wiring harness repair or replace?

[valkyrcustoms]

So i am at a point where i need yo make repairs yo the wiring harness con muy 75. Im not sure if i should make repairs por simply replace It with another main harness. I know that could take a while to do but there are a number of cut, disconnected, or added wires or parts that have been added or removed.

My question is, short of doing that "painless" conversion I've been reading about, what can/should I do?

Would replacing this with a used harness be not a horrible idea?

If so, what years of wiring harnesses can I use, I know the electrics varied from year to year and even car to car.

Any advice is appreciated.

[azruss]

changing the harness is a massive job unless the car is already bare. definitely replace it with the same year. If you have less than a dozen fix-it spots, i would just repair. Many of the lines off the trunk are plug-in. you might be able to find a replacement for an offending branch and just replace that.

[spider2081]

I agree almost always repairing the original harness is the way to go. The quality of the wire,connectors etc in the original harness were pretty good for their time. A little maintenance and you should be trouble free.

[valkyrcustoms]

Excellent. I was hoping to hear that. Thank you for your responses.

Now, on a related topic... I would like to change the fuse box to one that uses ATC blade fuses. Is this recommendable or is there some kind of drawback to this conversion?

[baltobernie]

Replacing the fuse box adds, rather than corrects, a failure point, IMO. I'd also argue that such a project is even more work than replacing the entire OE harness. Which is not as terrible a job as it sounds; one big hole in the firewall on the drivers side, and a smaller one under the rear seat. The vast majority of the wires run North/South along this axis.

There are salvage harnesses available; post in Parts Wanted.

While I'm a vocal critic of the OE design (not to mention sheer age-related degradation), I feel that an intact OE harness is the next best thing to a modern conversion.

[vandor]

I think that repair of the original harness is ideal, but I'm sure there is a point when it can't be done. Replacing it is a bid job, likely the dash would have to come out. There is a section that goes to the passegner side on the firewall behind the dash, it's not easy to get it out.
The 1976 and early 1977 (with alternator on exhaust side) would likely be very close if not identical to your harness.