Need wiring harness for 1973 L

I KNEW (past tense of know) of one LOCAL person who purchased a Pantera and was intending to prepare it for "road racing".

He inquired here about a wire harness, then turned and dismissed all responses as being unknowledgeable. Informed all that the Francis unit was what to use.

About a month later he sold the car. I presume that it was somehow, undoable/unworkable, etc? Don't know.

Personally I would say, there isn't anything wrong with the original harness. In fact, it is the highest quality unit available with marine quality plated wiring.

The mention of the "bad" Italian electronics in the car is just another example of unknowledgeable people spreading untruths or maybe alternate facts?

They are high tech for the era, were limited to European market thinking and nationalistic sourcing. They are very updatable reasonably now.

They are undeniably different thinking from what would be typical in a North American built vehicle of the era and therein creates much of the criticism.

The connectors used are available separately now also if they need to be replaced.

Wilkinson contracted with Pantera-Electronics to build some. How many? I don't know.

Does Pantera-electronics have any left from the build for Wilkinson? I don't know.

Does Wilkinson have any left to sell? I don't know. Ask him.

www.panterasbywilkinson.com/



What do/did the new harness cost? Ball park, $3,000.

I think from what I saw of the harness, just in bulk scrap for it's copper content, it is worth several hundred dollars?

The comment from Haas on the original harness was 1) he identified three variations of the harness 2) there were a couple of mistakes in them that needed to be corrected. If you want specifics, ask Jon.

www.Pantera-electronics.com.

Doug, Thanks for the comments.
I called about the Francis unit -$500 but sounds like it needs considerable adaptation.
Contacted Painless -$550. less adaptation and currently their offering a $100 off coupon. They said other Pantera owners used their 'Universal' harness with success. They suggested mounting the Fuse block on/near the firewall to avoid some circuit wires being too long/or short due to our mid-engine config. Also each circuit length is 10 feet long. I've only been on this board for 1 year so I'm not sure I know Haas/Jon but I'll try looking at the membership ...
Thanks again

I don't personally know about the ease/difficulty of adapting any of the harnesses.

You probably will at least NEED to get the Pantera harness plugs to install into any harness that you buy OR make.

Those you can get from Jon Haas. He has those.

I'm not sure why anyone would want to replace the entire harness if the one you have is good?

Of course if there is no choice but replace it, then...of course.

From having done lots of harness related work to my car, my opinion is that you want as close to a plug in as possible.

For me, what on the surface looks like it should take 15 minutes winds up taking me a couple of days or more.

In any case I wish you the best in your project. Changing the harness IS a PROJECT.

When the previous owner removed everything for prep/paint the harness condition was bad so replacement was necessary. Sounds like I shouldn't minimize the degree of difficulty in harness replacement.
Again, Thanks for your suggestions

Just a suggestion -

It would seem to me that if you have the harness, going through it and replacing the bad stuff, rewrapping it and repairing connectors at the ends might be a lot easier than a full new replacement.

That way you ought to be able to match lengths, etc.

There's a lot of wiring diagrams if you search Pantera Place, or if you join POCA and get access to their technical library.

Good Luck

Rocky

I have used Ron Francis products to completely wire several Panreras. His is the only harness that I know of which allows you to attach the leads to the fuse panel yourself. All of the others have the wires already attached meaning that if they are too short, you have to splice in an extension to make it work. I will highly recommend using the original relay for the headlight doors. Having that one piece really simplifies the wiring needed to make the headlights work as well powering the lift motors. Using the original hazard switch helps as well. Having the correct plugs for things like the tail light buckets etc..helps but it is not necessary.

Ron

Thanks for the suggestion Rocky but I received the car with no harness :-(

Ron, you mentioned you've had good results with the Francis harness. Do you remember the type or model number? and thanks the tips using the headlight door relay and hazard switch. If you don't mind I would like to PM you to discuss this project in detail. More info/research before the project starts usually results in a better finished product.

I love this Forum - So much information and experience and owners willing to share their time and knowledge...

[QUOTE]Originally posted by BillT:
Ron, you mentioned you've had good results with the Francis harness. Do you remember the type or model number? and thanks the tips using the headlight door relay and hazard switch. If you don't mind I would like to PM you to discuss this project in detail. More info/research before the project starts usually results in a better finished product/QUOTE]


This is the version that I have had the best luck with.
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/rfw-xp67/overview/

PM is fine or we can discuss it here?
Either is fine with me. Glad to help out.


Ron

Ron, I'll look up that harness and Thanks for your willingness to help out.
Bill