Cascade Crew

iansane · Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 1:38 am Post subject: Wiring fun!

So many of you know I have a mod schedule (or rather mod motivation?) similar to Dewey's. ( Wavey

Hi Dew! ) in that it takes me awhile to get going. Well I finally started tearing apart one of the spare LSx harnesses I have. Any of you that have looked under my hood have seen the rats nest of wires I call an engine harness and while it has worked beautifully, it is FAR from beautiful. My perfectionism is kicking in and I'd like to clean up and maybe hide the wires a bit. I doubt I'll get it done by dyno but I can try. Very Happy

I also figured I'd give a glimpse to anyone looking to build/strip their own harness for LSx.

Started with this.

My two most trusty harness stripping tools. Pin tool and flathead screw driver.

And since I want to keep my hands somewhat clean during this I'll use gloves. Harness Adhesive is nasty stuff and these are some new gloves I got in at work. They're fricken thick as hell and tough. Much better than the generic ones.

After about an hour I'm left with this. And I'm not even halfway done. Awesome.

I forgot how insanely tedious this is. If I didn't want to route wires myself and wrap with specific covers I'd probably pay someone else to do this!

And I'm done for tonight. Maybe I'll continue tomorrow. Smile

91RSVert · Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 3:38 am Post subject:

Been their, done that. This project sucks.

I should take some pics of mine. Looks almost like a stock harness.

83Z28BlackBetty · Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 4:48 am Post subject:

Damn that looks like a project and a half! Good luck man!

-jake

aaron_sK · Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 8:27 am Post subject:

I never have figured out why people hate electrical. I love rewiring stuff. I must be a crazy person. Laughing

BTW, what's the Mustang amplifier for? Razz

Twilightoptics · Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 9:15 am Post subject:

We've got this awesome Volvo Electrical Tape. It's cloth and lets the harness move a little bit better than the $2.00 roll of 6 from harborfrieght special.

Love this stuff.

91camaro_rs · Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 10:09 am Post subject:

i need to re do my harness too Embarassed

Schultzy89GTA · Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 10:14 am Post subject:

Twilightoptics · Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 10:20 am Post subject:

Sure. I think it's like $18 something a roll. I haven't priced it in a while. Techs have many laying in their tool box :O) And I feel I might have a wiring job coming up today lol Laughing

Would you like a roll?

Schultzy89GTA · Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 12:08 pm Post subject:

Yes I would. Haven't gone back to clean up my rat's nest after the last few times of pulling the engine. It used to be purdy under there! Dang Rich is making us all look bad with his detailing so need to get busy Wink

-Schultzy

iansane · Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 12:13 pm Post subject:

As soon as I finish my take home Chem exam, go to lab, do meteorology homework/chem homework, and get off work I MIGHT be able to continue working on this. Laughing

Twilightoptics · Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 5:34 pm Post subject:

I'll get a roll for Mike and Ian. Remind me before dyno. If I don't end up with electrical jobs before then it should only be able $12 a roll my cost. Not sure how long one is. It's about 4 1/8" in dia and a hole core of 1 1/2". lol

BluFbdy · Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 10:18 pm Post subject:

hmmm im seeing a full wire tuck in the near future lol

iansane · Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 10:28 pm Post subject:

DBL_TKE · Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 8:21 pm Post subject:

You take just as long as I do to get going on electrical. You may as well do a wire tuck now. Why do the work twice?

iansane · Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2011 10:23 pm Post subject:

I know it doesn't LOOK like progress but it is. Laughing

Oh and pictures are clearer because I ditched my old blackberry storm.

I also just ordered 100 ecm pins so extend the harness cleanly because I am HORRIBLE at soldering and its a good bit easier. Does anyone know of any bulkhead style connectors for a large number of wires? 30+? trying to bring the wires in the car below sight line on the firewall.

chevymad · Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2011 10:35 pm Post subject:

Have you tried the self soldering heat shrink butt splice connectors you just heat with a heat gun? Pretty sweet. Solders your wires together and shrink wraps the connection all at once, no soldering iron needed.

iansane · Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2011 12:17 am Post subject:

Yup! I used those to make 90% of the harness that's in the car. Those are AWESOME. Although this time around I'd like to do it with minimal butt splices, regardless of how solid they are. Very Happy

83Z28BlackBetty · Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 10:30 am Post subject:

I'm resurrecting this thread from the grave since i'm in the middle of a similar project myself.

Ian, How has the progress come?

~JAKE

iansane · Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 8:51 pm Post subject:

I stopped taking pictures during my progress because I got a bit lazy. Laughing

The harness is fully ripped about and tagged. I've been taking a few nights here and there to drape it across the engine bay to try and find the cleanest routing for everything. I'm removing my coils from the valve covers which has some extra wiring involved. I'm to the step of final assembly now. Very Happy

blue89 · Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 7:29 am Post subject:

I wish i could be of use to you guys. This is what i do for work. Have you found a website that offers the part numbers for the connectors and terminals? I think most of them are Packard or Delphi.