I think I'm going to be rewiring the engines due to piss poor crimping job that was done on the new harnesses that are on them now. 2 questions come up. Is there a difference between the $90 harness available from some place like ebasic power and the $150 harness from someplace like CP? Next question- the reason I'm looking into new harnesses and not just changing out the terminal ends is because there really isn't enough excess wire to do it. I was considering installing weatherpack connections in place of the terminal ends. This would solve the short wire issue and need for a new harness possibly but at the expense of purchasing and learning how to crimp a bunch of weather pack type connectors which aren't exactly cheap when you add up how many would be needed. Any thoughts on trying to save the old harnesses with about 10hrs use on them by using the weather pack or some other type connectors?

A few years ago we rewired everything from the helm to the engine compartment. We even rewired all the running lights. It was eye opening to see how many wires were frayed bare in the original Mercury harness. We started by buying a new harness from Mercury thru BAM. We also replaced every accessory wire that was added for after market parts, like electric fuel pumps, mufflers, fuel pressure, oil temp, etc, etc, etc,... The WeatherPac's were an excellent solution. We now have 100% of the wiring in the boat wired thru a WeatherPacs under the dash/helm area. The entire dash can be removed in 5-10 min by removing 4 screws and disconnecting the WeatherPac's. We also ran everything thru new 3 new fuse panels and eliminated all the glass fuses from the 80's. Cigarette Racing would be impressed with the detail in our wiring project. If you are interested, I could send you some pic's and make you a deal on all the leftover WeatherPacks and all the color coded marine wiring.
Ben

Yes, I'd be interested in pics and knowing what leftovers you have thanks. I'll send you a pm with contact info.

i would also like to see pics as i am in the process of a complete restoration/upgrade myself.