I am starting to rewiring my 49' shoebox and I am wondering what everyone is using to hold the wires in the engine bay? I have thought about using the adel type clamps or some screw mounts for zip ties. I could use the original style clips but I would have to wait untill my wiring is complete to figure out what size clips I would need. What type of clips/clamps has everyone used. I want to keep it as clean as possible. Thanks in advance for all info/replies. If it maters I am using a EZ wire 21 circuit kit.
I used mostly the Adel type, but in this area where the wiring ran close to the headers I made some clamps so the bundle would be tight against the frame and as far away as possible from the headers.
Nice job on the clamps. Also, is anyone covering the wires? I bought some of the weaved protective covering that when you push it together it expands. I think I am going to use to protect the wires and cover them. If anyone else has pics please post them up.
On my friend's '50 F1 I just used that plastic wire loom to put the wires in (black of course) and ran them under the top lip of the frame rail. I used black zip ties and various holes in the frame or those factory type frame clips to hold the wires. My wire bundle was too big for the frame clips so I used them to hold the zip ties which then wrapped around the loom. Unfortunately I don't have any pics.
I ran the wires up in the wheel wells where the inner fender bolts to the fenders using the p-clips and inside convoluted tubing. only wire leg in the engine compartment was for temp sender, oil press, ign, and alt.
This is the type of covering I have and plan to use. http://tiewraps.com/flexo_pet.html I have a couple different sizes that should work. Is there any reason not to use it? Anyone else used it and have pics? I am not a big fan of the spiral wrap or split loom. I think using this will be a cleaner install and look better imo.
I've never used that type of wrap but it looks pretty nice. I bet it will look a lot better than the split loom I used on my buddy's truck. Let us know how it works out.
I will update this thread and I need to start a build thread eventually. I like that it will look cleaner than the split loom (not a big fan of the split loom) It will be more of a pain to plan out and cover but I think the end result will be worth it. I will only be using the covering in the engine bay and on the wiring that goes to the back of the car. Under the dash I will attempt to keep it as clean as possible and just zip tie the wires. Anyone else have any pics of their underhood wireing?
I detest Adel clips. I like the factory style wire clips that fit on a body flange for a 50s style look.. They are available reproduction. Mine were olive drab which I like as a detail. They work for 1 wire or many wires and a single wire can be added later if necessary. That is what it looked like in the 50s so that is the look that I personally want. Adel clips and tie wraps look out of place to my critical eye. The devil is in the details.
I've used that wire loom you're talking about. I used it on my harley and it works and looks great! I bought it locally at an electric surplus store, they sold it by the foot. I am using it on everything I wire now, really looks nice. Unfortunately I dont have any pics.
The Flexo Pet covering looks very clean. Does it use heat shrink material at the ends to hold it in place? Please post some pic's when you have some installed...I would love to see them. Thanks
I am curious where to get the clips? Do you have any close up pics of the clips you used? Got a link for them? Yes you need to use something to keep the ends from fraying, I will be using shrink wrap on mine.
I got mine from Ebay but any old car restoration house will have similar clips and dodads. You don't have to limit yourself to a single make. Check the tri5 Chevys and Fords. When I started we robbed them from the junk yard. Some people will whine about it being a restoration rather than a "true hotrod" but that's OK. I'm a detail freak. If you want parts from a certain era check out the restoration houses of that era...all makes.
