Solder, Or Not? Options

[NARP74]

Someone had tried an electric pump conversion in my car. The switch is wired but they never finished the job. The wires were the wrong length and I decided to fix them.

I remember reading an article about the space shuttle. They said it had no soldered wire connections anywhere, everything was crimped. Soldered connections were to a board with a connector, not wires. Fast forward many years and I saw an interview with a Porsche mechanic and he said Porsche spec is no soldered wire connections.

My first thought was to grab a soldering iron and use it to extend the wires. Am I being old school?

[JeffBowlsby]

Good points made above. Copper wire work hardens at the juncture where it becomes encased in solder, i.e. stress concentration and eventual breakage where either the wire or what it is attached to experiences vibration. In line, free hanging soldered attachments are not as subject to vibration-related stresses as when one side is fixed, and stress relief always helps.

Note that 914s have both soldered and crimped wire attachments (mostly crimped). Bullet terminals at the back-up light switch, 12-pin and 14-pin connector housings at the relay board, the 3 pins at the fuel tank connector housing, the 4 pins at the fresh air fan, etc - all are soldered attachments.