what size wire for an overhaul

[Redav72 227]

I'm planning to do an electrical overhaul of an 85 310-8 that I just purchased.  What size wire should I get (10, 14AWG?) and where can I get a variety of colors to recreate the wiring harness.

[953 nut 51,940]

For general wiring such as Magneto to ignition switch, solenoid to ignition switch, lights, safety switches and hour meter I would use 16 AWG. The wire from the voltage regulator should be 12 or 14AWG and the wire from the battery to 30 amp fuse then on to your ignition switch should be 12AWG. The battery cables to ground, solenoid and to the starter should be 6 AWG.

DelCity    https://www.delcity.net/    is the best place to buy good quality terminal ends and the 6 AWG leads. The colored primary wires they sell are in 100 foot rolls for $ 12.30, the 30 foot roll you would get at the local auto parts store is about $ 12 with three colors available while DelCity has a good selection of colors and it is good quality copper wire.

Do not use terminal ends from Harbor Freight.

[pacer 3,160]

Another option I've used a couple times is getting a trailer tail light 'kit', it has about 20' of wire and has some ....8-10?wires of all different colors and is very reasonable (been too long since I bought one so cant even guess at cost!) I found that at TSC. TSC also has a pretty good selection of wire conx in small amounts - if you only need 2-3 instead of buying in bulk quanities.

[953 nut 51,940]

10 hours ago, pacer said:

if you only need 2-3 instead of buying in bulk quanities.

            At DelCity the price for a 100 foot roll is about the same as a small amount at retail stores and shipping is free on orders of $ 50 or more. The left over wire could be traded with someone who needs it or sold. They also sell the Packard 56 wiring terminals which are far better than the ones you can find most places. The 7 wire trailer wiring harnesses are generally 12 AWG which is heavier than needed.

[Handy Don 10,658]

On 5/6/2023 at 9:28 AM, pacer said:

Another option I've used a couple times is getting a trailer tail light 'kit', it has about 20' of wire and has some ....8-10?wires of all different colors and is very reasonable (been too long since I bought one so cant even guess at cost!) I found that at TSC. 

This is a good option, but be sure to read the fine print. Many of these kits come with aluminum core wiring with a copper coating, not solid copper.

[Lee1977 6,258]

I used 14 gage copper bought six 50' rolls of ebay I think it around $20 the colors were red, black, white, blue, yellow, and green.