I'll be starting the oh so fun part of wiring my car here in the next month or so. The person before was a grudge racer and the entire car was wired with red wire unless it was in the Holley harness. I ripped all that out and I'm starting fresh with a Fueltech F550 ECU/Datalogger & a K&R switch panel/wiring kit.

One of my goals when building this car has been to prepare for the inevitable. The inevitable being we all end up having to work on our race cars more than general maintenance sooner or later. When it comes to the wiring and preparing for that, that means terminating components that are likely to need to be changed/replaced/updated with water tight/secure plugs (Deutsch/Amphenol). I also plan to eventually put a Supercharged or Nitrous Coyote in this car to bracket race(i like to be different) and with that planned I am terminating all wiring to bulkhead connectors that will be mounted in the fire wall. This will allow me to make 2 different engine harnesses that can stay with each engines when they come in/out.

This is where the loom question comes in. It would look so much cleaner/nicer if I can use split loom/wrap for the engine harness however the NHRA rule book says visible and traceable wires. By using split loom, am I satisfying the need to be able to visibly see and trace the wires as needed?

On the race cars I wire I don't use any coverings simply for reasons you have stated. On street cars I do because they get more scrutiny for fit and finish. Especially if a guy goes to car shows. Just my 2 cents.

NHRA will never inspect your car. Local track might if you start winning everything.

I zip tied my wiring, and then put split loom over it. I can cut 3 zip ties and uncover the wiring to/from the grid, trans brake, etc in less than 30 seconds.

I use PET expandable braided loom. My harnesses are all easily removable for easy replacement.

I would not use the loom. When you wire it you may use the Velcro straps to hold it all in place until everything is done and wires are length you want then Zip Tie them off.

i USED plit loon cover from harbor freight. Only in ares where passing threw chassis rail or extra exposer to possible oil of transmission fluid leak.I Do not like to cover too m uch as at some point you will need to trace it or change something about system.

Good luck. Wiring and trying to cover all bases,not cross over other wires and keep nice pretty clean instal is art. Have worked on bunch of cars and very few wiring jobs impressed me and mine probably the least.

I miss the days of 1 wire cars. Ground for the mag. Tried looms long ago. Didn't care for how they worked out on a tube car. Just seemed ugly and bulky.

These days I buy all kinds of colored wires from Waytek. The more colors the better making it easier to track what goes where on a hot day when I am shall we say, irritated.

Tie wraps. Averaging here. It takes 500 tie wraps to wire a car. 400 get sacrificed just laying out what goes where in the neatest manner.

Everytime I rewire something on car I swear a tie wrap factory exploded. LOL There is reason they sell them in large bags.

quote:

Originally posted by Dave Koehler:
I miss the days of 1 wire cars. Ground for the mag. Tried looms long ago. Didn't care for how they worked out on a tube car. Just seemed ugly and bulky.

These days I buy all kinds of colored wires from Waytek. The more colors the better making it easier to track what goes where on a hot day when I am shall we say, irritated.

Tie wraps. Averaging here. It takes 500 tie wraps to wire a car. 400 get sacrificed just laying out what goes where in the neatest manner.

Funny I was thinking while back how the hell did I run the Nova? Starter wire,mag kill switch,in car fan and main power switch. Plus did not cost small fortune in wire,connectors,fuses and switch's.

quote:

Originally posted by Dave Koehler:
I miss the days of 1 wire cars. Ground for the mag. Tried looms long ago. Didn't care for how they worked out on a tube car. Just seemed ugly and bulky.

These days I buy all kinds of colored wires from Waytek. The more colors the better making it easier to track what goes where on a hot day when I am shall we say, irritated.

Tie wraps. Averaging here. It takes 500 tie wraps to wire a car. 400 get sacrificed just laying out what goes where in the neatest manner.

How did we build cars before Zip-Ties? Lol

quote:

Originally posted by Curly1:

quote:

Originally posted by Dave Koehler:
I miss the days of 1 wire cars. Ground for the mag. Tried looms long ago. Didn't care for how they worked out on a tube car. Just seemed ugly and bulky.

These days I buy all kinds of colored wires from Waytek. The more colors the better making it easier to track what goes where on a hot day when I am shall we say, irritated.

Tie wraps. Averaging here. It takes 500 tie wraps to wire a car. 400 get sacrificed just laying out what goes where in the neatest manner.

How did we build cars before Zip-Ties? Lol

As I recall it was electrical tape for the most part. OG here. I remember the day an electrician showed me a tie wrap. Jaw dropping God's gift. Could only get them in white from an electrical distributor at that time.