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Old 05-19-2010, 09:51 PM
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3_z28camaro 3_z28camaro is offline
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Default Painless Wiring 60608

I have searched around and so far have not found anyone that has used the Painless 60608. (http://www.painlessperformance.com/w...rchField=60608)

The reason I would like to use this kit is because I have a 2001 LS1/4L60E going into a 1969 Camaro and I want to update all the wiring as well as have some of the conveniences that this kit offers. I have looked through the instruction manual and was impressed by its level of completeness. http://www.painlessperformance.com/Manuals/60608.pdf

What I have found surprisingly is some of the negative feelings toward Painless' product. I was curious if anyone has used 60608? Also what has been some of the major complaints from experience about painless?

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Old 05-20-2010, 11:30 AM
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69MyWay 69MyWay is offline
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Here is what I know.

First of all, I am a bit bias as I have done work with them for media publications. However, I do work with them because I believe in their product.

This combo harness is the effort of some top notch folks and a ton of R&D to get it right. They built the harness on a real car to make sure it was the right fit...then tested it to the "enth" degree.

They have a machine that tests every harness to verify they are correct before they are packaged and shipped. Their instructions are great, and they have super staff people to help figure things out.

If there is a down side, most harnesses are fairly basic and you have to "add on" as you go to make it fit your accessories and equipment. This keeps the basic cost of the main kits down, but can leave you in a pinch if you didn't talk to their sales/tech person ahead of time to go over everthing you are doing and making sure you have all the parts to do it.

Hope that helps. I haven't put one of these particular ones in, but I was doing some other work with them while it was being built and tested. They have put a ton of effort into making it right.
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Old 05-20-2010, 01:41 PM
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Ralphlovs72chev Ralphlovs72chev is offline
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thank you for leting us know. I plan on buying a kit soon and you have answered my questions very well
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Old 05-22-2010, 12:41 AM
JRouche JRouche is offline
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Ok.. I have a love hate (ok, not hate, just frustrating) experience with the painless harnesses.

I installed an 18 circuit harness with a GM plug for the steering column about 12 years ago. They had a decent installation manual back then. A lil confusing because they didnt supply a schematic but more of a block diagram. Prolly trying to make it easier for the average Joe. And they had this meathod of identifying the wires by where they came from and where they go. It was kinda goofy. Hope they went away from that.

So Ill start with the likes. The first being (and it should be on the top of your list) is they wired up the GM column plug perfectly!!! It routed all the wires to the plug that needed to be there and the steering column was plug and play. They did thier research. And for you, mending the harness to the LS1/4L60E with all of its connectors I think it will be a breeze.

Another plus is they dont skimp on the wire. They give you plenty for the auxiliary systems. Length and gauge. You wont have to be creative trying to stretch a short wire. And the guage wire is good for the needs of the component.

Now, my only complaint.. Wire identification!!!! Errr!!! Dont know if they are still doing it. But they identified the wires by color and what section of the harness they were bundled in. So they would bundle a group of wires say from the fuse block and call it ACC+. And in the manual they would identify the wire by what group it was in, color, size, where it was coming from and what it was to be connected to. So you think. Heck, that sounds pretty good. It sounds good in writing, and prolly sounded good for the engineers (paper folks). But in the real world its not great.

In the real world you might have to fix something, or you might have to identify a wire that is not connected to anything. Ok, prolly more my problem than theirs. REALLY, my problem, not theirs.

For my problem I didnt get to wire up all the components. I fixed the fuse block up, routed all the wires to their areas, connected most of them. But some of them had to be left unconnected for a future finish. And I did mark the wire ends. With tape. Tape only lasts so long. So when Im trying to wire my dash I have a couple wires that are unknowns. And they are the same color and gauge.

One was two wires that were dash wires. After some figuring I figured out one was from the fuse block (+DC) and the other was routed to the engine compartment (dead wire) So that is for the A/C. Supposed to have a switch on the dash to turn on the A/C. Cool, I wont use that. The other was two large tan wires that terminated at the dash. One was for the cig lighter and the other was for the lighting switch to dim the dash lighting. Both terminated to the dash, and unless you properly label them you will never know unless you do the trace back to the block..

So, I dont EVEN mean to say the labeling is a major issue, or even an issue at all. It would just be cool if they had a better way to identify the individual wires. I know huh? Sounds petty and you say, dude, GM didnt even come close to identifying the wires like they do. Yer right, GM didnt. But GM didnt make the harness to be user friendly for Joe car builder. Painless is.

But I have to give their harness a thumbs up. If they still pay attention to detail when making up the various connectors and what is supposed to be on that connector then that is the harness for you. Should be plug and play. Umm. If you need some time to fix that one certain wire, that will be connected in the future. I suggest you label it as best as you can for future reference. NO, masking tape wont work LOL JR
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Old 10-30-2010, 08:08 PM
steven.lindsay1 steven.lindsay1 is offline
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I have this harness, Waited 6 month for it to be built. Was very easy to install has wires for everything .

Bad thing is today was the day to get her running, fuel pump kicked on one time now no power, same with service engine light cranks all day no start even if i run power to the pump, still very happy with the harness just need to tinker a bit. I will let you know if I run into any problems with the product itself.

but it was very easy to run and again there is wiring for everything you could think of.
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Old 11-01-2010, 07:10 PM
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Back in 1998 I used one of their 18 circuit complete harnesses for my '69 and had no complaints. I thought everything was marked and laidout as good as could be. The quality was top notch also.

I have put some "other's" harnesses in a couple of other streetrods and let's just say that the quality was not up to par. Half-ass and/or lacking markings and labels for where the wires go. Terminal ends failing over time (not fun to try to troubleshoot a completed car a few years later).

Another good experience besides Painless though was Street & Performance. I was helping a friend of mine build a '38 Chevy pickup and we were putting an LS into it. He was known for taking the "cheap way out" a lot of times. I finally convinced him to buy S&P's LS engine harness and boy was it money well spent. Even once he got it and we laid it out, we noitced that it had the wrong ends for the injectors we were using. I looked at his notes and noticed that he specified the wrong ends, not them. Anyway he called them back and told them about it and they still fixed it on their dime, so with that being said, next time I buy a harness, I would not hesitate to buy from Painless or Street and Performance.
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Old 11-02-2010, 09:56 PM
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Thanks for the replies.

I have been since re-evaluating my wiring options and decided to go with AAW's highway 22 kit with a Speartech LS harness. As much as I like the idea of the Painless 60608 harness, I do not want to be cornered into only being able to use an LS1/6.
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