Hot Rods Wiring tricks for your hot rod?

http://www.delcity.net/store/Heat-Shrink,-Solder-Ring-Terminals/p_804393
I like these, heat shrink and solder. We did a fair amount of testing at the last company I was with and they did very well under truck chassis in all weather conditions. A little spendy but worth it.

 

I don't know if its been said before, but I prefer not to solder. Not because its easier, but because a good crimped connector won't crack like solder can over time. Check out a company called waytekwire.com They have alot of great stuff, especially uninsulated butt connectors that disappear under heat shrink. I doubt any of my cars will ever see enough abuse to eventually vibrate a soldered connection to death, but its just my .02

 

The cheap, sanitary way I've always wired my cars is..........using the parts store insulated connectors, I cut off the plastic insulator with a razor saw, crimp the wire on and add a daub of solder, wrap with quality electrical tape and finish with quality heat shrink tubing. Looks professional, lasts forever and the cost is next to nothing!

 

this is Gardner Benders ( GB) internet store , very good stuff ..

 

Yep these work great and it kind of helped me my best buddy was in charge of that and the wire / wire tie departments. Needless to say I won't be needing anything anytime soon

Also when I wire dashes, I route the wires down first to the bottom channel of the dash, then to the outside edge of the dash, then along the inside edge of the cowl to the firewall. From there route them where they go. That way you have no wires spanning between the dash and the firewall and makes life much easier to work on things under the dash in the future. I also paint the back side of the dash and underside of the cowl white to help see things when you have to work under the dash.

 

I solder and heat shrink everything and haven't had a problem yet. For tight miserable spaces like under the dash, I love my LED headlight (as in a light on your head) from the camping store. You look like a dork, but you can use both hands and its always lit where you're looking.

 

I did once put the fuse box horizontal to the ground under the dash. Mounted on an hinged sheet of aluminum, hinges on the dash side and a dzus from an Audi under engine cover on the other, for servicing just unscrew and the panel swings in plane sight with as an extra bonus access to the back side if needed.

 

I have been in the 2 way radio business for many moons so some of the wiring procedures
from that have rubbed off on my hot rod.
Under the dash are two terminal strips, one hot and one ground.
All electrical devices on the car have their own ground wire that is brought back to the ground terminal strip. All hot wires going out have a breaker.(no fuses)
All wire is teflon covered aircraft type. All cable lacing is kevlar lacing cord.
All crimp connectors are crimped with a complete closure cycle type tool that achieves metal migration between the wire and the connector.
A few things from racing procedures are also used like running all wiring in the flywheel area through a 1/4 inch wall steel tube and on the opposite side of the car from the two gas lines which are in a steel tube also.

 

I would like to see some pics( if it's not too much trouble), particularly the Kevlar laced cable.

 

I've used those military connectors in the military, was a radio guy, 31U. I don't suggest trying to fix those connectors, there are some field fixes that may work for a while.

 

I know the argument on soldered vs crimp. I still solder, and shrink tube.

Only useful suggestions are to use a quick disconnect harness for the starter, and put some heat insulated sleeve around it.

 

I will chime in on the side of crimp, solder, and heat shrink. I was taught that any connection not soldered was a temporary connection at best. The best crimpers that I have ever found were made by Packard Electrical. They produce the proper crimp if used with the proper wire gauge, terminal size, and crimper. Bigger wire, bigger terminal, bigger crimper.

Those cheap deals with the plastic cover that prevent you from seeing what you are doing, or soldering, are available to maybe get you off the side of the road and back home. Then you can do a good job of assembling a more permanent connection.

 

Nice looking work, BUT you know that you can buy the terminals WITHOUT the plastic, already? RIGHT?? If so, why would you want to spend the time taking the insulation off??

 

Oh, I know, but I am doing everything in my power to NOT stand on my head.

 

All of the special tooling for those is beyond what is cost-effective for most of us to be using. There are cheaper plastic shell connectors which could make great bulkhead connectors, but again, the cost of the crimp tooling comes into play.

 

Check this tape out. looks retro but is pretty kick ass. Nice alternative to the split loom stuff....

http://www.mobilesolutions-usa.com/tesa-tape.html

 

http://www.homedepot.com/p/3M-3-4-in-x-20-ft-Friction-Tape-Black-3407NA-BA-6/202192876

http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1285885

I prefer the Ace tape.

 

The insulated ones are much easier to find.....

 

The Ace tape is sticky on both sides which is kind of a mess IMO. The Tesa tape is not.

 

It only sticks to itself, it's not actually sticky on both sides.

And it's something we used when I was a kid....

 

LOL , you have to be careful as one time I made myself too comfortable and fell asleep under the wheel instead of behind it ... my employees thought it was funny and left me there and went home at quitting time . I woke up around 9 pm ..

 

Don't "hide" wires in an effort for a cleaner look. You'll regret it if you ever have to trace down a problem later on.

 

In the Air Force we called that tape "F4 tape". It was the only thing that held them together....

 

CABLE LACING
On a related theme:
Several years back I recall an article in INVENTION AND TECHNOLOGY magazine (Published by American Heritage Magazine) on hand made aircraft wire looming and cable lacing done during WWII. They used pics of several Betty Grable looking ladies in some aircraft factory hand lacing up wire bundles with twine/thread and etc. Think they were making wiring harnesses for P-38's and such. Very artful and functional at the same time. In the days before zip ties and such. Would look good in any traditional hot rod...

You can google "cable lacing" and see how it's done...

 

I have used Amphenol connectors a lot and the pins are removable, takes a special tool to release them. They are available from places like Allied Electronics and are not too expensive either.

 

True, however I've got hundreds of the cheap plastic insulated terminals that I inherited from my dad. Chuck the terminal in a vise, slice it down the middle with a razor saw and the insulator slides right off. 20 seconds, max!

 

casper electronics ( they cater to the modern EFI cars and can get OEm only plugs cheaper both in new or old dlphi styles ) sells a modern version thats 22 pin if you want to hide it and want a clean plug http://www.casperselectronics.com/store2/product_info.php?
products_id=694

Waytek sells the amphenol style connectors BY Duetsche

 

One thing to check before using some of these plug connectors is their amp rating. A lot of these are only good for 10-12 amps max which may be marginal or too small for some circuits. A pair of halogen headlights could be enough to burn these up....

 

roothawg what harness did u buy

 

Cable lacing is probably still MIL-SPEC. It's how I wired my cars. I don't know where you can get the lacing tape. I used to get it from our wiring shop. But I haven't wired a car since I retired and that was ..... oh, never mind.