ConcoursMustang Forums
Restoring - General discussions that span across many different groups of years and models => Misc Items => Topic started by: 67gta289 on August 03, 2015, 09:21:26 AM
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Have you used anything with success to replace a broken/cracked wire sleeve that protects the wires in the area between the body and the door? If so, what material did you use? See pic for what I'm talking about. Thanks
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Yeah...repro harnesses made by Alloy Metal...I have replaced mine with a set and they look very nice.
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Yeah...repro harnesses made by Alloy Metal...I have replaced mine with a set and they look very nice.
+1 .. The tube is heat sealed in the two plugs . It is difficult to clear the plugs for a new sleeve. The wires have to be cut to slid a new sleeve on and respliced . The repair can be done but the time and effort is not worth it what with the nominal price of the nice looking reproduction part IMO.
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Thanks Richard and Bob
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Yes have cut one of the plugs off - slipped the assy off the wires. Replaced the sleeve/tube and reassembled then affixed the sleeve to the plugs once again once everything is back in its place,
Does leave a repair inside the door where it can't be seen
Very little I will not try and fix - except automatic transmissions :)
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Jeff, where did you get the sleeve from?
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Jeff, where did you get the sleeve from?
One time I found some plastic tubing (thin wall) at a local electronic store (Fry's) and another time I used shrink tubing but didn't heat it ;)
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One time I found some plastic tubing (thin wall) at a local electronic store (Fry's) and another time I used shrink tubing but didn't heat it ;)
That is what I did but in the case of the heat shrink I played around with different sizes and picked the one that was closest diameter once heat shrunk. I would pre shrink the hose first then use it with the plugs. Like I said before a lot of time and work compared to the reproduced harness and its nominal cost. Heck you will end up with a non original hose (only visible part) regardless of which directon you choose to proceed. It depends on which way makes the best sense to the individual. Everyone is different .
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........It depends on which way makes the best sense to the individual. Everyone is different .
+1 Doesn't always make sense (in dollars and time spent) while some will find the pleasure of doing things themselves or overcoming the challenges. To many achieving this can be priceless.
Sometimes the benefit is just finishing what you started on your own. ;)
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+1 Doesn't always make sense (in dollars and time spent) while some will find the pleasure of doing things themselves or overcoming the challenges. To many achieving this can be priceless.
Sometimes the benefit is just finishing what you started on your own. ;)
+1 I don't "do" what I "do" on my car for you, I "do" what I "do" on my car for me. I prefer to work to a standard in any case. Today's activities were not automotive related, but I enjoyed what I did just the same.
Jim
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Ok so I obviously fall into the category of trying to fix it. That is enjoyable to me.
I did find that heat shrink tubing is a bit too rigid, even compared to the old stuff that had hardened. Then I went into my stash of wiring bits and pieces, and found part of a harness from some unknown vehicle and year. Turns out to be the exact same tubing, in terms of color, diameter, etc.
The first picture shows the donor harness, with wiring removed from the tubing. The second picture shows the tubing being bent, and a piece of heat shrink tubing (green tape on end) that does not like to be bent so much.
Since one wire from each door was cracked at the flex point, I decided to cut there. Picture three shows the type of wire used. The broken wires were of the 0.013" diameter strand variety. Note that this is an interior décor with convenience control option, no door speakers.
I did an inline splice on each wire on both sides of the large rubber plugs. The donor wire used was all the finer strand (0.010" dia) so as to be more flex friendly.
As Bob noted, the large rubber plugs were attached to the old tubing (glued perhaps), and I glued the replacement tubing in place.
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67gta289, what is the ouside diameter of the tubing? Do you have a caliper or micrometer to measure wall thickness?
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I don't know...yes I do...and I will!
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A word of caution about the condition of the copper wire you would be re-using should you go ahead and rebuild your originals. They get weak with age and if the outer sleeve has already broke, prone to a short life at the location of the broken sleeve. Every time the door gets opened/closed...in repetition of a few thousnd times, the copper simply breaks in two. A FIRM tug-test would be in order plus a good continuity test with an ohm meter.This is one of those areas to choose, is it work $40x2 to simply be DONE? My vote is YES!
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Richard, I agree, which is why I replaced all of the wires in the flex zone, not just the broken one. Continuity test done as well.
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67gta289, what is the ouside diameter of the tubing? Do you have a caliper or micrometer to measure wall thickness?
