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Source for automotive wiring supplies?

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Chicken

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Jan 3, 2015
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NC
Hey all,

I am working on re-doing all the wiring in my project car and figured I might get some good input here.

I am looking for a good source of components: Wire, connectors, relays, heat shrink, sleeving. Of course I found plenty of sites searching the web, but many for large qty orders. I have done quite a bit of wiring before, and basically did this same car 5 years ago. I have learned a lot since then and as many of you know projects are forever evolving. A few 'simple' questions for now.

1) Where do you purchase ~10-25 ft of wire [in multiple colors] preferably GXL.
2) how about quality relay holders [where the pigtails aren't 1000ga Chinese wire?
3) Do I really need Raychem heat shrink?

Also, I plan to mount fuses/relays/junction block of a sheet of 1/4 'plastic' up under the dash. I have used 1/8 ABS for all sorts of stuff and I like the material. I am thinking 1/4 ABS but when searching I see lots of HPDE that's quite affordable, any advantage/disadvantage to either?

Thank you,
Chicken
 
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slow

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near Orlando
wirebarn if you need short lengths in different colors. Good people to work with.

I've purchased thousands of feet of TXL from waytek this year and their pricing is good, shipping can be a surprise.

Relay holders, buy the terminals and connectors and build them yourself from a place like waytek. If you have the crimp tools, but waytek sells them with automotive wire in short lengths as well.
 
OP
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Chicken

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NC
Tmart86 said:
Waytek has pretty much everything you could want.

https://www.waytekwire.com/
Click to expand...

slow said:
wirebarn if you need short lengths in different colors. Good people to work with.

I've purchased thousands of feet of TXL from waytek this year and their pricing is good, shipping can be a surprise.

Relay holders, buy the terminals and connectors and build them yourself from a place like waytek. If you have the crimp tools, but waytek sells them with automotive wire in short lengths as well.
Click to expand...

Not sure how I missed Waytek, this looks like the place for me. I came across wire barn a while back looking for some wire and forgot about it too.

What do you mean about Waytek shipping - High or low price?

I was just reading up on some threads about crimpers. I only have the type for non-insulated barrel style terminals. Not sure if I want to get into ratcheting set w/ multiple dies for the other types of terminals..I don't do a lot of electrical stuff.

Thanks for the input.
 
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slow

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shipping is actual, but can be high. You don't know until it shipped. I had 100 feet of split loom and some connectors shipped in seperate boxes because the split loom is already boxed. so 2 2 pound boxes and $31.** in shipping, but I have also had 40 pounds of TXL wire and shipping was about the same price, but in 1 box.

wirebarn is in Madison Heights, so if your in Detroit, shipping should be fast,
 
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akpingel

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Huntersville NC
I bought almost all of my connectors, heat shrink tubing, breakers, etc from Ebay and all my wire from Del City when I built my car.
 
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LXCam

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Just jumping in for the names. By biggest issue has been quality wire at a reasonable price so I'll have to check out that W site. Thanks ;)
 
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dontlifttoshift

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Beach Park, IL
Been buying from Waytek for years, decent online ordering (the search is clumsy), never out of stock on anything, and usually the best pricing on whole orders. Sometimes I can find some things for less but then everything else is way higher.

For strange terminals I use mouser or newark/element 14 but 98% of what we use here is from Waytek.
 
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6768rogues

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I ordered a few times from Wirebarn. They have great service and fast shipping. After one order, the owner called me to be sure about something in the order. I liked that.
 
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matt_i

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I would use Delrin for your plastic, that's a trade name for Acetal, you can buy that at a lot of places, McMaster carr is one online supplier but probably any place that carries steel stock would have it.

I built totally new wire harnesses for 2 tractors this summer and used THHN. Also with the W rating. I think its a better wire which has more chemical resistance. It doesn't look exactly right but anything automotive is going to be pushed to minimum price.
 
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az45

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Fowl Joke speaking of chickens-

Why doesn't a Rooster wear pants?



Because his pecker is on his face.
 
