Has Anyone Tried Ron's Wiring Harnesses

[Chevelle LT1]

I've been looking to start wiring on my car soon, and would appreciate any advice on which harness to use. I know there are a number of companies out there (Painless, etc.), and everyone's had their good/bad luck with each, but I'll take any opinions I can get. I've been looking into Ron's wiring harness, but I don't know of anyone who has ever used them on the musclecars, so I thought I'd post here. Specs on the car are:
- 70 Chevelle w/LT1 and 4L60E
- Factory A/C deleted, firewall smoothed, awaiting Vintage Air unit
- Going to be using an SS dash with aftermarket gauges
- Nothing crazy for stereo planned, just something that sounds good w/o taking up lots of space (maybe 2 10" subs).
I don't know that I'm interested in hiding every single wire in the engine compartment, but I would certainly like something more subtle than the factory wiring.



Thanks for the input!

[parsonsj]

You really owe it to yourself to check out American Auto Wire. Ron Francis was always the top quality setup out there, but having seen the two products, AAW is its equal in every way.

Their Hiway 22 kit sounds just right for you.

jp

[68LSS1]

I like Ron Francis stuff. One good thing is that they will mod or build the harness to your specs, i.e. certain alternator plug, aftermarket steering column, etc. Plus they got some other neat stuff like impact switches for electric fuel pumps.

[Marty G Cars]

I had a Ron Francis installed in my 69 and a friend is having one installed in his 68. I am currently in the market for a harness myself for my 68 and have just talked with AAW to get some answers. It will be between AAW and Ron Francis. As JP said the Hwy 22 sounds good and that would be the AAW choice I would make if I were to choose them. I still need to get some AAW answers in regards to steering column plug ins. Either way you will need to build your own connections for light sockets and accessory connections.

[Johnny Blaze]

Either way you will need to build your own connections for light sockets and accessory connections.

Is that truw for the Painless harnesses that are vehiclae specific as well? I am looking the get one for my firebird, as it is supposed to 'just plug in'

[Chevelle LT1]

Thanks for the info.

One question about the Highway series from AAW: Does anyone know if it will bolt into the original fuse block mounting hole? That was one area of the firewall I didn't fill in...

Talked to Ron's, and they said that the replacement fuse block would fit nicely, with an aluminum plate to cover it.

[Marty G Cars]

Johnny Blaze

I'm not sure about the connectors of the Painless unit. David @ Road Killer Kustoms installed a Painless unit in his wife Tammy's 69 Camaro and he said that he dislikes it so much that he think's he'll replace it w/a Ron Francis. The biggest gripe was that the unit came with all of the wires for every conceivable option attached to the fuse box and if you were not using a specific option you had to just stuff the wires up out of the way.

[parsonsj]

I can second that. David showed it to me as well. The good thing about Ron Francis and AAW is that the central units have terminals and you make your own terminators and screw it to the fuse box/relay center. AAW's is very tidy and nicely engineered. The RF unit is nice too.

jp

[ProdigyCustoms]

You can get a 10% discount at GPSuperstore.com on AAW. Got our Highway 22 today, killer set up

[Marty G Cars]

Hey Mr. Frank, I have a few more questions for AAW and if everything goes well I'll be giving GPS a call for a HWY 22 and some other AAW items.

[ProdigyCustoms]

Call there and ask for Donny or Mike. Let them know you are will be ordering through GP Superstore and have them spec it out and get you the part numbers you need. Their tech suport and product knowledge is fantastic. They get the product out and get it right. If the entire aftermarket industry worked like these guys, the world would be a better place.

[MuscleRodz]

Johnny Blaze

I'm not sure about the connectors of the Painless unit. David @ Road Killer Kustoms installed a Painless unit in his wife Tammy's 69 Camaro and he said that he dislikes it so much that he think's he'll replace it w/a Ron Francis. The biggest gripe was that the unit came with all of the wires for every conceivable option attached to the fuse box and if you were not using a specific option you had to just stuff the wires up out of the way.

If that is the case then I am unsure about the Painless harness I have setting in the box for the Camaro. I guess I need to dig it out and look at it.

Does the RF and AAW come with the correct firewall mount. When I bought the Painless harness years ago, it was the only one out there I knew of that had a factory firewall mount.

Mike

[ProdigyCustoms]

For a firewall mount, you would want a Classic update, which is basically a factory harness with additional crcuits for comon added assesories like A/C, Fans, Stereo, gauges, etc. The highway 22 is the hot set up for cars with no factory wiring requirments.

[MuscleRodz]

For a firewall mount, you would want a Classic update, which is basically a factory harness with additional crcuits for comon added assesories like A/C, Fans, Stereo, gauges, etc. The highway 22 is the hot set up for cars with no factory wiring requirments.

Thanks I will look into it further. It is also one of the holes I did not fill but still could be done.

Mike

[Chevelle LT1]

I talked to the guys at RF about this as well...they assured me they could make a very clean adaptor plate over the original fuse block mounting location on my Chevelle. He said that they've done it multiple times