| Before
you begin a restoration on a
Mustang, one note of advice.......DO
THE WIRING LAST!!!!! I
have encountered numerous
situations where a Mustang I was
working on had just come to me
from a body shop and they really
screwed up the wiring. The
harnesses were painted over,
unwrapped, spliced into, and even
mis-wired. Even some Mustang
restoration shops just don't seem
to treat the wiring of the car
with any kind of respect or
importance. A wire is just a
wire. Well I must disagree. The
wiring system of your Mustang is
it's nervous system. Would you
like a brain surgeon to be in
there and totally disregard the
nerves to get to a tumor only to
have an eye or a leg not work
right anymore? Sometimes when a
body shop welds panels in or
installs interior pieces, the
wiring is mishandled, crimped
from a panel installed, or
outright cobbled. You may find
that after you get the car back,
some things won't work right or
fuses will keep blowing from a
direct short somewhere. Also
there are many aftermarket wiring
kits that you can purchase to
rewire your Mustang. I'm sure
they are great products but there
are some issues with some of
them, such as having to cut
different holes in the firewall
or not having correct connectors.
My personal opinion is to use
factory correct reproduction
wiring harnesses whenever
possible. Everything is made to
work together and plug in like it
should. |
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| This is
what I found when I removed the cluster
of a 1966 Mustang Coupe I was working on
that had been purchased by the owner 6
weeks earlier. To put it mildly, the
owner had some electrical issues. The
harness wasn't even rewrapped after it
had been worked on and thrown back into
the car. I won't even mention everything
that was wrong with this situation. |
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I can't stress enough the
importance your wiring system has on the
performance of your Mustang.
Treat it with the same respect you would
with the engine being built correctly or
the brakes working properly. You will
have a much more satisfying and safe
Mustang to enjoy for years to come. |
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