wiring harness for a '61 FC-170

Anyone know of a good wiring harness for my FC-170DRW that has a fuse block
/ modern fuses? I looked at Painless - seems like a good option although
they don't make one for my 170 specifically.

I have never replaced one and am a bit intimidated; will I be replacing wire
for wire? probably not.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Rob H.

Hi Bob,
This is the only thing I have that'll have the generator on it:
http://www.billhughes.com/cj3wire.jpg
God Bless America, ßill O|||||||O


designo wrote:
>
> Anyone know of a good wiring harness for my FC-170DRW that has a fuse block
> / modern fuses? I looked at Painless - seems like a good option although
> they don't make one for my 170 specifically.
>
> I have never replaced one and am a bit intimidated; will I be replacing wire
> for wire? probably not.
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> Thanks,
> Rob H.

An FC-170DRW, eh? <drool>

I installed a pre-terminated Painless harness in my `79 CJ-5
restoration. I don't know what route your FC's harness follows but the
Painless CJ harness will have a through-firewall connector/fuse block
which might not be useful to you. I'm guessing that your application
will require a surface-mount fuse block. Were it me, I'd call Painless
and chat with them about what you need, they might have a "universal"
harness that does what you want it to do since a fair bit of their
bread-and-butter is in hotrod harnesses.

This is what I can tell you about my Painless experience. The harness
came pre-loomed (with zip ties) from the fuse block back to the
taillights and cased in a split-plastic loom with mounted Tees at places
where the harness branched. Everything had ID tags at the end telling
where each wire went and what for, plus there is a color-coded wire
diagram in the instruction booklet. The kit came with a baggie full of
additional zip ties, electrical connectors and more plastic looming
tube. Wire lengths were adequate for the application.

Underhood, that was less painless. The lighting and engine circuits
were easy enough, but the charging harness is so "universal" as to fit
nothing (Painless's explanation is that Jeep changed charging systems
too frequently to make it economical for them to make model-year
specific harnesses). Worse, the manual contains conflicting and mangled
instructions (one of which effectively _bypasses_ the master system
fuse). Mostly corrected instructions are buried in an addendum in the
back of the manual, so you must read the whole thing to find them.
Worse still, the engineers I spoke with were neither prompt at answering
the help line nor especially pleasant in product support. Your
experience may differ.

Don't feel intimidated. You can always ask here for advice and support.



designo wrote:
> Anyone know of a good wiring harness for my FC-170DRW that has a fuse block
> / modern fuses? I looked at Painless - seems like a good option although
> they don't make one for my 170 specifically.
>
> I have never replaced one and am a bit intimidated; will I be replacing wire
> for wire? probably not.
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> Thanks,
> Rob H.
>
>

designo wrote:
> Anyone know of a good wiring harness for my FC-170DRW that has a fuse block
> / modern fuses? I looked at Painless - seems like a good option although
> they don't make one for my 170 specifically.
>
> I have never replaced one and am a bit intimidated; will I be replacing wire
> for wire? probably not.
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> Thanks,
> Rob H.
>
>


Wiring harnesses aren't the hardest thing to replace, just tedious and
takes some patience. I'm about to replace the rat's nest in my 67
Jeepster Commando. It seems nobody including Painless makes exact
replacements for any older Jeep or Willys vehicles. They all sell what
amounts to a basic hotrod kit that fits them though. Most basic kits
have a lot more accessory circuits than most Jeeps ever came with new.
Here are some resources besides Painless that I've found looking for mine:

http://ezwiring.com/

http://centechwire.com/

http://americanautowire.com/

Plus, there's a guy on ebay 'gonefishing69 who sells wiring kits for a
really good price, just doesn't have any listed today - only the book on
wiring he sells. Contact him direct through his store ebay and ask him
for a price on a harness.

Good luck,
- Jeff G