ShiftedGarage
New Member
Long time lurker first time poster. Just finished a complete rewire on my 74 cuda with the american autowire harness. I recorded it all and posted a video so hopefully that helps some people out or gives them the confidence to do this project yourself. Heres a link to it
Key things to know if you are going to do this yourself, if anyone else has any tips feel free to chime in.
- 1 wire alternator is what this kit uses
- Crimpers that american autowire sells are worth every penny for the project
- Ammeter delete. Kit does not use a ammeter at all so a voltmeter conversion is required if you want something in your dash if you are using factory style guages. There are 2 models that are known to work/fit in the cluster Bosch FST7985 or SunPro 7985. Both these styles have the needle base at the top of the guage which is needed to fit in cluster. Gauge will need to be fully removed from the pod it comes in and just the actual gauge itself will be used. I didnt have to modify the gauge cluster at all just some tweaks to the new voltmeter for proper fitment.
- Nows the time to do the clock - quartz conversion while you have the whole dash out of the car there are several write ups on this already so i wont beat a dead horse
- Dont throw out your old harness, some connectors need to be re-used (turn signal, ignition, side marker turn signal, and possibly wiper switch) save it until you are complete with the install.
- Pay alot of attention to the directions, seems like an obvious statement but when matching old harness to new harness parts really pay attention to color and connector positioning (re-pinning a mistake sucks) they lay out old harness color to new harness colors for continuity.
** IF you happen to have PN#3488773 (2-speed wiper switch) that only has 5 prongs on it while every other switch out there and the instructions only have pictures for the ones that have 6.. I’ve done the homework for you. Keep old harness connection as the supplied one wont fit, these are the connections
A - Brown
B - Pink on original harness (Ignition On Power)
F2 Green
H - Red
P - Blue
With the new harness the pink becomes white and everything else remains the same. The brown with white is for power wiper washer fluid. I de-pinned my old connector, cut the connectors off the new harness and pinned the new wires into the old connector. My old connector still had the brown with white provision and wire so feel free to pin it just so there isnt any loose wire. With this fully tested and everything works as advertised.
- Having the service manuals handy is a nice help to have and to double check yourself on somethings like adding in the side marker turn signals.
- If using aftermarked ignition (I used MSD 6AL with a magnetic pickup) they have instructions for certain types but they describe also what wires can be used as a power source for your ignition. Once identified use the instructions for your ignition system to finish that install.
Hope this helps some of ya’ll again video helps cover how everything went/ installs but this is a good synopsis.
Overall not a bad install, have patience it takes time and planning on how you want to run, crimp, mount stuff. This was my first time doing any major wiring took me about a 6-7 days to do being very tedious and double checking instructions, forums, and manuals
Key things to know if you are going to do this yourself, if anyone else has any tips feel free to chime in.
- 1 wire alternator is what this kit uses
- Crimpers that american autowire sells are worth every penny for the project
- Ammeter delete. Kit does not use a ammeter at all so a voltmeter conversion is required if you want something in your dash if you are using factory style guages. There are 2 models that are known to work/fit in the cluster Bosch FST7985 or SunPro 7985. Both these styles have the needle base at the top of the guage which is needed to fit in cluster. Gauge will need to be fully removed from the pod it comes in and just the actual gauge itself will be used. I didnt have to modify the gauge cluster at all just some tweaks to the new voltmeter for proper fitment.
- Nows the time to do the clock - quartz conversion while you have the whole dash out of the car there are several write ups on this already so i wont beat a dead horse
- Dont throw out your old harness, some connectors need to be re-used (turn signal, ignition, side marker turn signal, and possibly wiper switch) save it until you are complete with the install.
- Pay alot of attention to the directions, seems like an obvious statement but when matching old harness to new harness parts really pay attention to color and connector positioning (re-pinning a mistake sucks) they lay out old harness color to new harness colors for continuity.
** IF you happen to have PN#3488773 (2-speed wiper switch) that only has 5 prongs on it while every other switch out there and the instructions only have pictures for the ones that have 6.. I’ve done the homework for you. Keep old harness connection as the supplied one wont fit, these are the connections
A - Brown
B - Pink on original harness (Ignition On Power)
F2 Green
H - Red
P - Blue
With the new harness the pink becomes white and everything else remains the same. The brown with white is for power wiper washer fluid. I de-pinned my old connector, cut the connectors off the new harness and pinned the new wires into the old connector. My old connector still had the brown with white provision and wire so feel free to pin it just so there isnt any loose wire. With this fully tested and everything works as advertised.
- Having the service manuals handy is a nice help to have and to double check yourself on somethings like adding in the side marker turn signals.
- If using aftermarked ignition (I used MSD 6AL with a magnetic pickup) they have instructions for certain types but they describe also what wires can be used as a power source for your ignition. Once identified use the instructions for your ignition system to finish that install.
Hope this helps some of ya’ll again video helps cover how everything went/ installs but this is a good synopsis.
Overall not a bad install, have patience it takes time and planning on how you want to run, crimp, mount stuff. This was my first time doing any major wiring took me about a 6-7 days to do being very tedious and double checking instructions, forums, and manuals
