RE: IML: reproduction wire and wiring sources

["Dick Benjamin" <dickb@xxxxxxxxx>]

You make a good point, Dan; I think I should post your remark and my
response (following) to the IML - as others will run into the same
situation.

-----Original Message-----
From: dansgarage@xxxxxxxxxxxx 

>>>Hi Dick! .....I did check the Y & Z website, but from what I saw there
they only go up to 1963 as far as Imperials. I vaguely remember some place
advertising in a car magazine, maybe Hemmings, that did 'custom' wiring
harnesses. I never checked with them but I would guess they are expensive. I
would like to try my hand at making my own replacements for the Imperial but
I am wondering if this is biting off WAY more than I can realistically chew
on!!!..not to mention I don't even have a source yet for the correct wire
for an Imperial!

Hope all is well with you and the family!! Has it been as hot there In
Temecula as it has been here in Beaumont??? (the last few days have been
GREAT!!, but I think its going to start getting back to real AUGUST weather
tomorrow!)
Take care and will see you at the next meeting when I (hopefully) will be
bringing my newly acquired '66 LeBaron!!
Stay well!!! ( and Liz says "Hi" also!)
>>>>>>>>>>Dan Melnik

Actually, Dan, the wire quality in the old cars is what drives the
replacement wiring harness business - the old cloth covered wire is
dangerous because it cracks and the insulation flakes off, leaving bare
copper wire in contact with whatever it is close to.  This problem
disappeared in the late 50s, as the car manufacturers woke up to the
problem.  They started using much better wire, so the need to replace a
harness pretty much disappeared in cars built from 1960 or later, unless
there was fire or accident damage.

Y n Z's will make any harness, if you can supply a complete one as a pattern
to follow, and a wiring diagram. The condition of the old one doesn't
matter, they just need a pattern to show where the branches break out of the
main harness, and in what direction, and an example of the end terminals
used for each wire.  The wiring diagram gives them the original wire colors.
Once they have the pattern, they can turn them out pretty quickly, and they
are reasonably priced.  Apparently, no one has had one made for a post 63
Imperial yet.

As for making your own, you can follow the same procedure that they use:
Get a 4X8 sheet of plywood, and lay out your old harness on it, holding the
branches in place with bent over nails, and splay out all the individual
wire ends for easy visibility.  Mark them all, and buy the replacement wire
- you will need many colors, some with "tracer" stripes - so this will be a
major undertaking if you want to duplicate the original, but it can be done.
All the terminal ends need to be duplicated, and soldered (not CRIMPED!) on.
This takes some skill with stripping and soldering. Then you need some
lacing tape to hold it all together, and finally wrapping tape to make it
look authentic.  I'd guess you are looking at around 100 hours labor to make
it, not counting taking the old one out, and putting the new one in.   The
cost of the terminals (Y n Z's will sell what you need to you) will run you
around $100, and the wire another $200 or so.   

I've done all this, on a much simpler vehicle, (51 Chevy pickup) and I'll
never do it again - and I'm an experienced harness maker - (that was my
first assignment as a newly minted junior engineer - I made harnesses for
the early "Sidewinder" missiles we were designing at Philco in 1953!)

As an aside, the name "Sidewinder" comes from the hunting method used by the
missile - once launched, it scans the area in about a 30 degree cone in
front of it, looking for warmth - when it spots a warm item - it accelerates
rapidly and strikes it, just exactly like its namesake rattlesnake.  If it
doesn't "see" anything warm in front of it, it will look around in other
directions.   It is a scary weapon - it will fly right up the tailpipe of a
plane and blow it to smithereens, and until a secure way was worked out to
disable it, there was no way to stop it. Some of the early test flights
ended in disaster! Sidewinders are still a mainstay of our defense systems -
more than 50 years later.

Yes, it has been somewhat warm down here, but not as hot as some years
(we've lived here since 1979).  We can recall weeks of 110+ temps, and some
as high as 117. Of course that was with very low humidity, and the nighttime
temps always drop into the 50s-60s because of the crystal clear skies, so we
can sleep well.  The odd weather of the previous 2 weeks was very unusual in
that respect - the humidity was outrageously high for the "desert" and the
sky was overcast for a few nights, so it only dropped to the mid 80s at
night.  For the first time in all the years we've lived here, we had to
leave the AC on all night to get good sleep.

Dick


---- Dick Benjamin <dickb@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: 

=============
I can second Mikey on this.  Y and Z's are the class of the industry for old
car wiring harnesses - I've used them for 20 years - their stuff is top
notch and they are nice people to deal with.

Dick Benjamin

-----Original Message-----
>From mike and linda sutton
Today, I think it was Don Dickinson, was looking for a source for older car 
wire and or wiring harnesses and such.  Im sure there are others, but one of

the most often seen in most automotive magazines is Ynz....which is Yanez 
actually.  They are one of the few who still can do the old cloth covered 
wire, which I believe they use a cloth cover over a wire with real 
insulation, so the fire hazard associated with cloth covered wire is greatly

reduced.  I dont work for them so dont take my word for it, just check them 
out for yourself.

http://www.ynzyesterdaysparts.com/

Mikey
62 Crown  Coupe 






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