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A good day for electrical gurus

Midlife

Midlife

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I've received another order for refurbishment of underdash harnesses today, my fourth in 2 month's time. It seems my hobby-business is picking up a bit.

Meanwhile, I've been scouring the country for a vendor to produce resistance wires for these harnesses, and that's not a trivial matter. That wire can only be procured as a special manufacture run; no one has it sitting on the shelf for sale. Ford actually used two different resistance wires: the pink one that everyone knows about, and a violet (or sometimes black) one as a backup for the alternator light. Each wire has different resistance characteristics. My first vendor would sell me a compromise solution (meaning one wire for the two applications) for $1300, and only 500 feet. I only need about 100 -200 feet. Timeframe was 8-10 weeks. Coloring the insulation was extra. The price was way too high.

I just received a quote from a second vendor: $850 for two sets of wires, 2000 feet each (yes, two thousand!), and in the correct colors. Timeframe for delivery is 2-3 weeks. This vendor cannot supply the woven braid that goes over the pink resistor wire, but there are other sources out there for me to tap into.

It looks like I can now offer sections of resistance wires to those who want to fix their own harnesses. As far as I know, only Allied Metals, who makes the repro harnesses, and myself can offer this. Woohoo!
 
It sounds like good progress to me. What's going to happen when some joker orders 25 harnesses? You quittin' your day job?
 
Mid, You should get in the E car wire harness business.......
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I'm guessing that ole Rick is trying to be funny, but he may actually be onto something. As far as I know, there is no supplier of wiring harnesses when building an Ecar. Existing factory wiring has to be butchered and spliced into for the sequential taillamps, front PIAA lighting, electric cooling system fans (usually) and aftermarket stereo systems.

It wouldn't be too difficult for an "electrical guru" to design, build and market a custom harness capable of suiting the prolific application.

Another marketable wiring "kit" would be a battery to the trunk relocation wiring kit. It's easy enough to throw the battery back there and run a 1 gauge wire up to the underhood OEM starter solenoid, but this creates a constant (and powerful.... especially when running a 100+ amp ALT) hot wire running from front to rear. The better way is to relocate the starter solenoid to the trunk also, but this complicates the wiring system for most folks. A "kit"..... or even plans/schematic for doing it the right way could definitely be a money maker. For proof, go to the VMF Mod&Custom forum and look for/read the "trunk mounted battery wiring" thread. It's a novella of confusion. Heck, I participated in it and I'm still confused about the "right" way to do it.
 
No, I really wasnt trying to be funny (this time). Why not a plug and play harness for cars that are built with 99.9% new parts?
 
"Fast68back" said:
Mid, You should get in the E car wire harness business.......
Click to expand...

The problem is how to satisfy everyone's needs, when every one has a different set of gauges, stereos, equipment, etc., let alone different years. Did you know 1967 and 1968 harnesses are substantially different? Painless and other companies attempt to fill that void, and their prices are high, and now I understand why that is and why good repro wiring harnesses for the Mustangs are also expensive. I think I'll stick to refurbishment for the time being, as that's a niche no one else is filling.

Me? I just like to putter around in the garage and help folks out. I figure my time is worth $15/hour doing this, so it's more a labor of love than anything else. I'm not in it to make money by any means. So far, I'm in the hole, and its getting bigger, buying all of the documentation and specialized equipment. Did you know that the resistor wires are silver soldered to connectors? I'm now going to have to get all of that equipment and learn how to silver solder.

And I just found a good lead for the cotton braided tubing that is on the resistor wire itself.
 
"Starfury" said:
That's not woven asbestos insulation?
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Yeah, that's what I thought it might be originally, but it is cotton! Turns out cotton is quite flammable, and should not have been used when a potential for fire exists.
 
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