Isis Performance

[Hot_Rodder]

I'm going to be replacing the wiring on my Charger. I was wondering if anyone here possibly uses this product or has looked into it? If so, what's your opinion about it? I contacted the place to get some information on their stuff, and the person that I've been talking to through e-mail, has recommended these:
http://www.isispower.com/products.html?ProductID=ISIS3BOXZ the main kit, and
http://www.isispower.com/products.html?ProductID=ISISDASHZ

A little on the pricy side of things, but I wouldn't have to worry about a lot of the problems that go with the factory wiring issues.... Also, not as many wires...I've pretty much gave them a run down of things about the car, and an idea of what I'm wanting to do with the car. So far they've gave no challenging issues, I'm sure it's not going to be the easiest thing in the world, but it's different, and just a thought. So, feedback?

[Troy]

I was just checking those out last week. If I were building a car from scratch or a completely modified one it would be fun (I love technology) but the cost is prohibitive. I think the starter kit is $739 and you still have to splice in the connectors. Reproduction wiring harnesses aren't a heck of a lot cheaper but they're plug-n-play for the most part. Cool idea though.

Troy

[Rolling_Thunder]

I have studied this system in depth with those guys and thought about running it myself but overall I think it is a non-redundant system...    if one of those computers craps out...     you're hosed...         it is not like you can piece something together to "get her home"   

I was just worried about the long term durability....       sorry but i'm one of those "plan for the worse"

overall an awesome system

[c00nhunterjoe]

i went out and bought several rolls of different colored wire in many gauges and made my own from scratch. i will be making a custom dash and upgrading my lights but for now those remain stock

[Hot_Rodder]

Hmmm.... Didn't think about the long term side of things, though, I'd kind of would imagine that long term in there case would be a fairly decent amount of time, esp since this want be a daily driver at all. I had thought about just replacing my harness as is, but with the condition of things, like the master bulk head disconnect had gotten a little bit hot, some things just have to be replaced, and to replace some things, would mean having to buy a whole new harness.... When I first got the car, I got an engine wiring harness for it due to all the cuts and splices and such, I didn't feel like fooling around with all that mess just to get the old motor running too see what all I was working with. So, if I should decide to go with a factory type setup, probably the easiest route to go, that would be one less harness to go with. There are a few choices out there for these cars, but just trying to figure out what would be the best route to go.... After all, the overall theme for the car is a restification, car would be mostly factory (restored) with a modified drivetrain and perhaps a couple other things (hence the mod part). Anyway, lets see where this bit of info gets this thread.... 

[mauve66]

I have studied this system in depth with those guys and thought about running it myself but overall I think it is a non-redundant system...    if one of those computers craps out...     you're hosed...         it is not like you can piece something together to "get her home"   

I was just worried about the long term durability....       sorry but i'm one of those "plan for the worse"

overall an awesome system

i thought that system had a "limp home" mode so everything still worked, like modern car computers???

[Rolling_Thunder]

when certain parameters are broken yes - limp mode occurs in modern cars...    but i still don't know how to feel about it

[Hot_Rodder]

Let's see here, since I'm somewhat limited to where I can go for a new harness.... This is pretty much for price reference through Year One, keep in mind I'm in Georgia which means I get hung by our sales tax.... Also, I've already got an engine wiring harness now that's new along with the A/C wiring harness, so those two I want have to worry about, though the rest of it....
Dash harness: $599.00
Backup light and neutral safety switch harness: $29.95
Forward light harness with concealed headlights: $209.00
Rear light harness: $99.95
There are other harnesses that I need that I don't see listed.... For one example my car has factory power windows... Also, the seats have some kind of a sensor in them, factory with a wiring harness, not sure if it's included with one of the pre-listed harnesses or not.... If it is, I assume that it might be part of the rear harness... My fender mounted turn signals, factory, I'm not sure if they have their own harness, or if the light assembly has a long enough wire to plug into the forward light harness... I'm sure there's more, but it's after midnight, time to call it a day... Those prices above might give me a nightmare tonight, lol .

[suntech]

I like the isis system, and i think it will open up a lot of new posabilities.
As far as a " limp home " system, that is pretty easy to do outside the system, i would think.

[Troy]

Year One periodically has 20% off sales so that $599 harness ends up at $479 and if you buy more than $1,000 you get another 5 or 10% off (I forgot the scale). Again, the reproduction harness is plug-n-play and it's fairly easy to install. How much is your time worth? I really like the idea of the ISIS system and may consider it for one car but there are other DIY systems (just not as technically amazing) for a lot less money that work perfectly well.

Troy

[Hot_Rodder]

Troy,
I am familiar with the Year One discounts, and do remember a 20% off code, just can't remember what it is. As far as the 5% and 10%, if I remember right...... The 5% is for orders of $500 or more, and the 10% is for orders of $1000 or more. As I had said though, by going through Year One, though the harnesses are nice by any means, I'll get hit with the, I want to say, 7% sales tax..... Then of course the shipping, but I'd imagine it would be here within a day or two of order processing.
I've thought about other places, but am limited of where I can go, if this were my old '69 I used to have, it probably wouldn't be as much of a factor, but it's not my old '69 that I miss... Anyway, I looked through The Paddock and didn't see anything right off hand for my application. I'm sure if I were to skim through one of their magazines, they might list something, I just see anything online for it, course it is possible that I just over looked it, but anyway.
Either way, I do kind of need t make a decision on what I'm going to do as far as the wiring goes. This way I can figure what route to go when it comes to ignition for the motor I'm putting in for now until I can get the stroker motor built later on down the road. I say this because I don't want to run a factory style electronic distributor, then later down the road throw an MSD setup in it and have to work on the wiring to run it..... Then again, how long down the road will it be for this 505.... Want be tomorrow... Though I've already got the heads for it...

