so im about to finish my sport 2000 install, and im wondering about my wireing loom. what should i do about the wireing harness?
Whats the proffered method? corrugated split loom? woven loom? woven split loom? straight up electrical tape? naked wiring?

if i dont get an ok answer, ill just do whats convenient.

 

Comes down to personal opinion a bit. I like heat shrink for everything. The braided loom is also nice. Corrugated split loom just looks like ***. If you already have all your connectors installed, you really can't do heat shrink. This stuff works well and looks pretty nice. Kinda need a hot knife to cut it though.

http://www.wirecare.com/products.asp?prodline=F6N

 

With the underhood temps that these cars have the only thing that should be used is a high quality motorsports grade heatshrink.

EB Turbo

 

i purchased this

UBN0.00BK V8/Truck/Muscle Car Kits - Black - 6 sizes - Shrink & Ties

 

This?..( I googled it to get info!)
http://www.wirecare.com/products.asp?prodline=DYAU

 

I think ill be buying some of that nylon wrap for the whole harness. Looks so clean and tidy. I started my PS2000 install today.

 

What shrink wrap do you use Chris?

 

We use a mil-rated 3M shrink from McMaster-Carr. Similar in specs to Raychem DR-25 without the cool lettering and about 1/10th the price.

 

Could you give a part number?

 

I don't know how to link from their site. They use frames and it's over my head. Do a search for polyolefin shrink.

 

the item i ordered comes with heatshrink btw.

 

Just used McMaster-Carr and ordered shrink wrap and some braided stuff. Will post pictures of my harness asap.

 

I've done the same... and it turned out well... If I did it again I'd prob wrap the harness completely in heatshrink and then sleeve to make it look nice (if that was the intent. Moisture and dirt can get inside the sleeving with this setup. It does keep everything nice and organized tho... All of this was bought from McMastercarr and I have dipped my shrink in gas to see if it was affected but it seemed to be ok.

 

Fero,

That looks a lot like how I did my harness. Nice!

 

Make sure to leave plenty of overlap between the shrink and braided loom. The braid will pull out easily. Using silicone lined shrink helps keep it in place as well. The silicone melts when you shrink the boots and then dries to help glue the braid in place.

 

all this talk of silicone and pulling out makes me laugh.


how much do you recommend? 1 to two inches?

 

C. Ludwig is right, it does come down to personal opinion. I personally think expandable braided loom looks a bit cheap since it's a one-size-fits-all solution. But it is self-shrinking so it won't be bigger than it has to be. That alone makes it a good choice for firewall openings.

On my 20B FC, I used corrugated split loom from Fastenal because it was $15 for 100ft of 1/4" stuff and one only needs one package of each of the larger sizes. Those were $2 each at Menards in the electrical department. I used it all of the 100ft bundle and about 50ft more, and it currently looks like crap as well because I didn't plan the harness out well enough. It was my first standalone install , I didn't cut any wires to length, used a ton of tape at each transition and there are around 10 or more lines of split loom running across the firewall. Had I planned it out better, thinned out the flying lead harness of the excess crap first, I would have only used about 75ft of 1/4" and the end result would look much better.

What I found was that you can put 6-7 wires up to 14 or 16 gauge through 1/4" split loom. Makes it good for organizing things into logical conduits such as putting all of the OMP wires together.

So lesson learned and as soon as I get the car started up for the first time, wiring is getting cleaned up and re-loomed properly. All of the nasty radio shack connectors I used will be replaced with good Weatherpack ones like the ignition coils got from the very start. I re-used the D585 coil subharnesses from their donor vehicle and got the appropriate mating connectors from pcsconnector.com along with extra pins/seals and a couple extra housings. Waytek Wire also carries them, but PCSconnector has a better selection and lists everything by the Delphi part number, GM part number, applicable GM & Delphi Pigtail part number and common uses too.

BTW, the subharness connectors are Delphi's GT150 series.

 

the braided loom is not one size fits all... I have about 4 different sizes ranging from small enough to fit perfectly over two wires... to almost an inch for the main harness. It looks very neat and professional...

but it is personal opinion... most of these harness will all stand up fine for many years of service as long as the connections are sound. Sure you can go hardcore and use the DR-25 and milspec wire and other goodies to make a terribly expensive harness. It will probably last longer than anything we make, but for a street car whose shelf life is only a few years before stuff gets sold/traded off/etc. its just not necessary.

 

Turbo II Haltech Sprint in first gen. sorry for the crappy pic.



Stock replacement 93'-95'



All using Raychem DR-25. Motorsports grade heatshrink. Submerging the harness in fluid be it water or gasoline wont necessarily show a problem. water ingress is something that happens over time and it corrodes the wires and pins. Think of rust for wiring. Split loom is Ok but it is bulky. some lower quality split loom cannot handle the heat in the engine bay. Braided covering is not as bulky, is better visually but can have the same poor quality issues. Make sure you check the heat rating of whatever you are buying before you do so.

EB Turbo

 

Can anyone post pictures of the solders or whatever your doing to make one wire turn into 4?

I want as many pictures as i can to make my harness perfect.

I really like that firewall quick disconnect. Makes it easy for a motor pull!

 

i would crimp the connections. soldering (by what most manufacturors say and what the oem's do) is not up to snuff.

 

+1

Use non insulated butt connectors and glue lined 3:1 heatshrink. This stuff drys really hard and is good for strain relief as well.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#butt-connectors/=grdibv

http://cableorganizer.com/heat-shrink/heat-shrink3.htm

EB Turbo

 

anyone order from this place ? there price seems good
http://www.buyheatshrink.com/

 

Nice find! I just ordered some heat shrink labels from them and got a quick shipping confirmation. Their prices on shrink are a lot lower than McMaster. I just bought a bunch of shrink, so it will be a few weeks before we need more. But the next order will go through this place. If I remember, I'll post our results.

 

^^^glad to help.... just remember me when i order my haltech from you ^^