I'm gonna start practicing rewiring things starting with my dirt-basic lawn tractor but there's a huge number of colors and gauge sizes to consider- it alone uses 13 different colors to separate everything! There's spool kits on Amazon I've found that have different colors but not different sizes; do you guys have anything you'd recommend? Thanks!
Cheapest way to get bulk coloured wire ive found is the cheapest 21 circuit wiring harness on ebay.
It even comes with a bonus fuse panel!
Watch out buying spools of wire on Amazon - some of it isn't measured the same way US AWG wire is. Their idea of 16ga is the OUTSIDE of the insulation, not the wire itself. On something like a mower it's likely not a big deal, but it can quickly become a problem on a car.
Also, for your own sanity and safety, avoid the aluminum conductor crap. Stick to copper or tinned copper.
Does Painless list a harness for it? ![laugh laugh](https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/static/ckeditor/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/teeth_smile.png)
I checked ebay for a "14 circuit race car wiring kit" and there are a number of options around $30 USD. Seems like 12 or 14 circuits should be plenty for a mower? Comes with a relay, a small fuse panel, and some cheap looking butt splices. Didn't see listed wire gauges per circuit. Would be nice to know that there's at least one leg that can handle the electric clutch on a mower deck.
Seems almost too cheap and easy to be real!
American Auto Wire is a US competitor to Painless. Looking at classic car forums it appears to be preferred to Painless.
American autowire is most assuredly top shelf. Its about the only stuff ill put in a customer car an warranty anymore.
Strip an old(ish) car. I've got so much wire left over from stipping my Miata and the E300TD. Everything from 22ga to battery leads and in a plethora of colors.
In reply to buzzboy :
I might have to; I was hoping to find something like a kit of several sizes and lengths of different colored wires, but it seems like i'd be spending for more to do that than it would ever make sense.
Im not recommending this but most of the rewiring ive done on lawn tractors is REMOVING wiring. I generally remove failure points (aka safety features, a bunch of interlock switch circuits) and then upgrade the starter wiring. ![cheeky cheeky](https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/static/ckeditor/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/tongue_smile.png)
Has anybody cut a big wiring harness out of a junkyard car? Or are they holding on to them more these days? I can't say it's something I've ever asked about at a JY.
In reply to GIRTHQUAKE :
The easiest way is to learn how to make soldered connections and pull out a good wiring Loam from a similar car.
If the car is that old or odd just buy rolls of the proper gauge and color and make your own.
My first experience with wiring is I bought a Cadillac Hearse that had an engine fire And traced each wire from good through bad and back to good again. Care and patience quickly rewired everything and it all worked the first time I tried it.
I laid the good wire directly on top of the burned one wrapping a little tape to keep track. Yes it's tedious but not complex. All you have to do is keep track of one wire at a time. It starts here and goes to there clip clip solder solder slide the heat shrink in place and you're done.
Next wire.
Repeat until everything is done.
When you run out of a particular color or gauge just buy another roll.
I still have my box of wire and various ends.
Its actually a lawn mower. I'd just buy spools of wire normally, but the original diagram uses 13 different colors and with my recent house I need to save all the cash I can get. So any wiring harness that's proper size gauge and "close enough" colors is gonna be my huckleberry unless it is more expensive.
if its a lawn mower what more do you need but a hot wire ignition and kill switch.......
It's a cub cadet. PTO, lights, ect.
Years ago I wired a 55 Chevy with a cheapy kit from EZWiring. I was impressed, and I think it was $80 for an 18-circuit. You wouldn't need nearly that many. You need like a 5-circuit.
Wiring kits are something that SOUNDS like you don't want to cheap out, but honestly... they're kinda hard to screw up. I would buy the cheapest kit, inspect it for obvious weaknesses/errors, and start cutting it up.
Edit: Just went to amazon and looked at those $30-40 12 circuit kits. It has way too many circuits for what you need, but there is no way you can buy the wire and a fuse panel separately for $30. I would do it.
Yup. And my "need" here is only compounded by the question of "do I buy a small kit for $30 or buy a fuse box and pigtail from the Yard for less than $20".
This is all I have to rewire, though I have NO idea how those "Lighting attachments" get any power in this setup. I'd just prefer to keep it as original as possible.
![](https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/prod.mm.com/uploads/2020/08/29/1598734743_wire_mmthumb.jpg)