General wiring

[PaulDrage]

Thinking about making a wiring loom for my mk2 uno turbo.

Will probably start with engine side, then move to the interior wiring.

What I am wondering is, where is a good place to purchase multiple colours of wire on a spool?
Please tell me of a good supplier - i've looked on eBay but am not too sure if the wiring is of good enough quality..?

Has anyone else on here done much in the way of major re-wiring? the actual work doesn't phase me - just i'd like to get a good deal on the raw materials i use (gas, solder, wire, heat shrink, cable ties, electrical tape).

I've had a look on the screwfix website (uk) and they dont seem to sell what i want - i've also looked at Maplin - but they do like to take a premium for these things..

P

 

[lewey]

I think it's fairly brave to attempt this. I've made looms from other looms for my Panda and my Uno and it was a pretty arduous task. It depends what sort of temperament you have I suppose.

A website that is very focued on what you are trying to achieve is vehicle-wiring-products.eu.

They stock all the stuff you want in one place and are reliable in my experience. Their colour choice for wires is very good. You can go nuts on the labelling and sheaths and probably make something as good as the manufacturers with all the stuff on there.

 

[alexGS]

I second the idea of not re-making the whole wiring loom - makes a lot more sense to re-make particular sections (such as those exposed in the engine bay - the fuel system relay wiring springs to mind). I bet the wiring from the bulkhead back (inside the car) still looks pretty much like new, even the birds nest of wires behind the fusebox...

It would be a really good idea to replace all earth terminals (near the front of the car), and after that, just about every other connector in the engine bay (again, the exposed connectors are much more of a problem than the connectors elsewhere in the car).

I think a built-from-scratch wiring loom is a good idea for a stripped-out racecar with custom instruments and few other electrical functions. It is handy that the wiring for the engine electronics tends to separate quite easily from everything else.

If you happen to be dealing with a car that has burned out wiring or widespread damage, I think it will make more sense to start with a loom from another wrecked Uno; my guess is that the wiring outlasts the bodywork by a number of years...

-Alex

 

[Ucof]

Umm. I have a spare loom I could drop off depending on where in Oxfordshire you are...

It was taken from an H-reg 45 if that is any use.

 

[PaulDrage]

I wonder how different that 45 loom would be.

My issue is ( i posted a thread about jump starting the uno a few weeks ago ), i think any number of wires could of potentially melted together when i caught the + jump lead from another car to the vehicle body, and let it spark for approx 10 seconds before i noticed, by which time my engine had cut out, and now does some very strange things.

Testing the wiring loom is no longer straight forward because if wires have melted+shorted together (either in the loom or via sensor or something?) then the resistance values showing on the multimeter will no longer be real values..

I've got the dashboard off, steering column hanging off and ive got the injection wiring loom off.

I'm going to try and make some more sense of it today, i've been trying to isolate the problem by removing sections of wiring loom hopefully until the obvious tell-tales go away - for example at the moment the OIL pressure guage shoots up to the top of its travel as soon as i turn the ign. switch.

Let you know about that loom soon - appreciate the offer!!
Cheers
Paul

 

[PaulDrage]

...And....


.....SHE RUNS!....

Turns out the headlight wiring was causing a drop in around 5volts, something i have yet to investigate alongside having to break the steering lock (by just bashing a screw driver into the barrell - VERY HARD), taking the dashboard off etc.

It runs, with no dashboard and the column is hanging off, but the sound of the engine running after so many months without hearing it is just pleasing. all around pleasing.

 

[rawill]

very good, most pleasing, and you will be pleased you do not have to rewire the whole car.
/R