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Mustang Wiring

nfrntau

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 15, 2004
Messages
1,020
Location
Rosharon, Texas
One of the first things to tackle when I get my car back is the wiring. I have purchased a complete Painless kit and will be adding a cruise control and A/C to the car. I also have a Mallory electronic ignition distributor.
I have a lot of patience and some limited electrical know how but this will be the first car I have ever completely rewired. The car is completely apart so I'm hoping that makes this job a little bit easier.
This is a several part question.
1. Apart from making sure connections are properly soldered and grounds properly attached, What are the biggest mistakes that first timers generally make?
2. Since I am going with aftermarket distributor and plan to use a one wire alternator, Do I need to rewire the engine compartment in a different configuration? I will be using solenoids for the head lights and fog lights.
3. I know there is no replacement for experience, Are there any MUST HAVE books that will ease this job?

Any and all comments are much appreciated.
 

PFSlim

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 9, 2004
Messages
1,546
Location
Weatherby Lake, MO
When I rewired my Mustang, I bought a new underhood wiring kit which included the kit for the foglights. For the underdash, I removed and installed from a donor 68 Mustang. For the rear harness, I could not find a GT/CS harness so had to adapt a regular 68 rear harness to GT/CS.

However, I am currently wiring a Factory Five Cobra for my brother-in-law using the I-Squared System. It is a system that you have to build every wire, every component, every thing. It is not fun work.

Good luck!!

Paul
 

390cs68rcode

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 29, 2004
Messages
2,864
Location
Houston Texas
don't forget all the gromets while you are doing this. 5 years down the road of rattling around without them and you might be searching around for wire issues (from rubbing).
 

rvrtrash

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 25, 2003
Messages
3,649
1) You just listed the two biggest mistakes already. The grommet suggestion was good and I would add waterproof heat shrink tubing for any soldered joints.
2) You should be OK with the dist. and one wire alt. Most aftermarket dist.'s are made to use the factory harness. I haven't worked on a one wire alt. yet but I would assume you would just not use the seperate factory alt. harness and just run a wire to the battery side of your solenoid.
3) I can't recommend any books but there was an article in Mustang and Fords a while back that went over basic wiring principles. It was pretty good actually. Here's the link.
http://www.mustangandfords.com/tech...tage_ford_electrical_wiring_system/index.html
I addition, if there is anything I can help you with, feel free to email me and I'll try and talk you through it.

Steve

PS. If it was me, I would build a plate to mount the relays for the headlights and fog lights. You'll need 3 relays and instead of punching 12 holes in your panel, you would only need 4 and it would look cleaner. I would then build a harness that plugged into the headlight sockets and fog light terminals, instead of cutting and splicing. I hate cutting up a harness and if you ever changed your mind for some reason or a relay failed, you could change back by simply unplugging.

Steve
 
OP
OP
nfrntau

nfrntau

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 15, 2004
Messages
1,020
Location
Rosharon, Texas
Thanks guys,
great ideas.
Steve, thanks for the offer. I'll do my best to not drive you nuts with millions of e-mails.
 

PFSlim

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 9, 2004
Messages
1,546
Location
Weatherby Lake, MO
Steve

Just so you know, there is no one better on this site to help with wiring than rvtrash. Steve is always willing to help and is almost alway 100% right in diagnosing members problems and providing guidance. "When rvtrash talks wiring - people listen".

Paul
 

rvrtrash

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 25, 2003
Messages
3,649
:embarass: :embarass:

Gee Paul, I feel like you should be on my Christmas list or something. Thanks for the compliment.

Steve
 
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