Next up - The dreaded loom

[Eddy]

Hi all,

The next thing I need to sort out for my build is the loom.

I don't really want to re-use the old sierra one, but have kept it for the connectors.

I'd heard that Premier Wiring have a good reputation so contacted them - They want £195.

Then I found that Tiger offer a loom for the Avon for £155: http://www.tigerracing.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=11&products_id=1178
Could this be made to work?

I know I'll have to add connectors/terminals myself anyway, so is the premier loom worth the extra cash?

Are there any other good options?

Cheers

Eddy

[TheArf]

Hi Eddy, I bought mine from these people, I haven't but it does look pretty good quality.
I just want to get some of the split conduit to tidy it up and happy days I hope.

p.s I don't like electrickery

http://www.s-v-c.co.uk/product/the-basic-front-engined-loom/

[SeriesLandy]

I used the sierra loom. I started with the original fuse box and removed everything I didn't need. I then moved over to a fuse board from eBay with crimp terminals. When I was putting the loom in the car I shortened as necessay and the. Loom taped it.
It took time but cost about £20 for the fuse boxes and loom tape.

[Stot]

I got my car going on the MX5 loom stripped, but I have to say I do wish I had spent some money on a Rapid Fit Looms loom. It would be far more elegant than the elephants nose I have behind my dash now. :D

Cheers
Stot

[Eddy]

Thanks for the replies gents.

That SVC one looks good, but at a similar price to the Premier Looms one.

I can see what you're saying about using the donor loom, Steve.
It would probably work and be a pretty cheap solution, but I'm not that confident with electrics and there would be quite a lot to strip out. I've also read quite a few build threads where, like Stot, people have said if they would buy a loom if they were doing it again.

I'm pretty convinced I want to buy a new one, I just really want to know what the best value option would be - If there is nothing a Premier/SVC/Rapid fit loom would get me over the Tiger one, its got to be better value, right?

[Davidbolam]

I would have bought a rapid fit loom the same as stot if I was doing this again but I think the easiest option is to use the existing donor item. All you need to do is shorten and lengthen it where needed.

David

[CTWV50]

I would have bought a rapid fit loom the same as stot if I was doing this again but I think the easiest option is to use the existing donor item. All you need to do is shorten and lengthen it where needed.

David

I agree with that statement.

[Stot]

I think the scary bit is the ECU. Lights and switches are easy enough to wire in but the ECU has a shed load of wires going to it! :eek:

I'm going to be megasquirting my car over the coming months so I will probably end up making that as self contained as possible and doing a full re-wire of the lights etc while I'm at it. :rolleyes:

Cheers
Stot

[baz-r]

i used a rapid fit loom but i would pass on them. its a great loom but has very little info that comes with it and the support form rapidfit is very poor.

i made my own seprate loom for my fuel injection and i find its the easy way to do it

the key is to have an idea what is where and wire it up when the car is almost finished

a good selection of split conduit makes a easy and tidy way of an install

[Enoch]

If you still have your build table you could drive a nail or two in at each location where something needs to be wired. Draw in things like headlamps, side lights, indicators etc so you can see how many wires you have to run and where they need to end up. Draw in two fuse boxes - one for permanent live things eg side lights, hazards, imobiliser etc and one for everything that needs to run off a switched supply. You will end up with a group of wires going to the back - left indicator, right indicator, lights, fog light, reverse light, tank sender, fuel pump - these can run as one loom down your tunnel. In the tunnel you will have handbrake and reverse switches, you may also have a wire for an electronic speedo if you are using one.
Take it one wire at a time and it all seems pretty easy. I would tend to have all my engine management relays mounted near the ecu, it makes life easier for testing and debugging at a later date.
You can then do the same trick as you did for all the stuff at the back with the stuff at the front. Run wires for hi beam, low beam, side lights, left and right indicators.
Do similar with all your engine sensors, don't know what your ecu needs but it will most likely have coolant temp, air temp, fan control, cps etc. Draw on your plan where they all are and allow a wire for them. Keep your wires plenty long at the moment, use unique colours for each circuit and keep a note of them. It really is very simple once you get rolling.
There are pin outs for most ecu on t'interweb, there are circuit diagrams showing how to wire up hazard switches - these are still simple but cause more confusion than just about any other item.
Hope that helps, you can do it, there are many people a lot less smart than you that have done it. Just because there are lots of wires does not mean it is complicated, it just means you have to do the same simple things more times to finish the job.
Best and all that,
Enoch

[Eddy]

Thats an excellent write up of how to go about it, Enoch. Makes me feel like I would be able to do it, but I've already asked Alan at Premier to make me up a loom. It will free me up some time to work on other parts of the build and hopefully make for a nice easy installation.

I've also been persuaded by a few friends that have popped over to see the build to buy a digidash (I had planned to use the standard Sierra dials), so I'll need to wire that in and make up the loom for megajolt and associated sensors, so still a bit of wiring to get my head around!

[Stot]

One of the things that was putting me off was the number of different colour wires to buy, seemed like a mine field, until I read a guide that suggested only using black wire, and use bands of coloured shrink wrap at each end for identification.

Cheers
Stot

[alga]

Hm, I tore apart the donor loom and ended up with lots of different colored wires to make my new one.

[Stot]

Hm, I tore apart the donor loom and ended up with lots of different colored wires to make my new one.

That was the other idea but 25+ year old wires are already broken down an amount, often I strip wires and there is black oxide layers on the copper.

Cheers
Stot

[flyerncle]

Anybody if and how you can get rid of bulb failure relay from the Sierra loom.:eek:

[flyerncle]

Bit the bullet and got the Tiger one,not as expensive as others and good quality,service was good too next day delivered and as they use Sierra bits it wont take a lot to sort.