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MikeF2316

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Thornhill, ON
I took all the rear wire harness out of a car that was headed to the junkyard. That may not work in your case as you're wiring a whole car, but there's enough length and colours there for everything I've wanted to do.
 
OP
C

Chicken

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NC
Bert_ said:
THIS. It is so much nicer to run your wire straight in to the connector rather than a ton of splices.
Click to expand...

I'm convinced this is a good idea, now to sort a budget crimper. I don't see it getting much use through it's lifetime..hard to justify a 'commercial grade' one.

MikeF2316 said:
I took all the rear wire harness out of a car that was headed to the junkyard. That may not work in your case as you're wiring a whole car, but there's enough length and colours there for everything I've wanted to do.
Click to expand...

I thought about this, even pulling a harness from the junkyard. I could find a car that's ~10 years old which is an upgrade from the existing 30 year old wire I have. As you mentioned the color codes are there, wires w/ colored striping seems hard to find unless you got MILSPEC Teftzel type.

At the end of the day I really to like to do things proper, and all new materials sounds like the best way to make that happen.

Another item I have not sorted out, the 'connector end' of the harness [tail lights for example]. I don't think this is something I want to try and source new pins and re-do..I have no idea how I would figure out what pins the OEM used.

My thought is to splice the new wire in a few inches from the connector and use the old wire there. Inspect it first for damage and crimp/heat shrink. Not the cleanest, but will allow me to use known good crimp connections at the very end.

The crimp for the splice would be closed barrel type **** connector, which I have to tools for.


As soon as I find my birth certificate i'll get a picture up here for everyone..this fowl joke is out of hand. :lol:
 
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joe_padavano

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Chicken said:
I'm convinced this is a good idea, now to sort a budget crimper. I don't see it getting much use through it's lifetime..hard to justify a 'commercial grade' one.
Click to expand...

No, it isn't. A cheap-@$$ crimper will cause nothing but problems. If you are using factory-style terminals, get a correct crimping tool. I use Packard 56 and Weatherpack connectors and terminals. I scored an inexpensive ratchet crimping tool with replaceable jaws at a swap meet then bought the (expensive) correct jaws from MSD for my Packard 56 terminals. The Packard and Weatherpack terminals use two crimps - on on the copper and one on the insulation. The correct jaws crimp both at once as the factory did. It is well worth the cost.
 
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carhunter

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southern Ohio
MikeF2316 said:
I took all the rear wire harness out of a car that was headed to the junkyard. That may not work in your case as you're wiring a whole car, but there's enough length and colours there for everything I've wanted to do.
Click to expand...

I've had to do this on a number of occasions for harness restoration because I've never been able to find a comprehensive source for multi-color auto wiring with the various stripe combinations. Usually I have to search through amazon to find a random seller who has a specific color I need. Anyone have a source?

For supplies, here's a shout out to CycleTerminal.com Its a small company that specializes in JDM motorcycle electrical bits, but a lot of the stuff crosses over to our vintage cars. Great selection of 60's/70's vinyl wire loom, terminals and boots, and tools. CT (or Amazon) has several versions of ratcheting crimpers for under $50 that made a world of difference in the quality of my work.

Also Mouser electronics has a variety of crimp terminals used by OEMs in the 70's to today. Reasonably priced too.
 
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carhunter

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southern Ohio
oh geez! I completely forgot about Rhode Island Wiring (riwire.com)...Here I am complaining about a problem that was already solved.

They have lots of vintage supplies for older cars - armored wire, cloth baided wire, cloth sparkplug wires, terminals, battery cables...

They DO carry a lot of the multi color wire although I'm still hunting for some odd combinations.
 
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astroracer

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Mid_Michigan
If you are rewiring an entire vehicle you would be much farther ahead, cost and effort wise, to get a complete replacement harness. Check out American Auto Wire. https://www.americanautowire.com/
Their kits come complete with all switches, connectors, relays and instructions. If you look around you can find their kits on sale.
These are my "go to" crimpers. The top one works for most insulated and non-insulated connectors and the bottom ones I got from Jegs for less then 40 bucks. They will do all Molex and Packard crimps.
enhance

Mark
 
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