Making A Wiring Harness

[Olle F]

I have been tinkering with the idea of making a realistic looking wiring harness for my '65 Impala build, i.e. something that resembles a bundle of wires wrapped with tape. After thinking about it for a while, I decided to try and twist thin wires together and cover it with Plasti Dip.

I started with a piece of scrap cable I found in a drawer. After peeling the insulation off, I found some really thin copper wire:

After a few feeble attempts to twist a bundle of wires by hand, I came to the pretty obvious conclusion that it would be way easier to use a power drill:

After running the power drill for a few seconds, I ended up with this:

I made this using the same technique. I held the wires right at the split, and twisted the three ends separately:

The I CA-glued the wires to some leftover sprue:

Plasti Dip is kinda thick straight from the can, but I discovered that you can dilute it with regular paint thinner. After some trial and error, I decided that about 40% thinner would work, and started to brush it on. The first coat was pretty difficult to apply, as the Plasti Dip wouldn't adhere very well at all, and beaded up if I laid it on too heavily. I managed to apply a very thin first coat by some very careful brushing. As you can see in the picture, it didn't cover very well at all:

The second and third coats were much easier to apply, as they adhered quite well to the previous coats. So after a total of three coats, it looked like this.

And to the right in this picture, you can see one piece of the harness installed:

I was pretty pleased with the appearance, as the uneven, twisted surface resembles the somewhat sloppily taped wiring harnesses you find in cars from this era. As an added bonus, the harness turned out to be very strong. You can bend it anyway you want without anything cracking or peeling, which would have been impossible if I had used regular paint. This method is something I came up with myself by trial and error so I'm sure that it can be improved, but I'm still pretty happy with it, especially considering that it was my first attempt.

[evilone]

sweet now i have to try it out

[MrObsessive]

Nice! You learn something new everyday! That tip could also be used on the firewalls of cars from that era.................the '55 Ford I'm working on has something similar running the width of the firewall.

I think I'll try that!

Yes, Plasti-Dip can be best thinned using lacquer thinner...............I used it to make air duct hoses on my '57 'Vette years ago.

[ajulia]

Hello there friend! Bigg-ups to Olle! Thanx for the tip I dont like painting the ones that are recessed w the chassis or firewalls! Awesome interior and the color used for the body #1 stunner! Cant wait to see her complete!!

peace

ajulia

[Olle F]

Nice! You learn something new everyday! That tip could also be used on the firewalls of cars from that era.................the '55 Ford I'm working on has something similar running the width of the firewall.

I think I'll try that!

Yes, Plasti-Dip can be best thinned using lacquer thinner...............I used it to make air duct hoses on my '57 'Vette years ago.

The Impala has some wires across the firewall as well, I'm working on that part right now. I found it easier to make it in sections rather than making a full harness so it will be cut everywhere it's hidden, like on top of the inner fender as in the picture above. I'll post more pictures in my Impala thread as work progresses.

And are you sure you used laquer thinner? That was the first thing I tried, but it wouldn't even mix with the Plasti Dip (which by the way is Plasti Dip brand, you might have used something else?). I used paint thinner, and it worked like a charm. I can't remember what they recommended for cleanup, but whatever is listed on the can should work.

BTW: Air duct hoses was actually one thing that came to mind while I was doing this: Just take a piece of heavy copper or aluminum wire, cut and bend to shape, wrap it with a thin wire, apply Plasti Dip and presto: Instant air duct.

[MikeMc]

A great source is the "core" from the spark plug "boot" wire that comes in most aftermarket distributor kits like DM or SMBC!

Did you try "dipping" it or just brushing?? A narrow rack made from spru sections

Edited February 28, 2008 by MikeMc

[Olle F]

A great source is the "core" from the spark plug "boot" wire that comes in most aftermarket distributor kits like DM or SMBC!

Did you try "dipping" it or just brushing?? A narrow rack made from spru sections

I think the cable I used was some kind of antenna, as it had an insulated core that was shielded with the thin copper wire. You can more than likely find similar cable at Radio Shack for a few cents a foot. But as always: just keep your eyes open, you probably already have this material somewhere in the house.

And yes, I did try to dip it but it beaded like crazy and I ended up shaking and brushing off the excess, and making a big mess in general. But I noticed that the Plasti Dip adhered much better to the bare copper after I wiped it clean with lacquer thinner (which really wasn't a big surprise, should have done that to begin with...) so it might work better if you clean it good or even etch it with acid, and then experiment with different solvents to thin the Plasti Dip. Airbrushing might be another option. Again, this is a method I just dreamed up, so there should be plenty of room for improvement.

[MrObsessive]

And are you sure you used laquer thinner? That was the first thing I tried, but it wouldn't even mix with the Plasti Dip (which by the way is Plasti Dip brand, you might have used something else?).

Yup!

I'm quite sure I used lacquer thinner to cut the Plasti-Dip. Now this was back in 2001-02 when I was building the 'Vette, so possibly the formula has changed since then?

I remember trying to use acetone, but it beaded up in the jar and didn't "flow" like the lacquer thinner made it do.

[Olle F]

Yup!

I'm quite sure I used lacquer thinner to cut the Plasti-Dip. Now this was back in 2001-02 when I was building the 'Vette, so possibly the formula has changed since then?

I remember trying to use acetone, but it beaded up in the jar and didn't "flow" like the lacquer thinner made it do.

Maybe they changed the formula to something "environmentally friendly" like they do with everything else... Still, I just read the label and it contains "good stuff" like naphta, xylene, toluene and acetone, so you would think that any of those would work as a thinner. I haven't tried acetone yet, but lacquer thinner wouldn't do a thing when I tried it, it was like mixing oil and water. Anyway, I would like to try Plasti Dip for some other ideas so experimenting with different solvents is definitely on the agenda. I'm sure that this material can be used for a lot of things, it's just a matter of finding out what those things would be.

[jbwelda]

nice tip! ive made a wiring harness with masking tape with wire ends sticking out, and it turned out ok but nothing like that!

[slant6]

I had to add a reply to this subject. I do auto electronics and custom fabrication for a living (mostly high end, "show off" audio systems). Ive used techniques I found on here at work on real cars, but this is the first time I have ever seen a technique (twisting wires with a drill) that I use on real cars...every day...used for model cars. I feel stupid for not thinking of it myself.