Completely re-wire

[MIGHTY 8]

Hello everyone,
Who can share details on stripping and starting from scratch?
Old, frayed, and cracked wiring seems to be the issue in most cases of failed reliability which makes sense as these cars age. (80 Model year for me.)

Would like advice from those that have taken the plunge.

Thank you

[SteinOnkel]

I've only done it on a 1952 Chevy split windshield truck. We got one of these:

https://www.painlessperformance.com/wc/ ... ruck&sb1=+

It was very easy. A Fiat will have many more circuits though, depending on the year.

[MIGHTY 8]

Hello
Thank you kindly for your response. I have heard only good things about Painless systems. I would imagine they have one for our cars, as well.
Hopefully others can chime in.

I've only done it on a 1952 Chevy split windshield truck. We got one of these:

https://www.painlessperformance.com/wc/ ... ruck&sb1=+

It was very easy. A Fiat will have many more circuits though, depending on the year.

[spider2081]

The Fiat Spider wire harness is made of of a number of plug and play sections. Often only one or two of these sections have been damaged. Replacing a damaged section with a good used section is the easiest repair. I think when the cars were being manufactured the wire harness for that cars section was was installed. It then plugged into the next section as that area of the car was fabricated. The longest section runs from the dash to the rear of the car. This section is seldom damaged.
I believe there are a number of connectors in the Spiders whose only purpose would be for assembly during manufacturing of the car.

[aj81spider]

The DC Fiats tech section

https://www.dcfiats.org/tech/tech.html

has an article on rewiring the Fiat with a Painless harness. I don't believe Painless has a dedicated harness, but the article describes how someone adapted a standard harness for the Fiat. It might be a good starting point for figuring out what you're getting into.

[MIGHTY 8]

The DC Fiats tech section

https://www.dcfiats.org/tech/tech.html

has an article on rewiring the Fiat with a Painless harness. I don't believe Painless has a dedicated harness, but the article describes how someone adapted a standard harness for the Fiat. It might be a good starting point for figuring out what you're getting into.

I did some checking on their website, and you are correct....they don’t provide "plug-n’play" kits for our cars.

Thank you so much for providing that link. I’ll take a closer look at it soon.

[baltobernie]

I'm the guy who wrote the DC Fiats article. Eleven years after completing this project, the car continues its trouble-free performance.

I do agree with Spider2081 and others that if the damage to your OE wiring is minimally contained, repair rather than rewire is the better decision. There's no "rolling restoration" option for this project. The conversion is not for the faint-of-heart ...

[MIGHTY 8]

Thanks to you all for your contribution. Anything to keep our cars’ on the road (reliably) is much appreciated!