morfing a 58 custom into a 57 custom 300

[57 imposter]

I have had a couple people ask me how many hours it would take to wire their cars and have no idea what to tell them. I checked with a local street rod shop and he said to expect about 40 hours to get a basic install. That's crimped terminals and tie wrapped looms. I use all soldered connections and cut and shorten all the harnesses to the correct length and install everything in braided loom. I know this adds a bunch of time but have never kept tract of exactly how much. anyone who has made a Rostra cruise harness the correct length will know what I am talking about. I also know with every install being custom and different, there is quite a bit of head scratching time just to figure out the best was to do it. So my question is, has anyone kept tract of the wiring time in their or anyone Else's car? I am kind of looking for a realistic starting point     

[65kcode]

I think that you have many variables to figure into this answer.
1. All stock or added accesories? Power windows, stereos, electric fans, door poppers, etc.
2. Wiring kit or stock kit. Wiring kit has writting on wires vs. tracing color codes of stock wires
3. Newer engines/transmissions have wiring harness to wire.
4. Battery relocation to trunk?

I probably have about 35-40 hours into my Ron Francis kit. Big Block/ 4 speed, stereo, power windows, poppers, custom guages, battery relocation to trunk, etc. Have been doing as I have time, so hard to say exactly.

I have taken my time and made sure wires were routed the way I wanted them. Any wiring connections outside the interior part have been shrink covered.

Hope this helps....

Kevin

[57 imposter]

Kevin    The things you mention all impact time involved in doing one of these jobs. I am just cleaning up the wiring under the dash and adding power windows and power door locks. It seems like I've been at it way longer than it should have taken and I still have to get the power window and door lock harness in. There just doesn't seem to be an end to it. I would like to get my hands on a good working time clock and document every minute spent on wiring, my guess is it would surprise most people.

[lalessi1]

I could wire an engine to start in less than 30 seconds '"in the day". Lol. There are way to many variables to even make a reasonable guess, IMHO.

[hiball3985]

Estimating that type of work is almost impossible.

Sometimes I use the formula:  Best guess + Murphys Law x 3 =

[57 imposter]

I guess the main problem is when you are dealing with someone who cant do their  own wiring, is making them understand everything that is involved in doing the job right. I did a 74 Chevelle with an American auto wire, will fit, kit and the thing almost installed its self. The chassis harness probably didn't take a whole day and the under dash took a little more but the custom jobs are probably not worth taking on   

[RICH MUISE]

"I did a 74 Chevelle with an American auto wire, will fit, kit and the thing almost installed its self"
On a few Hamb threads I've followed, most of the guys who do it for a living, or at least frequently, pretty much agree Ron Francis and American Autowire are tops in the field for all around quality. What surprised me is a lot of them were saying Painless was not even a close second. Rebel wiring is also getting alot of praise from the more cost conscious guys.
My big thing with Ron Francis, aside from quality, is they get deeper into Ford stuff than the others.

[Ford Blue blood]

There are so many variables it is impossible to say how many hours to do any car from scratch.  The many I have done varied from a T Bucket to full sized custom applications.  The T took only one day, a 40 Buick took a little over a week.  Biggest time eater on a job is hide or surface runs, mounting brackets, holes and straps and how far along in the build the car is.  If you are thinking of doing it for profit I recommend an extensive meeting with the owner to determine all of the above and then give him/her an idea of hours with a huge + or - margin.

[57 imposter]

I agree with them on the Painless kit, won't use them if not forced.  Just did most of a 1950 F-100 with a Ron Francis kit and  wish they would use G.M. color codes, Painless does do a good job in that area,. I also think running one wire at a time per their instrustions is very time consuming. I used Quick-wire in my UniBody and liked it, have never heard of Rebel Wiring but will check it out. If your really on a budget and don't mind dealing with color code issues, Easy Wire makes a good kit. I have cussed my way thru several of those. 

[RICH MUISE]

"I also think running one wire at a time per their instrustions is very time consuming."  Not sure if you're refering to Painless or Ron Francis, but doesn't matter for me...I'm trying to do my very first wiring...at times one wire at a time is confusing, lol.

[jseth83]

I think your estimate of 40 hours is pretty solid.  We have used EZ wiring, Summit, and Painless in different cars in less than that, but if I were doing it for someone else I would estimate some more for safety.  One thing kind of funny is that on my '57 I built the whole harness from scratch, and it didn't seem to add that much time to it.  If I had to do it again I would stick with the custom made.  That's helpful if you are doing your own car so you know exactly how each circuit is broken down.

[57 imposter]

Got my terminal order from Waytek. The stuff looks as good as anything I have been buying at the local bolt store. The order was for 1400 pieces including 200 Molex terminals and 100 nylon cable ties both of which were a little more money than the cable ends. the order came to $99.98 plus freight. and ,surprisingly, they list country of origin on each item. all but four were U.S.

[RICH MUISE]

Doug.....Good to know...thanks for keeping us posted.

[Zapato]

Went to the waytek site and they offer a free catalog, showed up in just a few days. Prefer the real thing in my hands than scrolling up and down on the sreen.

Zap-

now that am almost done with the hardwood floor project, might have time to really study it.

[RICH MUISE]

Zap-

now that am almost done with the hardwood floor project, might have time to really study it.                                                                                                              work on the '57
C'mon Zap, let's get the priorities in order!, lol
Rich