Cleaning up some wiring on a couple of projects- My question is does anyone have any tips/tricks, advise on how to run and route the wire in a neat, clean appearance? I think you guys know what I mean when you look at a wiring job and you are impressed by the tidiness of it. Any thoughts on how to do it??
Probably depends on the car...the style of wiring should match the style of car. We can only guess what the projects you're working on look like, since you didn't provide pictures. I would do a period race car quite different from a period custom, for example.
Good point- '52 chevy pickup and '40 chevy pickup - both sbc/th350 not going for period correct, they both have '70's gm fuse boxes and wiring schemes (i.e. gm wire colors for each circuit). I may use the asphalt cloth loom to make it look a little more "period"
The mid 50s-70s cars used non-adhesive, wide vinyl to wrap the wires, that's what I'd use, assuming the rest of thing is using mostly original and later OEM parts. The asphalt cloth loom would be appropriate if you were running a 235 engine, and other really old stuff. But others will have different opinions. Do what you think looks best.
I've wired a number of cars, and I try to make exit points from the cabin to the engine bay as low as possible, and close to the frame rails, or behind the engine. Keeping the exit point out of sight will make keeping the rest the wiring easier to conceal. If you punch a hole right where the hole is seen, then it's impossible to hide the wiring to the engine, lights, horn, etc. I buy rolls of black cloth wire wrap tape, and use it for looms. If it has to show I like the stock type look that tape has going for it.
We just rewired my 55 last summer with a AAW kit, and a lot of custom stuff on top of it. Hid everything as much as possible, and there's a fair amount of wiring in this car. A lot of this will hinge on what kind of components you are running, and what kind of car you're working on. Do you have electric fans? AC? Aftermarket ignition? Is there space to hide wiring? Do you have ample room beind the dash? We started from scratch by gutting the whole car and drew out a diagram first. Planning it all out first will go a LONG way towards making the install easier. I've got some pics of some of the stuff we did if you're interested.
The PO of my OT dune car used liberal amounts of split, corrugated, blue, plastic, wire loom and one thousand small zip ties. Don't do that!
Both of these are pretty bare bones...no a/c, no heater, 10SI alternators, HEI, real basic nothing exotic or high performance. Hoping to avoid the black plastic loom like the plague
Hockey stick tape might work as well. I use it on the cracked steering wheel in my '39 p/u and it holds up well and isn't sticky to the touch. Just a thought.
Good to see you still around Dan! I also prefer the cotton loom. Carquest and others carries it in a couple different diameters.
Shoe laces every foot or so. I always seem to add or remove wires in the bundles after I think I'm done. 8^)
Bandit Billy and 51504bat just gave me an idea for mine or yours, use that cheap plastic loom as small as needed then wrap the loom with cloth hockey tape. I like it, you may too.
This is the stuff I used. Really nice stuff to work with. You can get it in different sizes too. https://www.amazon.com/Tesa-Adhesive-Wiring-Original-Isoband/dp/B00XPBB6L8/ref=sr_1_11?crid=XSGEY0LXFAFM&keywords=cloth+wiring+harness+tape&qid=1647465103&sprefix=cloth+wiring+harness+tape,aps,57&sr=8-11
Oh, you have issues. We could be friends (or in the same 12 step program). I have a buddy that wired his 30 Ford coupe and laced his harness with that military twine, knot tying, technique thingy. It looks very cool and traditional on his car...even if I don't know what it is called.
cable lacing Friction tape This stuff is cool we use it on forklifts and equipment very good flexibility and it won’t rub through or chafe Or plane old convoluted tubing . Not traditional , but still a clean look .
I wrap all my wiring with 3M super 33 tape. Then if it's in a visible location I use hockey stick tape. The super 33 doesn't leave black nasty residue, it is what professional electricians use. Never use 3M Temflex 1700, that is the cheap tape to be avoided.
Mine is tied with lacing anywhere you can't see it. Anything visible is in woven covering like posted above. I'm not traditional.
all this talk of this tape or that tape reminds me of how many times I have had to cut a ton of tape off someone else's wiring job to find the problem and usually the more tape the more problems you find.
Pics of the week for me. Excellent work. Makes me feel all calm and settled, and that the world is as it should be. Thanks, man........
That makes me feel bad, I thought mine was neatly done until I saw that. I used tie string and the mesh style split tubing on my wiring.
I am trying to locate the wiring faults on my OT sand thing and I started with any where there is tape or a lot of wire ties. So far that technique has yielded some interesting finds. Here is a good one, peel back the tape and see what you get. It is like opening an Advent calendar without the candy. Oy yeh!
I bought some split loom off of eBay like in Vandenplas's 4th pic down. Got three different sizes according to the wire bundle size. It being black woven it doesn't stick out like the convoluted loom does.
I used that Tesa tape, and it's most excellent to work with. However, do understand that it's self-amalgamating so once you've wrapped it you've about 3 weeks where you can unwrap it to make changes before pulling it off leaves sticky black residue behind all over everything. Phil
I do a couple wraps of electrical tape about every foot on the individual groups then stick it inside the plastic loom, run it low on the frame (which is also black) with the brake lines or fuel lines, then come up from the bottom to wherever it's going to. It's easy to trace, diagnose and service if need be.
A friend picked up a project car where the PO had used 12ga solid core to wire the entire car... all from ONE blue spool. Wires terminated into factory plugs with 2-3" pigtails, and all connections were twist-on wire nuts. Don't do that either!
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