Which wiring harness???

[Bill K.]

I used the American Autowire kit sold by Watsons Streetworks. The materials are great -- new style fuse box, labelled wires, good connectors. The instructions are okay -- they look nice, but don't address stock bug light switches and other bug specifics so you have to do some integration between the OEM wiring and the Watsons plan. I like the tiered design of the Watsons wiring layout -- makes more sence than the OEM setup.

The Autowire and Painless stuff are KITs not harnesses. You make the harness from the kit. The flexibility of the kit was nice, but took extra time designing as I went. I went with it for the fuse box, pre-labelled wires, and modern electrical layout. I bought additional wire, looms, and connectors as needed. Also, you need to buy a crimper for the open barrel connectors that come with the kit (~$50).

The Autowire fuse box comes with a mechanical flasher relay. I changed it out for an electric flasher. The electric responds much faster so you get a blink as soon as you hit the turn signal -- good for quick lane changes. Also, the electric unit works regardless of load -- good for LED bulbs.