I See Problems Looming..

[Guest johnboymac]

over the last couple of days, ive laid the loom over the chassis, taken it out, laid it back, etc. I now think I have an idea of where its going and want to start attaching it to the chassis - whats the best method? I think i read somewhere that cable ties are a no no - is this the case? I certainly intent to use clips for the petrol and brake pipes, but had hoped to simply tie the loom to the rails (much like the donor in fact)

 

any thoughts?

 

John

[Guest SteveL]

Cable ties should be fine. My loom is tied to the chassis in some places, and attached to small cable tie bases (rivetted on) in others.

 

Steve

[Jon Bradbury]

John -

 

Cable ties will not be acceptable to the examiner. Use p-clips and make sure that nothing is able to rub against the cables (including other cables).

 

Do not run electric cables right next to fuel lines (this means over the gearbox tunnel - fuel lines at one side, cables at the other).

 

Try to use flexible trunking wherever you can (ie, where space allows) - it makes a neater job.

 

Cheers

 

JonB

[Guest Ant]

I've used cable ties. Can't see anything in the rules and regs about not being allowed to use them. I'm not replacing them now anyhow as I have 3 weeks and a million and one things to finish before my SVA, so I'll know the answer to this one in 3 weeks time!

 

Ant

[Guest SteveL]

John -

 

Cable ties will not be acceptable to the examiner. Use p-clips and make sure that nothing is able to rub against the cables (including other cables).

Jon

 

Like Ant, I've used cables ties and don't expect any problems. Where did you see information about cable ties not being acceptable?

 

For fuel and brake pipes, P-clips are essential, but I can't see any reason why cable ties shouldn't be used for the loom.

 

Steve

[Jon Bradbury]

Steve

 

Actually I thought I'd seen it in this forum, although it could have been here.

 

I am happy to be corrected on this. It would mean that I too could use cable ties.

 

Cheers

 

JonB

[Les Welsher]

I used cable tie bases screwed into the chassis, covered most of loom with conveluted pipe and cable tied this to the bases. To take the loom from front to back inside tunnel I used large bore rubber hose with the loom inside which was also cable tied to bases.

No problems at SVA.

 

Les

[Guest DaveB]

Cable ties must be OK look at any new car and you will find them used for cables all over the place, no good for pipework though this must be secured by P clips.

 

Dave

[Guest johnboymac]

many thanks for all the info on this one. I started last night with p-clips every 8 inches (all I had at the mo) and will reinforce that with cable ties.

 

Ive opted to run the wires to the rear along the sides of the car and leave the tunnel free for brakes and fuel - this is possible since I will be boxing in the sides of the car with vinyl covered ali-panels.

 

I have found that there is an enormous lump of wiring that sits over the bellhousing that worries me a little, - mainly as it is very ugly, however it cant be thinned any more.

 

cheers all.

John

[Jon Bradbury]

John

 

Did you put your fusebox over the bell housing then? I too have this lump of wire (there's a bend in the loom just under the fusebox) and I think I'll just have to try and tie it neatly up out of harm's way. What i haven't quite figured out is the routing of the loom in the engine bay. I seem to have a big fat loom going from left to right behind the engine (ie, over the bell housing), then on the driver's side there's a branch which has to go all the way back to the passenger's side again. I ended up with a loop that goes round the oil filter (on my DOHC its just in front of the pedal box, with the carburettor on the same side). It is not going to pass SVA like that.

 

I will probably end up going back in there to shorten some of this excess...

[Guest johnboymac]

no, the fusebox is above the passenger footwell (its a sub-k, so the battery is on the floor, not on a shelf above the passenger footwell) and feeds through above the battery into the engine bay, from there, it turns right into the tunnel above the bellhousing.

The part of the loom for the drivers side rear then feeds straight over and along the drivers side,

the passenger side rear loom has to loop around over the gearbox and back out the passenger side - this is due to the length of some of the wires that are needed in the cabin area (switches etc) .

The parts of the loom that then go into the engine bay poke through at the side of the gearbox on the drivers side and loop along the drivers side to the front, across the front cross member to the passenger side.

the main battery terminal runs across from the drivers side along the fire wall tube.

This leaves only a few wires for the wipers and heater that need to be fed back into the passenger compartment - I gave up at this stage.

Though it sounds a bit convoluted, once the tunnel top is on, the rest looks quite tidy, my only worry is that there may not be enough room above the tunnel and the wiring may be squashed, still, can but try (my fall back is to put this part on top of the tunnel and box it in 0- actually, the more I think about it... that would mean no wiring in the tunnel at all, just the brakes and fuel lines).

 

I have not routed the engine loom as it is completely separate, but I dont think it should be a problem as it remains wholly in the engine bay.

 

Will post some pics tomorrow.