xdanny510x

what is the difference between a stand alone harness and a custom harness? are they the same? im getting ready to do a swap into my lt1 to a ls1 and i asked a local shop and they said they can get me a stand alone harness..

FastKat

iTrader: (10)

A standalone harness hooks up to your engine (and trans, if electronically controlled with the engine) and then has wires that connect to power, ground, key-in-on-position, key-in-start-position, fuel pump, etc. It makes the engine "stands alone" from the fuse box and car that the engine (and maybe trans) came out of, and lets you easily put it in almost any chassis.

I'm not really sure how you'd define a custom harness. The word "custom" presents a whole bunch of problems just by its definition! Maybe "tailored to fit your unique application?"

psiconversion

iTrader: (5)

I agree. Think of a standalone harness as one that DOESNT integrate into your vehicle harness. The nice thing about this approach is that if you have an issue with your vehicle headlights, stereo, heater, etc. you arent ripping into the standalone engine harness to diagnose the problem.

Custom harness, to me at least, typically means an integrated custom harness to allow everything to function. I would go standalone personally.

Jon

deuce4935

iTrader: (2)

According to one company....http://www.currentperformance.com/eng_mgt.html

Pocket

iTrader: (22)

Stand alone means everything required to run is included. A 12v IGN connection is all thats required to fire. Mount the engine in anything from an old car to a free standing dyno and it will run

Custom is too vague a term. More commonly misapplied is plug and play when you take it out of the box, plug it into the car and fire. These generally require both a LSx half and whatever your swap car half is to be cut down and mated together. You have to do this with a stand alone harness to get gauge and other non-essential functions going, its just easier because the fuses and relays are already pre-packaged and integrated. The necessary splices are generally pulled out in their own bundle ready to go

Custom can also go with modified for whatever end. Component delete, trans changes, and repinning (ex: 98 to 99-02 PCMs) are common

bczee

iTrader: (12)

Ok... I'll put my 2 cents in. ...

I would put a "Standalone Harness" as a harness that would functionally operate the Engine without any other system being needed, with just only the required wires connected (power, ground, etc.)

I would put a "Custom Harness" as one that could be stock or a Standalone harness, but has been alter or taylor fitted to special requirements (such as turning it into a standalone would be one custom feature). These special items could be many things:
1) moving the alternator to the other side, lower or upper from its original location.
2) making the harness longer to move the ECM inside and under the dash or to the trunk.
3) using different sender,
4) removing the MAF for a SD Tune,
5) removing non need wires and connectors (EGR, EVAP, AC, etc)
5) almost anything else, etc..

But when it comes down to it.. IMO, they are pertty much the same thing ! LOL

Pocket

iTrader: (22)

The custom 3rd gen harnesses I build are not stand alone because they incorporate the stock fuseblock and relays in. Theres not combo of wires you can add 12v to and get the engine to fire short of the whole car being there

Sort of like a square is a rectangle, but a rectangle is not always a square