Upgrading wiring harness on 1964 plymouth valiant

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64whiteghost

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Hey whatsup guys.

Thank you for all your help. The 64whiteghost is coming along.

Im almost ready to start looking at my electrical and i would love to replace my existing old wiring harness with one that is set up to handle LEDs.

Any suggestions ?
 
The only thing I have is be very careful with your LED selection, as there is a LOT of junk on the market. WAY more junk than good.
 
LED's draw less current than incandescents, not more. If your original wiring is bad, I'd get a new reproduction one for that year. It actually has a fairly decent bulkhead connector design for the hot wire going into the dash.
 
LED's draw less current than incandescents, not more. If your original wiring is bad, I'd get a new reproduction one for that year. It actually has a fairly decent bulkhead connector design for the hot wire going into the dash.
Sweet ! Thank you

Yea. I havent checked electrical but im spending a good amount on all my components and last thing i want is to wire everything up and my wiring is shot. After all it is 40+ years old

Any brands you recommend ?
 
Age is not the issue. Its environment and exposure to heat, oil, fuel, etc. Heat can be from engine or from overloading a circuit.
Interiors (Instrument and Body harness) are usually much better condition than engine harness (includes headlights). Wiper motor wires are usually a part of the wiper motor. Some years in particular (early 70s) frequently had leaks onto instrument panel left side so those will have the expected oxidation etc from being wet for extended periods of time.

Common items that will overload circuits are:
New "rebuilt" and similar replacement alternators with high draw rotors (search high draw field current)
Pretty much any headlight but the original 6012 50W/40W lamps.

Common practice that will cause overload of the main power feeds is letting a battery get really low, and then using the alternator to recharge it. If the ammeter is showing over 20 amps charging for more than a minute or so, slow the engine down or turn it off and get a charger.

As far as the alternators go, find a good old one. Certainly in all cases measure the field current draw. its a pretty easy bench test or on the car.

As far as headlights go, if its limited use at night, use good 6012 lamps (or H6024 if not using high beams). Otherwise a headlight relay harness is highly recommended.
 
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On the headlights, the wiring harness upgrade that our member @crackedback offers is WELL worth the money and is a great upgrade no matter which harness you use. It removes the high current load from the headlight switch and adds relays in the headlight circuit to carry the load of the headlights. My headlight switch in Vixen used to get hot with just stock sealed beams. I have converted her to Cibie H4 headlamps and now the headlight switch doesn't even get warm, plus, the headlights are much brighter, because they see alternator voltage.
 
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