25 pounder Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 I bought a "repro" wiring harness for my GMC CCKW 353 , at Rex Ward ; I 'm working with the genuine plan as it's described in the original TM , but the colours of the wires don't seem to be equal as in the TM , Has anyone ever fitted a Rex Ward repro harness , and if yes would it be possible to post a proper plan ? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TooTallMike Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 I bought a "repro" wiring harness for my GMC CCKW 353 , at Rex Ward ; I 'm working with the genuine plan as it's described in the original TM , but the colours of the wires don't seem to be equal as in the TM , Has anyone ever fitted a Rex Ward repro harness , and if yes would it be possible to post a proper plan ? Thanks Hi, I fitted one of these harnesses to a GMC last year and it was not as straightforward as you might expect. You will need a good understanding of the truck's electrical system and its layout before you start. The proper diagrams are in the TMs - if you don't have them then please get a set as they should always be your first port of call. You need TM 9-801, pages 249 onwards. However even with the TMs it took some work to establish what was what. The new harness does not use the correct junction blocks on the firewall, some colours are incorrect on the accompanying instructions and the looms are not in as many sections as the originals. I was not very impressed with it but it was easier than making my own. Oh, and it doesn't use the circuit breakers. In his defence I think they may have tried to make one harness to cover all models, but what they have ended up with is a poor compromise in my opinion. It could be modified to deal with the omissions but that would defeat the point of buying a new one. I have heard that Vintage Wiring of Maine do a very good set of looms but I have never seen or used them. I made some notes on the instructions as follows: "GMC MULTY(sic) FIT WIRING HARNESS" Cab harness: line 5: fuel gauge to sender wire was blue not green line 8: right hand flasher wire was black with 3 white Sorry if this wasn't the news you were hoping for... Regards - MG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gas 44 Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 I also fitted one to our 353. Ok its not straight forward and TBH i found that most but not all of the connections could have been about 2 inches longer. No its not an exact copy of the orignal,but and its a big but I would rather have a new wiring loom like this than the old one. If you sit down take your time,read the colour code's Rex supplies and cross ref with a wiring diagram its ok to do. It took us 2 days but that included removing the old loom and making some alterations to suit our needs,eg we wired the brake lights to work on the ing switch rather that the main light switch ( saves forgetting to turn them on) we also replaced the rear lights back to original. Not a perfect product but much better than nought. I passed on my comments to Rex to assist in future mods. Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willysmb Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 Just bought a wiring harness from Rex so any assistance as to its shortcoming most welcome .. ken. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
25 pounder Posted January 13, 2013 Author Share Posted January 13, 2013 Thanks Guys , now I know at least I'm not the only one who's having a headache with the wiring harness , I guess it'll sort out fine by taking the time to overlook it on a stressless day ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gas 44 Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 To be fair when I first opened ours I thought " what the !!!!!!" but cup of tea in hand, careful reading, careful reading of colour codes as supplied by Rex and reverting to wiring diagram it was ok. (we also had to change things a little because ours has alternator) If I remember we started by connecting the light swith on the dash first, then onto the connector in the engine bay just in front of driver. Of course there are NO tails to connect rear or front lights so you will also need them. We also added a few (out of site) modern fuses.....maybe not 100% accurate but I would rather be safe than sorry. At the time we did the work we also installed a "Motorcycle" style brake light switch on the brakes and have had no more "no shows" from said rear light. So as I said before,its not a perfect replica and if you are doing a "from the factory" resto its probably not for you. However if you want to keep the Gmc up and running and feeling a little more confident of the wiring, they work. BTW I have no connection with Rex Ward other than,finding him very helpful when I've asked questions. Good luck, Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shopnut Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 When I had CCKW's, I used original looms, then fitted a secondary loom with modern lamps, this kept the original lights as they were and was safer whist driving at night, the secondary loom was just seven core cable, front & rear lamps, '6' fuse holder, indicator switch/relay and a couple of junction boxes, wiring was easy to conceal as were the junction boxes etc., light brackets were made for easy removal with connecter to loom and could be removed easily for the original look when at shows, something I never did. Only wish I still had a CCKW, best trucks ever produced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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