[Troy]

The Paddock buys their repro harnesses from Year One and marks them up. What year is your car? Ron Francis and Painless make DIY harnesses as well and have been discussed here in the past.

Troy

[FLG]

Just curious, maybe im missing the point but why go with a Isis harness over the Ron Francis for example??

[Troy]

Just curious, maybe im missing the point but why go with a Isis harness over the Ron Francis for example??

Modern electronics vs basic wiring? The ISIS system lets you run one cable from the controller to the distribution block(s) which can be located anywhere. The individual circuits (lights, etc.) then run a short distance from the block using regular wiring. All connections are sealed. The circuits are regulated and programmable. You don't need to look for 5 volt or 12 volt circuits - you plug everything into the same box and then program what you want it to do. You can even set it up for blinkers etc.

Troy

[Hot_Rodder]

My car is the '72 Charger SE. I looked into the Paddock kit, and even contacted them about one, the individual that contacted me back, didn't have a bunch to say. On this car, it's got a fasten seat belt light mounted to the underside of the dash pad and just above the gauges. There are two sensors, one in each front seat (bucket seats in my case) that is supposed to sense when someone is in the seat, ect... Then there's the factory power windows.... I'm wanting to try and find replacement motors that are stronger than the factory ones that I have now, but if possible, I'm wanting to keep the factory switches, for the factory look of the inside of the car. When I got the car home, after hooking a good battery up along with a couple of other things, I did manage to finally get both the front windows to go up and down, don't think I ever messed with the back two windows to see if I could get them to work or not. This was using the original style switches.... I also ran an idea by Painless, not sure if this is already being done or not, but when you take the master bulk head disconnect out of the car, it leave a nice sized hole in the firewall. I suggested that they make some kind of a plate that will bolt right in place to fill that hole, leave a mounting area for their small fuse box, and a hole with grommet for the new wires to pass through going underneath the hood area.... I know that my original harness needs to be replaced. On the windshield wiper switch, at one point, it got a bit warm and the connector melted a little, and some of the wiring got a bit hot too. There is a couple of points on that bulk head disconnect that got hot and turned it a dark shade in color.... The dash harness with bulk head disconnect is still sitting in the car, it's laying in the floor where the seats used to be at.... I had bought a replacement harness for the A/C, engine, and tranny (only two different harnesses) to be able to get it running when I first got the car. Since I've pulled pretty much everything out of the car.....

[FLG]

Gotcha! Not to hijack the question...but bottom line is it worth it??

[Hot_Rodder]

Is it worth it, assuming that you mean is the Isis kit worth buying and installing, dun know. It seems like it could/should be a fairly easy install, just different. I would think that the easiest kit to install would be a repop of the original factory setup... It's just gonna be one of those things to think about for now. I know that I will be doing a battery relocation kit along with everything else....

[FLG]

Good luck. If you do go with the Isis kit please have a write up.

I plan on calling them/watching the videos to get a better idea of how it works and if i want to drop 1k on it.

Might be something to do in the future. Was going to go with Ron Francis but now i will have to see.

[Hot_Rodder]

$1k is a bit of money when it comes to wiring for a car.... Though, with just the couple harnesses above, it comes to $937.90, plus the tax and s&h, no deductions were factored in on that, so it would be a little under that price... I figure still probably be somewhere in the $700 or $800 range, knowing my luck $800 range... I would like to find out more about the Isis stuff, but since it's so new, it has me wondering a little... New stuff usually comes with bugs. Bugs I don't feel like trying to solve..... Guess I need to think about it a little bit more, I am getting close to putting this motor in the car as is for now, and will need a complete harness... Other than Painless, Year One, custom conversion kits (like the Isis stuff), what else is there? I got my tranny/engine and A/C harness from a small business, nice quality harness, bad thing is, this was all they had to offer me at the time. Wish I could remember the name of the place, just can't right now, but I do recall seeing a blue '71 Cuda on their homepage...... Hmmmm....

[OneofNoneRT]

I am going with the ISIS ..It will be spring though before I get that far.. I Enjoy writing programs for machines so I am looking forward to see what I can do with this system..Led tailights etc.. If no one does a write up before then, I will..

[FLG]

Thanks OneofNone!

Name sounds familiar, your the guy with the sunroof charger correct??

[OneofNoneRT]

Yep.. I will  post an update on her shortly.. Just doesnt seem to be moving! But everyone that sees it comments on the progress..

[Troy]

http://evanswiring.tripod.com/ is who you were thinking of. They do not make the dash harnesses but I have their engine harnesses.

I have a hard time with figuring out why people will spend $10-15k on paint, $10k+ on an engine, $2-3k on an interior, $2-3k on chrome, etc. but balk at spending $1k on wiring or brakes. These old cars are rather notorious for burning to the ground due to old/hacked factory wiring and the stock drums brakes are nearly useless on today's roads. I got my dash harnesses for around $425 each. I have another car that I may do custom wiring on and that's where all the choices arise. I'm at the point in my life where I just try to avoid frustration and dealing with the bugs mentioned above is precisely why I didn't buy a DIY wiring kit. I'd rather be driving than crawling around in my car in the garage.

Troy