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making a new wiring loom
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davequey74 Offline
#1 Posted : Monday, 18 April 2011 5:41:05 AM(UTC)
davequey74

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i'm planning on making a wiring loom for my (HQ) tonner the 1 that came out of it is hacked and in overal poor condition

now i think it should be easy enough, replace 1 wire at a time type thing, but before i start does anyone have any words of wisdom to offer?

any do's or do not's?

is there any particular size wires i should buy, conections i should get?

any helpfull input is appreciated
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commodorenut Offline
#2 Posted : Monday, 18 April 2011 6:49:36 AM(UTC)
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I like to source looms from whole cars - you get the same gauge wires, in the same colours, and spare connectors (a good source for terminals).

Best thing you can do is practice - practice pulling apart terminal blocks. Luckily the HQ-HZ oned are easy enough, and a handful of jeweller's screwdrivers with the odd bend & ground-away bit will do the job for most of them.

This might be worth considering:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/w...wItem&item=370364520557

After playing with a lot of later model stuff with much smaller connectors, I'm thinking about one of these:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/w...wItem&item=400209356557
And if I had limitless funds I'd go for something like this:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/w...wItem&item=370486124358


As far as your looms, I'd concentrate more on getting rid of the damaged sections by splicing in new wire, but retaining a lot of the old wiring.
Solder the joints well, and cover with heatshrink - it will all be hidden under the loom tape anyway.

If you want to do new runs, you'll need to source new wire & terminals.

If you can't source new metal crimp terminals that fit your connectors (check with an auto sparky) then you'll need to perfect a method of removing the wires from old ones, "un-curling" them, and re-using them - but with a bit of solder to make it a good joint.

One tip I can also give you - get a big sheet of ply, lay the harness out on it - T'eeing off any branch of the loom where it branches off - making sure it's all kept tight on the board.
Secure it to pins/screws fitted in the board (velcro straps also work well). Label everything well on the board, and even have 3 or 4 different boards for different sections of the car's loom.

This way you can work on the loom parts in smaller sections - on the board, and maintain the original lengths & locations of connectors.
You can untape it a section at a time, and re-attach it to the board to keep the wires together (short strips of masking tape work well here).

Golden rule with this method:
- Label every connector & branch of the loom.
- Draw a connector pic beside each one & label which pins are what colour wires!

I've jumped around a lot, and some of it has probably gone over your head, but I've made lots of looms, and repaired heaps of them, so it's a bit of "information overload" for you!
Cheers,

Mick
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Judge a successful man not on how he treats his peers, but on how he treats those less fortunate.
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peter_flane Offline
#3 Posted : Monday, 18 April 2011 8:14:08 AM(UTC)
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I got a lot of original old connectors from this place

http://www.jaydeeautocables.com.au/
If it is old or rare - Cut it! http://www.ehlimo.com.au/
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AMunro327 Offline
#4 Posted : Tuesday, 19 April 2011 5:50:26 AM(UTC)
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My advice would be to buy a good second hand one. Reason is, getting all the original colours can be a problem, getting the original connectors can be a problem, the cost of buying the wire can end up being more than buying a second hand loom.
Good luck with it.
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davequey74 Offline
#5 Posted : Tuesday, 19 April 2011 7:00:55 AM(UTC)
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quote:
Originally posted by commodorenut
I've jumped around a lot, and some of it has probably gone over your head, but I've made lots of looms, and repaired heaps of them, so it's a bit of "information overload" for you!


thanks man!

i've read and re-read, and i'll read again before i start!

it all makes sense and it's not a scary as it seems at first

trying to find a GOOD and untouched loom is near impossible these days, and if you found 1 it'd be very expensive too, there 36+ years old now so there all resistive and burn out too even if they look good

the other thing i want to do is build in headlight relays and run good H4 globes, it's also been suggested to me that i put in a starter relay
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commodorenut Offline
#6 Posted : Tuesday, 19 April 2011 8:09:21 AM(UTC)
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Totally agree with the relays. A starter relay will take the load off your ignition switch, and also ensure it will start when it's hot (a lot of Holdens get old, resistive wiring - resistance increases with heat to the point where there's not enough to trigger the starter - but a relay cures that).

Work out how to mount your headlight relays so they are relatively hidden. Feed them with a good fused battery source, and use the old headlight wiring to trigger them. You can't see the 2 relays behind each light in my VL Brock, but they make the lights heaps brighter, and remove the "melted fuse rail" risk that plagues VLs. As you can tell, I'm a huge fan of relays!

A hint with these relays too - grab the bases (mounts) from near the battery in an EA-EL Falcon. They are a 4-pack of relays (starter, horn & the other 2 I don't know) but the bases interlock into each other, as well as having a neat screw mount. You can split them up into 2 pairs to run your headlights.

I change VN-VS Holden harnesses over to this type for EFI transplants - they only need 3 relays - start, EFI & fuel pump, but I also like to add 1 or 2 more - thermo fan, and air con (if running air) - so the 4-pack & integrated cover work well.
Cheers,

Mick
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davequey74 Offline
#7 Posted : Tuesday, 19 April 2011 6:44:06 PM(UTC)
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thanks mick, yep i agree, relays are good, i'll also being using a relay for the dizzy too, i have upgraded to the HEI but i'll keep the yellow wire in place and use it to trigger the relay, i'll also keep the original headlight wires in place and use them as trigger wires for the relays

everything is more powerfull these days, the low beams on my wifes VX are better than my HQ on highbeam! so it makes sense to upgrade old cars to better wiring to keep up with things
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playwme Offline
#8 Posted : Tuesday, 19 April 2011 10:49:15 PM(UTC)
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quote:
Originally posted by commodorenut
They are a 4-pack of relays (starter, horn & the other 2 I don't know) but the bases interlock into each other, as well as having a neat screw mount.


The other 2 on the Falcons are high and low beam, so you could probably take all the wiring from the relays to the headlights and then use the HQ wires to trigger the relays.
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