# wiriing harness



## olde-goat (Feb 1, 2009)

I am at the point on my 65 GTO convertible restoration that a decision has to be made with regard to the wiring. Checking the various vendors it appears that this stage could get very expensive real fast. Any advice on a GTO specific non upgrade dash harness? I have three original harnesses, any point to refurbishing one of these? Thanks


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

olde-goat said:


> I am at the point on my 65 GTO convertible restoration that a decision has to be made with regard to the wiring. Checking the various vendors it appears that this stage could get very expensive real fast. Any advice on a GTO specific non upgrade dash harness? I have three original harnesses, any point to refurbishing one of these? Thanks


You're right, wiring does get expensive fast. I bought a complete set of 'everything' from Original Parts Group and Ames for my 69 and I'm still scared to actually add up the total cost.

As far as refurbishing, you could probably save money if you've got the skills, equipment, and patience to do it yourself as long as all/most of the sockets and connectors are still in good shape. You'd have the benefit of knowing every inch of the wiring had been personally inspected and tested.

Bear


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

Nothing wrong with an original harness IF the insulation is in excellent shape and the sockets and conectors are good. What you want to avoid are smoke and flames. Both of my cars have the original harnesses in place, and everything works. If the harness has been cut into, and hacked at, you may have issues. Corrosion and open insulation are your main enemies. Use an ohmmeter to check circuits, and do a thorough visual inspection. Also,the original stuff fits perfectly. If in doubt at all, replace with a new harness. You don't want to burn down your ride.......


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## gregthor (Oct 13, 2010)

Another good thing to check are the wires that move. For example; the wire that goes to the coil from the firewall. Twice I have had this wire fall apart. Each time the motor torques back & forth it fatigues wires that move. (and a 65 GTO convertible has probably had that a lot) Eventually the wire breaks. You are lucky if it just falls off the lead and is dangling there, you will see the problem as I did one winter on Highway 80 in Pennsylvania at 11:00 at night. But unfortuntialy wires can also break inside the insulation and look fine from outside,(I had this problem with a tach wire) so check them closely with a meter if you can or feeling them by running your fingers over each of the wires is a big help. GTO, Tempest & LeMans guys like to have fun so many towed trailers (with boats, motorcycles, cars etc) with these cars. I have found replacing the rear tail light harness is a good idea if the tail lights are not working good or have had evidence of a hack job trailer light wiring installation. Also, if you had evidence of a mouse near any wires check them closely. Hope this helps but when in doubt remember the golden rule: do the most expensive restoration you can afford!!


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## olde-goat (Feb 1, 2009)

Thanks to all who responded, all good advice. I am going to refurbish, at this point I have nothing to loose, I can always bite the bullet and buy new if there are issues with the originals.


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## wildj82 (May 1, 2010)

*Did full harness replacement 64 lemans hdtp*

I replaced my 64 Lemans hdtp harness with one from ez-wiring. Bought it off E-bay for $170. I am very happy with it. Gives you a great piece of mind when driving it. This was a 18 circuit harness with modern plug fuses, Each wire is labed every 6" which is great for troubleshooting. I was having trouble with back of the original fusebox where the forward harnesses plug in which effected my turn signals, headlamps and the PO already had a toogle wired in for the ignition. when inspecting fusebox I found fuses had been replaced with small rods. I then replaced with an used OEM harness and developed new problems and kept most of the old ones also because the forward harness was also bad. One note to remember is that if you decide to repair the current one and finish your resto and then decide to replace it some of the wiring will be trapped under carpet and headliner. Good luck.


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## Koppster (Jul 27, 2008)

M&H Wiring Harnesses can be ordered through the Performance Years catalogue. They are supposed to be pretty darn good.

Rick

Performance Years - GTO, Firebird, and Classic Pontiac Parts and Accessories - Catalogs


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