Yes, but dont cut the harness off straight across.. You dont want all those connections happening in the same place. It will put a lump in the harness,,
When connecting wire ends, dont twist them together by holding the insulation & cranking on the bare ends & soldering that, then slipping shrink on it,, Slip heat shrink on one end, line it up, cross the bare wire ends about 1/2 way, spin one one way & spin the other the other way & wind them around each other lengthwise,,solder, slip the shrink up, shrink it,, Makes for a much slimmer connection,

The spacing the joints apart is a good idea. I think I'll use hollow solder wick to hold the ends together and just dab some solder on to that to make a smoother joint.

Thanks!