Funny you mention that. Everything around here the past 30 years or so is bailed in twine, well, like a plastic twine now. Anyways, I went into my dad's barn yesterday and on the wall was a pair of bailing wire cutters, attached to the wall with...bailing wire. They have been in that same spot for at least 30 years! Oh, now it's called mechanics wire
I try to only use them where they won’t show since most of my cars are 1957-1965 period builds. I use them to hold everything temporarily until all the wiring is done then tape wrap it. I have made a few harnesses using lacing tape and Clove-hitch knots as called out in the NASA spec. Looks cool but not necessarily correct for an old car. I do use them for miscellaneous stuff until I figure out a better way. Sent from my iPad using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I just like to keep stuff neat and covered and looking somewhat original. I'm no purist, I might even use a piece of the ribbed factory style loom in a hidden place if I don't have any of the other stuff. But I understand your cars are more for go than show, so I can respect a differing opinion. I guess street rods are just driven on the street, and hot rods are track and street. Mine is more of an ornament for my garage right now!
In the local car factory they were called chicken bands. These had notches in the strap. Found a pair of tir wrap side cutters on amazon. Cuts them flush. Also in the factory were ones that had a tab to stick into a hole and the zip them. Used under the hood as best as I remember. Still have a few.
Those are likely Thomas and Betts (T & B) Ty-Rap cable ties. They are a lot more durable and much more resistant to becoming brittle and cracking. The phone company I worked for never screwed around when it came to buying supplies and always got the good stuff. Cheaper to do it right the first time, right? I may or may not have a lifetime supply of T&B Ty-Raps rat-holed in my shop, both the black and the translucent ones, as well as a few bags of the colored ones. The colored ones were used to separate and mark cable binders, and the also in pedestals and splice cases to mark which direction a specific cable ran from that particular location. The code as I remember it is: Blue Towards the Central Office Orange North Green East Brown South Slate West
I remember in the Mid 60's both Panduit and T&B came out with them. Always referred to as Ty-Raps They were pricey and we were told to continue using string. Not that way any longer. You can pick them up at any Dollar Store, camera store or camping supply. Black Ty-Raps were for outdoor use, anywhere with UV exposure. Not sure if is still the case.
I remember when they first came out in the late '50's. They were kind of pricy for a high school kid. I saw a '32 Olds with a V-8 that was nicely built. He must have had a hundred zip ties on the wire harness under the hood. I remember thinking he must have been pretty well off to use that many.
I've torn into many an original car. Wiring was bundled by thread as shown above, small copper strips with a slotted end to cinch it up, or galvanized simple steel strips just wrapped tight. I really like the copper ones but the sensible thing to me is some thin sheet stainless cut into 1/4" strips about 2 or 3 inches long. I brush em for an OG look and be sure to radius the edges as I use em. Just roll em around till tight and never look back. There's sure to be a few places in my 39 that get those. Not to be a hypocrite tho, I have some weather and UV proof ties holding the stainless conduit on my front crossmember. Spoils of cleaning out a phone company truck once, got those outdoor versions and some huge badass wraps that use a separate locking gig with nice copper teeth and banding about 1/2" wide. I used to think Restoration Supply carried the copper slotted ones but their site is a little clunky for my phone.
As Ziggster mentioned you can find metal buckle clips at autoelectricsupplies.co.uk. I see they have aluminum and brass ones. I looked around a bit and saren.co.uk has them in aluminum, stainless, brass, and other materials. Haven’t ordered any yet, but I really like the look and probably will. I’m building a 60s flavor car.
I retired from Frieghtliner LLC 10 yrs ago and used ty-wraps on everything(black). They are hoping to build a million mile truck...……..
Yes because even the major manufacturers have them made in China. Also, they dry out with age. I found that not pulling them so tight will allow for shrinkage from time and heat. Now when I have to use them I get the stainless steel ones from Home Depot.
Knew a shop owner that unending supply of white wire ties. He dyed them all colors in Ritz dye. He sold bunches of them a rod runs.
I use them and know that in 2 or 3 years they will dry up and fall apart, what am I thinking, they are quick and easy and I'll fix them one at a time when they break, Ya, right.
Use them when I need them . One time we were at a 100 lap dirt track hobby stock race .The car got hard to shift. The rubber transmission mount had separated and broke allowing the transmission to shift to the right on the corners binding up the clutch linkage. It happened during qualifying so I got out 4 off the super size Zip ties and jacked the transmission back straight. Zip tied it in place and ran the whole 100 laps with them holding the tranny in place. Replaced them with a polyurethane mount after that.
Thanks @Almostdone for the Saren site. I'll likely order some when I need them. Here's the link below for those interested. http://saren.co.uk/index.html
I'm a cheap bastard, I use those paper covered wire ties that come on loaves of bread If I run short, I just send Bonnie to the store for more bread...the downside is we end up having sandwiches for dinner….for weeks
When I was a kid working for the phone company a few decades ago we had black ones and grey ones. The black ones came in several different sizes and were ok for outside exposure. The grey could not take the uv exposure so were only used where sunlight couldn't get to them. I still use the black ones.
Under the hood I use Summit's wire braid wrap and am able to tuck the wire ties inside of it. Under the dash who cares. I'm sure I have a lot others visible on the engine itself and on the radiator wall.
Well, don't be so cheap!. You didn't hear it from me, but those ties can be bought in a roll of several feet. I have/had one. Ben
The wheel won't slip in your hands if you wrap it. Back when, we used friction tape to wrap our baseball bats for that very reason!
And Squirrel saves the day with the definitive solution...killing 2 birds with one stone. A source for wire ties AND a place to throw all those damn sandwiches
I built cars in the 60’s and used ty-raps. I still call them by that name. Everything has it’s place. Yes I still use them. Sent from my iPad using H.A.M.B.
The Jalopy Journal
