Okay: I have 2 questions:

QUESTION 1. The 79 C10 I'm resto/modding has factory A/C. As I was signing off the other day, I caught the tail-end of a post by someone who mentioned that he'd gone through his OEM a/c system replacing everything during a resto, and wished he'd just bought a vintage air system or something similar.

Why is that? Cost? Just the general PITA of getting everything replaced? I was basically planning on flushing all of the lines, replacing the hoses from firewall to compressor/ condenser, and replacing the evaporator and everything else I could easily take care of.

QUESTION 2. Looking at the generally shoddy condition of the wiring on this 79 work truck owned by a gov't agency (US Marshal Service)... I'm wanting to replace it. Quite a few patches and hackjobs for various radio, and who knows what else that wasn't there before. I don't want to spend a fortune on a replacement harness (people I've found selling Painless tend to be porud of their stuff)... I'd rather put it into the drivetrain. I don't mind doing a little extra work for a less complete or simpler system - but a little ease-of-installation wouldn't go unnoticed, either. Who's popular around the board for wiring stuff besides painless? Or should I hunt donw someone selling Painless chaper?

General considerations: There's 2. This thing is currently just a cab on a frame, waiting for the engine / tranny to be pulled and rebuilt (that starts wednesday). So after I strip EVERYTHING out of the cab and yank it off the frame and repaint, that's probably a good time to be installing A/C crap in difficult places to reach when you have a dash installed. Also, I'm not afraid of custom fabrication or wiring. The interior is going to end up a flat sheetmetal panel built into the rollcage (which will also mount the seats) holding 5 autometer gauges, the ign. switch, and a monster glovebox. So I'm not stuck on a wiring harness with exact factory terminations - since I'll be cutting them off anyway... and I'm not going for a 95 point restoration here either. It doesn't have to duplicate factory with the A/C or wiring. It just has to work well, and every single time I need it to. :)

I rewired my truck 100% with my own harness, using automotive wiring from a hardware store who gave me an excellent price. I also designed and built my own fuse box. It took a while, but total cost was under $100. It never did fail me. I learned a LOT, and the pride of the project was immense. That way ain't for everybody, just puttin this out there, as an option.

I redid my wiring on my 69 and was in the same boat as you looking at all the options and such.I think I have looked at every wire harness in 3 states from salvage yards and never found the GOOD one. :drama:

kaycee, did you eventually settle on an aftermarket harness... or did you also DIY?

I rewired my truck 100% with my own harness, using automotive wiring from a hardware store who gave me an excellent price. I also designed and built my own fuse box. It took a while, but total cost was under $100. It never did fail me. I learned a LOT, and the pride of the project was immense. That way ain't for everybody, just puttin this out there, as an option.

hey you got some pics of your fuse panel setup. im looking to rewire my truck as well but i need guidence. any and all nfo would be of great help. did you happen to write what you did down with pics .
im mostly looking to a home made fuse panel . or something. :)

I'll try to post a few pics later in the week (working 12 & 16 hrs a day/7 days a week right now)

I'm fairly certain I've decided to simply run a generic 18 or 21 circuit harness from http://www.ezwring.com/ .

Since I'll be gutting the dash and using completely non-stock components (auto meter gauges, no factory stuff on the interior) an OEM-duplicate wiring harness isn't going to be a HUGE benefit.

In other words, I'd rather spend more time on it than more money. :)

Now I've gotta either buy a 79 GM shop manual off Ebay for the facotry wiring schematic, or find one online somewhere.