Like mechanical work, the right tools are important. I use an Xcelite cutter and an Ideal stripper. The crimper is by AMP, intended for Mate-N-Lok connectors, but works well for the Jr Timer contacts in the Ljet loom. I also use a Steinel heatgun. Other tools are: dispenser for isopropanol, razor-knife, scissors, Kapton tape dispenser.

Here is a shot of the ECU connector, prior to crimping all the terminals. (Note that the leads are wrapped in Kapton tape, keeps them tidy while standing up to the heat applied by the heat gun.)

Here's a pic of the loom in process. Here I've established the lead routing for a loom junction. I've wrapped the legs in Kapton tape to keep them tidy prior to shrinking down the sleeving. Tubing is Raychem DR-25. Wires are Raychem spec-55: high strand-count, 18awg, radiation cross-linked Tefzel insulation. (Is that good enough for a 914? I think so, it's good enough for F1 cars...)

Hey Dave , are you planing on offering this service for l and djet ?

Another gratuitous shot of a loom junction prior to sleeving.

Yeah, what he said!

Sorry for the blurry pic. Here is a shot of the heat-shrink boot prior to shrinking. The free wires will be guided into one of the open legs. Note that the branches have all been sleeved at this point.

Another shot of a similar boot, this time with all the legs guided into their appropriate boot opening.

Here is another boot. This one is a 1-to-4 junction. I used this one at the end of the loom, where the AFM, injector 1, injector 2, and throttle switch leads all exit the loom.

Kool , I need a set for djet .

Here is a pic of the loom junction when the boot is fully shrunk. Note the epoxy at the boot entries (RT1125), which is designed to glue the boot to the sleeving, leaving an impermeable covering. (In most cases, all the leads would be sleeved. However, in the Ljet loom, we have two legs with single leads: the coil-sense, and the CHT. I decided to leave them unsleeved.)

A nice touch is to label all the leads.

A pic of the completed loom, prior to installation.

Yes, the car does run with the new loom, in case anyone was wondering...

That's puurdy!!!!

How much?

Would it be any cheaper than $675?

Impressive work...

Very cool!

I need to make a wiring harness for my race car from scratch.

Where did you learn how to do all that?

John

Dave, question: I'm not familiar with "cross-linked" Tefzel insulation but I certainly remember the Tefzel insulation that was pulled from the airliners a few years ago when they started having fires in the cabin. Is this an improved variation or the same stuff? BTW, the problem occurred after moisture collected and I see that you tried to address "moisture in the loom" issue with your connectors + your in an arid climate so it might be a moot point. BTW, beautiful work!

Very Nice!
Curious though ..what instigated the rebuild of the loom?

Very nice work Dave. The attention to detail is impressive. You have the right tools for the work too.
Reminds me of the wiring harnesses we used to build for ocean going navy tug boats when I was in the ship yard. We had boxes of the heat shrink connectors to join various parts of the harness. End result was a water and vapor proof harness. I think the price was in the XX thousands, took about 40 manhours each to build.
Tom

Thanks, everyone, for the positive feedback. I'll answer a number of the questions:
-- No, I don't have plans to sell any looms. It took so much time and effort to create that the price would be out of reach. I'll leave that business for Bowlsby.
-- I learned these techniques from more than a decade doing electronics engineering work in the motorsports arena.
-- Cross-linking is a process in which the short hydrocarbon chains in plastic are inter-connected and thereby turned into longer, and thereby more resilient chains. The process can be done chemically or by exposure to radiation. Typical low-quality hook-up wire insulation is non-cross-linked PVC, which has a typical 85C temp rating. However, automotive-grade PVC is cross-linked, which brings this temp up to 105C. Cross-linked ETFE (Tefzel) has a temp rating of 200C. (By the way, I'm not aware of a wire with non-cross-linked Tefzel insulation.) The Tefzel-insulated wire that I used is intended for mil/aero applications and is also universally used in high-end motorsports, due to its high temp and current rating. One disadvantage of the Tefzel is that it will tend to propagate nicks in the insulation, so you must be careful in handling it. I'm not aware of any problems with the wire in an airline application, so I can't really comment on that.
-- I rebuilt the loom after a couple of errant contacts shorted out in the AAR. I could have replaced just the two damaged wires, but felt that if I went to the trouble of re-sleeving the entire thing, I might as well just replace all the wires, which were all showing evidence of their age.
-- Yes, your description of your offshore wiring loom is similar to the level of effort required on a proper racecar loom. Many tens of hours and thousands of dollars.