*!Build of the year candidate!* Strange PNW Build: E30+Volvo

[LateFan]

Stick it down the cylinders so you can torque your crankshaft nut!

[delamaize]

Some kind of wiring loom?

[Rennsport]

Throttle cables

[Rennsport]

But more likely, wrapping something for aesthetics. Steering wheel perhaps?

[RainRider]

Window glass?

[e30_world]

Haha can't wait to hear what that rope is for. Project looks amazing!

[mbonanni]

I'm not looking to make any extras. I'd be more than happy to share any CAD files though.

Awesome work man! Would be down for a copy of the CAD files once you're done. Good luck with the rest of your build. Will you have a build thread for whatever this is going on?

[Matt-B]

either checking belts, maybe running battery cables, or some weird shit with motor

[adam.nonis]

Some kind of wiring loom?

Ding-ding-ding. Gutter, tell him what's he's won.

I know it's not something E30 guys would be the slightest bit interested in, but for this build I wanted a vintage look. I buy a bunch of different diameter ropes because you can pull the middle out and just use the outside as loom.

First I mark the plug and take pictures of the wire positions



Then I de-pin the plug, fold the wires back on themselves (in different levels to keep the diameter small) and tape them up to pull the boots off



I get different sizes of rope in the same colorway (thanks Amazon) and cut the rope to length matching the runs of wire, pull the middle out and heat seal the ends



Then simply slide the sleeve over the wire and use real Tesa Tape at the junction like OEM



Then I tape the cut end of a ziptie in the end of the loom



Dunk the boot in soapy water and pull it over the ziptie/sleeve



I typically don't put the plugs back on until I'm completely done in case I need to change something or run them through another loom. When I'm all done I spray it with this goodness just to be sure



Sorry some of my pictures are blurry, my phone has been doing that just recently and I forget to check each pic, then I get waaaaaay past that step and it's too late to retake it

[adam.nonis]

Awesome work man! Would be down for a copy of the CAD files once you're done. Good luck with the rest of your build. Will you have a build thread for whatever this is going on?

It's going on this car. You're in the right spot

[parkerbink]

Very cool!

[mbonanni]

Strange PNW Build

It's going on this car. You're in the right spot

I did not even notice I was posting in a build thread, tapatalk can get the best of me sometimes.

I really like the way you did the harness. I recently tore one apart to fix a wire that corroded, already got the tesa tape and will be ordering some rope to do just this, what thickness rope did you use? And got any tips on getting the pins out of the connectors? Those things can be a pain and is usually easier to break them apart, or do you also break them apart and buy new ones?

[adam.nonis]

I did not even notice I was posting in a build thread, tapatalk can get the best of me sometimes.

I really like the way you did the harness. I recently tore one apart to fix a wire that corroded, already got the tesa tape and will be ordering some rope to do just this, what thickness rope did you use? And got any tips on getting the pins out of the connectors? Those things can be a pain and is usually easier to break them apart, or do you also break them apart and buy new ones?

I use 1/4" (most of this size), 3/8" and 5/8" (my 5/8" hasn't arrived just yet). I have a pin removal kit, but yes, they can be finicky.

[adam.nonis]

Back to the ITBs. Using the calculator from before, I know the length of runner (velocity stack) I need, but after lots of searching, they're just too expensive to buy. I'm going to make my own from composite. I started building the plug to make a mold. I went longer than the calculations called for A) because that should bring peak torque a bit lower in the RPM range and B) because I figure it's a lot easier to shorten the stacks than it would be to lengthen them. I started by drawing the stacks in CAD, cutting some chunks on the router, gluing them together, marking the final radius and sanding the half down



A while back I made myself a "Hot Work Station" that I use for vacu-forming and powdercoating. I used the old oven from my house when we remodeled, a clamp frame made of plywood, a shop vac triggered by a switch when you push the frame down and a board with vacuum channels in it


Then I heated up some ABS and vacu-formed two halves for the plug



(again with the blurry pics. Sorry)

Then I glued the two halves together and filled with casting urethane resin from TAP Plastics



I split the halves of ABS off, drilled a hole through the middle and added some threaded rod to act as a "poor man's lathe" (since I'm broke and don't have a lathe)



Then I added some filler, sanded and primered. I probably will start the mold process next week, so that's it for now

[Das Delfin]

omg your wiring loom. That's beautiful! My dad has some old braided wire like that we put in an old (1970's) guitar when I redid the electronics. Some people go crazy over that period correct stuff but it was just what he had lying around!