my favorite Centech as the instructions and tech support are awesome, if you are use to wiring a vehicle one of the other quality ones probably would be fine I would say.

thank you every one. i see that i have a lot homework to do before i order. thanks again for all the info and personal experience.

IIRC some of those harness people have wire identifation printed the length of the wires?

i have used around 30 painless kits. i like the 12 circuit . the h/l t/l leads are 3-4 ft longer than you need. each wire tells you what it is , where it started and where it is going. so far i have never had a failure.

one other thing I did on my last car that worked real well, i mounted the panel to a piece of 1/8" steel and screwed a piece of 1/4" plate aluminum to it that had a 3" hole in the center so the steel was visible through the hole from the back side i then went to the hardware store and bought a 3" round flat magnet about 1/2" thick that had a center hole in it. i screwed it to the firewall under the dash, and viola I had a fuse panel you could pull down similar to Ron Francis panel, the magnet indexes in the aluminum and sticks to the steel and works like a charm for about 15 bucks.

Originally Posted by Matthyj

one other thing I did on my last car that worked real well, i mounted the panel to a piece of 1/8" steel and screwed a piece of 1/4" plate aluminum to it that had a 3" hole in the center so the steel was visible through the hole from the back side i then went to the hardware store and bought a 3" round flat magnet about 1/2" thick that had a center hole in it. i screwed it to the firewall under the dash, and viola I had a fuse panel you could pull down similar to Ron Francis panel, the magnet indexes in the aluminum and sticks to the steel and works like a charm for about 15 bucks.

Excellent idea!!
Why didn't you use a aluminum magnet? (could of save the metal) Pete

Have any of you put the fuse block in a ceneter console before like right below the dash? I kind of thought about putting mine in that area because before it was under the dash clear at the top and it was such a PITA to get to.

Originally Posted by 40FordDeluxe

Have any of you put the fuse block in a ceneter console before like right below the dash? I kind of thought about putting mine in that area because before it was under the dash clear at the top and it was such a PITA to get to.

I'd say that most kits are designed for the fuse block to fit in or near the stock location, but if the wires are long enough it wouldn't much matter where it was installed.

If you are installing a custom harness, why would you limit yourself to the stock fuse box location?

I couldn't tell you where the stock fuse box on a 40 Ford would be. I've only had 1. The 39 Ford parts car I had, had no wiring at all with no signs of anything inside.