Having Second Thoughts...

[Smock67]

Ok so last week I made the plunge and finally decided to get the wiring on my Firebird finished up by a shop. The guy I'm going with worked on my bro's Chevelle which had problems pretty sure most of them were attributed to my brother. My biggest concern with going with this guy is he rents space out of another guys shop and am pretty sure he's not super familiar with what I currently have going on in the car. AAW harness, Covans insert with SW Guages.

Now I'm starting to have second thoughts but I still want to get the car done and while I'm now ok with paying I want to make sure its done according to AAW diagrams so I can always trace down issues later on and add stuff as I see fit. While cost is somewhat of an issue I would rather pay more now to know that its done properly then pay down the road and have to redo a mess. However, he may know exactly what he's doing and I'm just being nervous for no reason.

What should I do?

[Nessumsar]

I would periodically check in on the car and the job he is doing, if allowed. If not, I would ask him to send some pictures of the progress being made.

Do you know anyone else who has had work done there?

[Smock67]

No I don't and the other problem is that the car is located in Fort Myers and I'm in Tampa about 140 miles north. I only know of the work he did on my brothers car and it for the most part is stock and it was engine work.

[Nessumsar]

It seems like it is all pretty straight forward stuff. The guages are going to use the same wires no matter what insert they are in. I don't think you should have a problem.

If you are worried though, you could always voice your concern to him. Make sure he knows exactly what you are looking for in the finished product.

[Smock67]

Thanks Jon. If only Frank and Prodigy Customs were closer. The towing alone would kill me lol.

[JamesJ]

Ya its pretty straight forward, just takes time, and all the instruction that came with my AAW kit were great! As long as the guy is not a moron then you should be ok, but you may want to decide on a price first, cause if you are going to pay to educate him then is may cost you more...

[wmhjr]

Which AAW kit did you get? And other than the Covan dash and gauges, is everything pretty much stock?

AAW provides some great schematics. Even if he has to deviate a little, just make sure he notes the changes on the schematics. Then scan the schematics to PDF and save them. If you're staying pretty well stock, it's not rocket science. It just takes patience and attention to detail.

One caution - not a big deal. The AAW stuff is excellent stuff. I used a highway 15 and am very pleased with what I got, though I heavily modified it. However, the printing on the wires can be removed with "Goof-Off" or other similar "adhesive and gunk removers". I wanted to remove some printing because of modifications so I tried and it worked. I'd hate to see somebody do it by accident.

[Smock67]

I got the classic update kit because I will be adding things down the road. Everything else is stock. So many of the wires that came with the kit will currently not be used, but will be later down the road. So i'm essentially running the bare minimum right now.