69 camaro wiring harness, AA vs Painless

[AEH]

I have all the original harness for my 69 Camaro and it’s actually in good shape, but it’s 53 years old so I plan to replace it. I like the original block location and bulkhead pass thru which I think gives me two options. The American Autowire classic update or the Painless version. Painless has a non terminated version that’s a little cheaper and I’ll be using weatherpak in where I can anyway.

I have a connect & cruise harness for the engine/trans, and will be using Dakota digital dash so most of what I’ll be dealing with is lighting, windows and integration of it all. For you guys that have used one or both, which did you prefer and why. I’d appreciate any tips or advice. I’m just starting to try and wrap my head around it.

[79 Camaro]

I've used the Painless universal kit on a few hot rods. They worked well. I save the old connectors (heater, tail lights and others) to integrate them into the Painless harness. I just take my time and try to route it as nice as possible. Lots of small wire ties separating the wire bundles.

[screamingchickentx]

I would recommend the Painless GM universal kit, comes with 80 pages of instructions which makes it easier. I would definitely avoid the 1969 specific kit from either manufacturer since with what your doing you wouldn't be using the part that makes those harnesses more expensive. We're a dealer for both brands, I prefer the Painless universal on applications like yours or the AAW kit on cars that are a more stock type restoration.

[AEH]

Thanks for the replies. I thought I checked notifications and I was about to give up because of no response. I was leaning towards the painless, just because of the savings . I just wanted some feedback on quality because I’ve heard some complaints. But wiring can be tedious so it’s hard to know what’s user caused or not. I’ll check out your site.

[screamingchickentx]

This is the harness I've been using for 1st and 2nd gen Camaro/Firebird.
25 Circuit - Pro Series - GM Keyed Column – Bulkhead Firewall Pass-Through | Painless Performance

Usually wire a couple of cars per year and prefer the universal harness since most 1st & 2nd gens have plenty of mods like aftermarket gauges, vintage air, modern radios, efi, etc. With the model specific harnesses you have to remove the circuits you don't want like a seat belt buzzer for example and add circuits you need plus they cost a quite a bit more (about $200 more). Even with the model specific harness you still have to cut everything to length and add connectors. If I'm working on more of a restoration than a modified car AAW makes excellent stock wiring replacement harnesses, those have the correct length, wire color, connectors and everything is identical to stock (fuse box even has glass fuses). So both companies make great products just depends on what you want (stock replacement or modified).

[dhutton]

AAW ClassIc Update is a clear winner in my mind. I’ve used it several times.

Don

[dontlifttoshift]

American Autowire for sure.

Why would anyone would go through the effort to rewire an entire car and reuse all the 50 year old sockets?.... Or purchase them and all the switches and think they saved money?

80 pages of instructions is a weird selling point for the painless. AAW comes with color coded prints.

[Camaro68+69]

AAW
I used in both my cars, 68 Camaro convertible, 69 Camaro coupe..

Scott

[Wall]

I used the AAW Classic Update kit for my 67 Firebird. No complaints at all, worked out well.

[bryancruzncarz]

Good morning all,



Approximately how much time would you say it takes you to install the Pro-Series kit? I may have to tackle this install very soon and kind of want to have an idea of how much time I would need to dedicate to it