I will be using a Motec M2R for my FD in a month. I bought the harness for now because I have to do a mock up with my set up. I'm going to run the harness, then have Racing Beat terminate them.

 

You don't want to do the wiring - TRUST ME. The supplies that you'll need, the tools that you'll need, and the time that it will take you make it WELL worth it to have a pro do it. I've seen so many aftermkt EMS's that people have wired up that not only look like ****, but run like it too. I had a pro do mine and when I say pro, I mean this guy has dedicated his entire life - about 40 years, to the automotive racing world. It's a first class harness. I've been buttoning it up and doing the finishing work that I already had the tooling for, but he did the bulk of it.

The crimpers alone for my firewall connectors are $500, just the crimpers, and the pins are ~ $1ea. Not to mention all the Raychem and the 2 or 3 OTHER crimpers that you'll need. Do the math

 

BINGO! Titanium is on the money. I'm mostly done with my MoTec M4/CDI install and it all started innocently enough with a $400 M4 unterminated harness. Unfortunately that was only the peak of the proverbial "slippery slope!" Then it really started to slide downhill with Deutch connectors (>$500), crimp tools (<$300), Spec55 wire (>$200) and DR-25 heatshrink (embarrassing $$), that would give a divorce attorney plenty of grounds to be taken to the cleaners if my wife found out!! Of course, this doesn't even begin to account for the 20-40 man-hours designing, creating and documenting the harnesses themselves.

That said, I do admit to a certain (masochistic?) satisfaction in knowing that no corners were cut in what has been exclusively my own creation. However, I suspect that few would monetarily value this aspect as highly as I do. The cost-benefit analysis would be accoringly skewed therefore. So if you don't value the presonal enjoyment ALOT, find a professional! If you need one, let me know. There are several highly experience recomnedations I'd be glad to share.

 

Yup, I was all set to wire up my own engine harness starting with the $625 unterminated Motec Harness. When I went to my guru to talk about a bunch of things relating to the harness and the electronics of it all I got schooled rather quickly in the difference between a professional harness and one that I could make. Not to boost my own ego but my wiring is better than 98% of the people out there. His was WAY better than mine. Most of it came from having the proper tooling though and the experience.

When he showed me a harness that he was building for another customer, my mind was made up. Let me put it to you this way. My entire engine harness, all 60+ wires under the Raychem (DR-25) fit into a 1/2" Adel clamp.

The crimpers for the Deutsch mil-spec, firewall, autosport, whatever-you-want-to-call-them connectors are $500. Not to mention he has more experience than I do and if there ever was a problem, well it's on his shoulders to fix it and not mine.

I did save a bunch of time and money by picking it up only mostly completed. There were a ton of terminals/connectors that I put on and a bunch of other things that I did as well. All in all though, have a pro do it.