Quote:
Originally Posted by GSXRJJordan
There's TONS of different looms, spanning the dollar range from pretty cheap to insanely expensive. On the cheapest end is corrugated loom and electrical tape, which sucks on SO many levels, but is fairly cheap (<$50 total) and very easy to apply (nothing has to be disassembled).
For actual Mil-spec flame retardant loom, I'd say for just an engine harness it'd range from $200 in loom/heat shrink minimum (for all the different sizes you need) to almost $1k for Raychem DR25 using correct 2-, 3-, and 4-way heat shrinkable junctions. There's a reason that professional racing harnesses (WRC, Indy, SuperGT, and NASCAR are the ones I've actually seen and seen invoices for) cost about $20k for the car's entire wiring harness.
For a beginner I'd say that flame retardant polypropylene split-loom and electrical tape is a decent step up from a stock 20yr old harness. If you want to be legit, you'll need real loom (flame retardant expandable mesh loom would be the next cheapest) and adhesive heat shrink for the ends. Just like the PP split loom, you'll need a few different sizes (1/4", 3/8" and 1/2" at least).
The trouble with "real" loom is that you have to de-pin (or cut) the connectors to get the loom and heat shrink over. This is what usually separates the "my buddy did my wire tuck for a 6pk of beer" guys from the "I paid a thousand dollars for this baller harness" guys. That and the fact that the "$1k guy" probably got brand new wire inside the loom, since it's not that much more work once the connectors are apart.
Here's a couple shots from a job I'm doing this week - full Mil-spec rewire on a 71 Datsun 510 with S14 SR20, GT2871, PowerFC, etc and full beef running gear. Car's a beast.
The loom/heat shrink table. Approx $800 in materials, not to mention the 200ft spool of multi-conductor Mil-spec shielded wire - the rest of the wire spools are on the floor. I won't use all of his (hopefully lol).
Two bulkhead connectors, one for the upper and lower engine harnesses, one for the front chassis harness (headlights, blinkers, fan, etc) both with waterproof boots on the strain reliefs - these are the same connectors I use in my competition cars (Formula D etc) and now have DIY kits for.
The two halves of the engine harness (minus coil pack harness, that's sitting separate), ready for the last loom and then some connector love
I'll post finished photos after I get the rest of my wire in Monday.
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So... what exactly should i look for? I plan on removing the plugs, pulling them through the firewall, and routing them through the engine bay for my s13. Currently they're wrapped in electrical tape which sucks cause it makes it so stiff and thick, but i don't wanna shell out some 200$ for a spool that i'll only use on a small amount of wiring that will probably go unaffected.
I just want something that would provide decent protections, flame retardant isn't very important to me cause if my car catches fire i have bigger issues to worry about than wiring, and some heat resistance from it being close to the headers/ downpipe.