Couple of things, I don't have any pictures to show just because I have never thought to take pictures of them, but I use some cool stuff. The panel clips that were shown above on the Galaxie are available through any early Ford supplier that sells stuff for Mustangs. They come in bags packaged with another type of clip that I use a bunch. It's the stock harness clips for Falcon and Mustangs that installs with just a 3/16" hole drilled into the installing surface. The wires them selves just get held in a wrap around snap strap kinda affair and clipped in. That's a terrible discription, but look on any Falcon or Mustang resto sight and you'll see what I mean... They're cheap too! The other one I love is also early Ford stuff used when you need the clip to an open, unboxed frame rail. They came on early to mid fifties F-100s, and viewed from the side look like a small "U" bend with an extra bump in the end. The wires fit in the extra bump, and the "U" shape clips over the frame, done. Much cleaner than holes and Zip ties! I also wouldn't use a covering for the wiring. Just personal preference, but I take alot of time unsuring that my wires are straight and parallel, the tie wrap every six inches or so. Lately, as the demand for more period correct stuff has become more, I have been playing with old fashioned waxed tread half ties, but I'm not quite up to speed on that yet. My main reason for no covering is ease of trouble shooting later on down the line. Convoluted plastic gets ripped out of anything I redo immeadiatly, 'cause I have seen wires stripped bare by that crap! if you would like to see what I'm talking about, I'll post some pictures later.
Please do post pics. I think I am also going to lace the wires with a waxed string I have that is used on aircraft wiring. I have a roll that I aquired in my navy days.
I just dug through my rat tangle of pictures and came up with a shot that shows the retainers that I was talking about. These are in the Engine compartment for my girlfriends Falcon wagon, and you'll note at the time they didn't have the wiring strung through them yet, so they aren't clipped together. The round holes that you see hanging in the picts wrap the wires then clip to the base which is plugged into a 3/16" hole... Clear as mud, right? Remember that the big firewall clips like on the Galaxie posted earlier usually come packed with the kit too. Kits are about 8 bucks, so grab a couple. I don't have any of the frame clips to show right now, (I knew I had to get to So-Cal for something!) but I found a part number for them. The truck version is B-14585-L, and is about an inch and a half long. They also have B-a4585-S which is shorter at about an inch long. Punch thee numbers in on just about any Early Ford supply web sight and I'm sure you'll see what I mean. Very clean, very factory on an open rail frame. Thought I'd show a couple of random wiring tie shots while I was at it too. I always go to a local "tech" (computer) wiring supply company to get mine, and I buy several hundered tiny tie wraps in a couple of lengths when I do. I judge the spacing off my closed fist, so they are about five inches apart and look very uniform. These shots are from a '49 Olds instument cluster I put new Auto Meter gauges into for a friend. Although you didn't ask, the other thing I get lots of at the electronics supply store is heat shrink tube. I always take the damn circus looking colored ends off of comercially made terminal ends, crimp them with the proper crimper, and heat shrink each end. Takes lot's more time that way, but they never get moist and corrode leaving you stranded some where. I use it alot to bundle harnesses and hoses too. Threw in a pict of some fuel and vacuum lines on the girlfriends car to show that too.
Yes I have come across the clips that you give the part number for. I think they will work out, I'm gona get a few from the local old parts store and check them out. The instrument cluster looks clean. Did you get the connectors from the comuter shop also? I was thinking of putting a connector on the instrument cluster but I think i'll just hard wire it. I will be using heat shrink on the ends of the wire covering I'm using and possibly a few other places.
Yes I sure did. It makes life many times easier to have a cluster on a quick disconnect like that if you have to or like to work on your car. Do not skimp on the connector though.
Picked up some of the clips and they won't work in the engine bay, might be able to use them on the frame.
One thing that Ive' found helpful is to use twist wraps, the ones they put on loaves of bread to keep the harness bundled together. They make it easier to add or remove a wire from the bundle and for re-routing. I just remove them when I'm done.
Take a look at the engine bay pict I posted again and enlarge it a bit. Right above the windshield bag are the Falcon mustang type wire clips that I was initially talking about. Just a simple quarter inch hole and your done... Clean. The ones I gave the number for are the clips for the framerails. I don't know what the Mustang Falcon clips are number wise, because I buy them pre packaged at So-Cal Phoenix.
Thanks for the tip, I'm just using some cheap small zip ties loosely so I can reroute untill I get everything in place. Then I'll finish it up. I see the clips, do you just loop them back and screw them together? I'm not big on the looks of those but might think about using them.
The Jalopy Journal