O.D. = 0.294", I.D. = 0.250", wall thickness = 0.022"
I remember where I got the donor material from - was from a couple of O2 sensor extension cables left over from a project years ago. Score for no throwing it out. Now if only I could find where I put that darn xxxxx...
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O.D. = 0.294", I.D. = 0.250", wall thickness = 0.022"
I remember where I got the donor material from - was from a couple of O2 sensor extension cables left over from a project years ago. Score for no throwing it out. Now if only I could find where I put that darn xxxxx...
OK, here's my conjecture: the tubing is flexible insulating vinyl. Similar to (perhaps the same as) standard electrical tape. I've found a couple of sources online for .250 ID x .020 wall thickness vinyl tubing. Waytek comes up first in the search, and takes credit cards. They require a minimum quantity of tubing for any given line item, but I do not see a minimum dollar value for an order. For this size they have a minimum of 100 feet, at $0.145 per foot. That's 14 bucks for a spool plus shipping.
http://www.waytekwire.com/item/20224C/1-4-Vinyl-Tubing-Black-100-/
Disclaimer ::): I haven't actually purchased any, and I do not have the same wiring assembly that you have. So I'm going off of appearance, knowedge of similar tubing used in other Mustang electrical assemblies (light socket pigtails etc.), plus some research. So please don't be mad if I'm wrong! :)
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So about 30 cents product needed to do 1 car, but you need to buy enough to do 50 cars.
Start taking orders John. Figure out the cost to do one car including your time and offer it as a service. Restoration work is often billed at or around $75/hr. ::) so going by that, and if you can build both harnesses in a half hour or less, it would be deemed profitable when compared to an "already done" reproduction Alloy Metal harness.
OK, sorry about the sarcasm :D I would consider fixing mine too if it truly seemed reasonable or if the reproductions epically failed but for a car such as I have with the Deluxe interior, door speakers AND the Door Ajar wire (total of 5 wires) splicing all of them up to 2-times each to replace the wire in the flex-zone seems to be a lot of work to do, with what is already available and done without any splicing. That's the nickel version of my 2 cents.
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Nice research - seems like all assumptions are very reasonable.
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Nice research - seems like all assumptions are very reasonable.
So about 30 cents product needed to do 1 car, but you need to buy enough to do 50 cars.
Start taking orders John. Figure out the cost to do one car including your time and offer it as a service. Restoration work is often billed at or around $75/hr. ::) so going by that, and if you can build both harnesses in a half hour or less, it would be deemed profitable when compared to an "already done" reproduction Alloy Metal harness.
OK, sorry about the sarcasm :D I would consider fixing mine too if it truly seemed reasonable or if the reproductions epically failed but for a car such as I have with the Deluxe interior, door speakers AND the Door Ajar wire (total of 5 wires) splicing all of them up to 2-times each to replace the wire in the flex-zone seems to be a lot of work to do, with what is already available and done without any splicing. That's the nickel version of my 2 cents.
We posted absolutely simultaniously Rather funny!
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Yeah. I can see you are trying to get my goat on a Friday night 8)
I don't see getting into competition with Randy aka MidLife, but perhaps when he hangs up his soldering iron, it may keep me busy and out of trouble.
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Nice research - seems like all assumptions are very reasonable.
Thank you. I like to learn about what materials and methods were used originally, even if it turns out to be impractical for a do-it-yourself situation. Hopefully I've got it right, but if not I'm counting on someone to post a correction.
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So about 30 cents product needed to do 1 car, but you need to buy enough to do 50 cars.
Start taking orders John. Figure out the cost to do one car including your time and offer it as a service. Restoration work is often billed at or around $75/hr. ::) so going by that, and if you can build both harnesses in a half hour or less, it would be deemed profitable when compared to an "already done" reproduction Alloy Metal harness.
OK, sorry about the sarcasm :D I would consider fixing mine too if it truly seemed reasonable or if the reproductions epically failed but for a car such as I have with the Deluxe interior, door speakers AND the Door Ajar wire (total of 5 wires) splicing all of them up to 2-times each to replace the wire in the flex-zone seems to be a lot of work to do, with what is already available and done without any splicing. That's the nickel version of my 2 cents.
I need to increase my prices!
I don't see getting into competition with Randy aka MidLife, but perhaps when he hangs up his soldering iron, it may keep me busy and out of trouble.
I don't solder unless I have to! I usually end up burning my fingers...