After market wiring for carbureted swap

[smilinjack]

I'm now thinkin I don't want to salvage or cannibalize the harnesses/fuse panels from my '95 computerized 4.0. I'm wondering if any one that has done the same swap has used an aftermarket (such as painless, jegs, etc.) fuse panel/wiring kit and, if so, was it fairly straight forward or a p.i.t.a. ? And, what brand, how many circuits/fuses, etc., etc. Thanks

 

[franklin2]

How will you hook everything up? All the dash switches and other components? Nothing will plug in. It will all have to be spliced. What about a wiring diagram? Are you going to make one up for your custom harness? Wouldn't it be easier to use the original wiring for the wipers, lights, HVAC, etc?

I think it would be easier to modify the original harness. I have never worked on a 95, but I am thinking it's early enough to where it still has a computer/fuel injection harness that is separate from the chassis harness except for a few spots.

 

[smilinjack]

Thanks for the reply but I was actually looking for experience answers rather than questions. I’ve already got a bunch of those. . Merry Christmas.

 

[franklin2]

Those were more "food for thought" rather than questions. I have done a little bit of vehicle wiring. I can't see spending hundreds of dollars for a fuse box and some wires with markings on them.

 

[Uncle Gump]

When I did my carbed V-8 swap... the thought of gutting the trucks electrical system for a complete aftermarket harness never even crossed my mind.

 

[19Walt93]

I gutted out all my wiring, the fuse box and junction box and reinstalled just the fuse box and wiring for the circuits I needed. I spent less than $50 on connectors, wiring, etc and had all the factory wiring plugs to use. Painless looks like good stuff but I did it cheaper.

 

[franklin2]

I gutted out all my wiring, the fuse box and junction box and reinstalled just the fuse box and wiring for the circuits I needed. I spent less than $50 on connectors, wiring, etc and had all the factory wiring plugs to use. Painless looks like good stuff but I did it cheaper.

Sounds like the way to do it. You used the factory devices, so the factory plugs plugged in. Think of all the splices you would have to hook the painless wiring up. Plus, in your case you can look at any factory wiring diagram source for your year, and the wiring colors match the diagram and the way they are hooked up match the diagrams.

If you wanted to re-wire everything with universal toggle switches of some sort, I guess you could use the painless wiring. I think some of their harness are based on GM products of you wanted to use a GM steering column and other components.

 

[19Walt93]

I don't have many splices, I removed the pins from the factory connectors and soldered them directly to the wires before putting them back in the connector. Every splice or solder joint is heat shrinked, too. Most of the Painless kits use GM connectors which would be OK if you used GM switches, I didn't.

 

[franklin2]

I don't have many splices, I removed the pins from the factory connectors and soldered them directly to the wires before putting them back in the connector. Every splice or solder joint is heat shrinked, too. Most of the Painless kits use GM connectors which would be OK if you used GM switches, I didn't.

I think mis-understood your other post. I thought you modified the original Ford harness and it all plugged back in. You made your own using a Generic fuse box?

 

[19Walt93]

I reused the underdash fuse box and some of the factory wiring. I stripped out all the EEC and ABS circuits and converted others to power the choke, electric fuel pump and relay. I powered the Vintage Air system off the original 30 amp a/c circuit and the aftermarket stereo and amp off the factory radio circuits. All the lights, the instruments(minus the oil pressure gauge), wipers, horn, etc use the factory wiring. I removed enough wiring to fill 4 cardboard boxes and reinstalled about 1 1/2 boxes of harness. I didn't wire in a door chime, parking brake warning light, seat belt light because I can tell if my door is open or my brake is on and if I'm driving the seat belt is buckled.

 

[smilinjack]

Hi Walt,
I still have our previous conversations re wiring you did. Everything 'wire' is still optional and on the table for me, just exploring options before I get to that point. One thing I didn't ask you was how (and where) you connected your battery to the under dash fuse box. I'm going to locate my battery in or under the bed and run an '0' welding cable to the front. Hope all is well out there, health and weather wise.

 

[19Walt93]

Hi Walt,
I still have our previous conversations re wiring you did. Everything 'wire' is still optional and on the table for me, just exploring options before I get to that point. One thing I didn't ask you was how (and where) you connected your battery to the under dash fuse box. I'm going to locate my battery in or under the bed and run an '0' welding cable to the front. Hope all is well out there, health and weather wise.

Hi Jack,
Weatherwise it's December in NH, we got 22" of snow on a day with temps in the single digits, it was 6 below the following morning and made it up to zero a little before 10 am.
My battery is in approximately the stock location with the solenoid mounted on the inner fender just behind it. Once I figure out which wires originally brought power into the under dash fuse box, I attached leads with fusible links to the hot side of the solenoid and fed the fuse box. Zero gauge wire might be a little overkill, I'd think 2 or 4 would be plenty but it'll certainly work. I'm sure you'll support the wire properly and use grommets where it passes through panels. My truck came to me with the battery power lead running through ragged holes with no grommets, I guess he won, it didn't burn up.

 

[smilinjack]

Whew!! Hope you’re dug out by the holidays! Got snow tires for that Ranger?. Thanks for the reply, while I’m waiting for my exhaust parts I think I’ll tear into that stock harness and see what’s what. I think maybe lookin’ at that pile of wiring on the floor I was a little intimidated. I appreciate your input. Merry Christmas!