mortymower

I found some wire sleeving that has an operating temp of up to 257 oF and a melting point of 446 oF, will this stand the heat of the motor in a 951, if not what are some alternatives?

Robby

ExFlex is what we've always used- this is b/c Dan Wray always used it, of course... But it stands up to something like 1200' F or something- WAY higher than you'll ever need. I mean, if anything in your engine bay heats up THAT high, the LAST thing you're going to be worried about are your f'ing battery cables! It's kind of pricey & sometimes hard to find, but it's great stuff. You'll also need heatshrink that will fit over the cable AND then some to fit over the Exflex, as well as the lugs to go on the cable (w/correct eyelet sizes) & heavy gauge crimpers, as well as real cable cutters, etc... Are you using welding cable or battery cable? Welding offers more strands which = less resistance which is why Dan used it. PM me if you want to. I'll tell you a little about it if you want- the IceShark stuff is not exactly CIA type secrets. That is, unless you want to do something different, as there are a ton of ways to do it all- Dan just did it best, as far as I've seen so far. And, from what all I've learned, in all honesty, unless you just like doing things yourself, there is no way you could possibly do it cheaper for a one-time thing than to just buy them finished, even if you paid $400 for a full kit. well, unless you borrowed the tools. OF course, again, that's if you just built them just like Dan did- but you'd still have all the time in making them... Are you going to fuse the [+] cables? This, along w/the BH ExFlex are what really drove costs up. I've actually got the full kits down $40 cheaper than Dan did, 3yrs ago, but am giving a few more things than he did. He had some great contacts though, so I'd love to know how he could have done, given a few more years at it... Who knows where we'd all be...?

As for the headlight harness- we're having enough trouble just using Dan's models to make more, than to try to do one from scratch- we have 12 partials that he had when he died- several are now almost finished. They are a PITFA X 10 & get expensive quick, but partly b/c of what he used- real BH ExFlex, Hella relays, fuse holders, Excelene cable, good lugs, etc, etc.... anyway...

good luck...

Robby

Oh, other alternatives- Thermo-tech (I think is the name) has did types of stuff & you can also find split plastic tubing that is made for higher heat ranges. I still think ExFlex is best. And it looks cool too! :-)

fortysixandtwo

Are you looking for the abrasion sleeve or the conductor insulation?
Battery cables should meet SAE J-1127 standards. This ensures the cabling can survive the under hood environment. (temperature, humidity, abrasion, chemical contact, long term flexibility, flame carrying characteristics, etc...)

mortymower

I am using welding cable, 2 ga for the bat to starter, andboth main grounds and 4 ga for the starter to alt, bat to fuse box and supp ground at the balance shaft.

Robby

Just curious- why did you decide to go w/2ga? The largest of the factory is, evidently, a euro size, which is actually b/t 1ga & 2ga, so the IceShark stuff (1ga), is BARELY larger.

Also, what brand of welding cable are you using?

mortymower

Damn, I thought the factory wiring was around 4 ga. What about the wiring to the starter, is it 4ga?

Wire brand is techniweld, I believe I got it locally for a good price by the foot after hearing good things from someone who built an automotive harness as well.

Laust Pedersen

I used silicone rubber tubing from http://www.mcmaster.com/ on the old cracked battery to starter and starter alternator cables. It works great at a very reasonable cost.

Robby

The main [+] cable from the battery to the starter is b/t 1ga & 2ga & so is the main [-] cable that runs from [-] terminal to behind engine.

The shorter of the two [-] cables that runs right to the chassis, about 4" away from the battery, is probably somewhere around 6ga- I have a piece somewhere & it could be as small as ~8ga- this is why the IceShark [-] is such an improvement at 1ga, as well as the additional supplemental [-].

The [+] starter to alternator is probably ~8ga, thus, the IceShark one, being 4ga, is much larger.

Then, the supplemental [+] cables are probably ~10ga/ea, but then the added 4ga of the IceShark becomes additional, so it's over & above...

mortymower

Alright well I guess I will go snag some 1 ga cable for the main pos and main neg. Thanks

Robby

Yes, I would- even still, the 2awg would be slightly better than the old factory stuff, if for no other reason, then it's safer, since it's new- plus, if welding cable, it's less resistance. The factory wire is fairly thick inside & if you look at these a bit, you'll be able to see the dif b/t them. I replied to your PM on the Exflex- for some reason, I'm not getting notices sent to me for this thread- not sure why...

How are you going to connect the lugs to the cable?

marksportcts

I'm using 2/0 welder cable.

Robby

2/0 is HUGE!!!! WE're using that on rear-mounted kits. Why are you using such large cable? Are you running a really high powered stereo or possibly a rear mount kit too? Just curious...

It's tougher to work with when putting it together b/c it wont bend- it's great though, just REALLY expensive & it does add a lot of weight, something I'm not too fond of. The bent elbow lugs are alomst $5/ea & we have to use them for the rear battery the way we have it plus a few angled lugs, which are more too. We just have to finish the brackets & we're there. Those cables get long though, so keeping costs down is tough- we used 00awg for main [+] battery to starter, then 2awg for [+] starter to alternator, then 2awg for [+] battery terminal to a center bolt up front where we then T-off w/4awg, each way- to fuse box & to accessory cables in factory battery box. We run the [+] 2awg & [+] 00awg, together, in larger ExFlex, to keep it together. From battery to top of muffler heat shield, then up to top of TQ tube, all the way forward. Several supplemental grounds, plus 00awg for the main [-] cables, etc. It was a bitch making the first kit, but it's really cool. I've found a list of Interstate batteries that'll work that are under 30lbs (factory is ~39lbs)- put that puppy in the rear where the spare was (OR in side cubbies)- better weight dist & a loss of at least 40lbs total (IF removing spare). I was showing ~14.1v on factory gauge- it always showed ~13 before.

marksportcts

I used to have a 2500 watt stereo before and I was using car audio 1/0 along with a secondary battery in the back. Then someone stole my cable....as for the main cables in the engine bay, they were cracking and I had a bunch of good 2/0 after the TIG welder got a new gun. This also flexes much better than the car audio stuff and doesn't cost $10/foot.

Robby

Mark- WOW! Yes, I've compared all this stuff to the audio stuff- not only price, but flexibility, etc... A friend just bought an amp that was supposed to use 4awg, but it would NOT fit- we used 4awg welding cable (although some strands still folded back) & it's going fine- we thought that was better than going to 8awg or maybe even 6awg...