I'm building a wire harness for the loaner 2.7 I'm installing in my car. I'm having trouble verifying the wire sizes. This is what I've figured out, am I right?

Wires to senders, tach wire to coil, etc -16 gauge primary wire

Yellow wire from ignition to starter - 14 gauge

Wire from alt to starter - 10 gauge

Ground from alt to case - 12 gauge

Any help appreciated,

Jeff

Hey Jeff. I made my own engine harness for my 3.0 conversion. I went to pick n pull and cut 7' of main body harness from the interior of a demolished 914. The purple black coil wire, yellow starter are there, fat red ones. All the right size and colors. I bought a new alt ground from engine builder supply

Thanks Andy, that's a good idea for getting the proper wire colors. But, I'm not too concerned with originality, and don't know of a 914 in a wrecking yard close by.
I'm planning on buying wire not too concerned about color coding, it's going to be a relatively basic harness all covered in shrink wrap. But I am worried about using the correct wire size. Does anyone have this information or know where I can find it.

Jeff

As I just said over in the starter solenoid thread, I prefer European sourced wire because it contains a lot more strands and therefore carries far more current than the junk you buy at your FLAPS. Many of us have a supply of used wire pulled from wrecks. Be aware that the wire used on newer cars is apt to be of smaller gauges than that used on older cars. The wire sizes are shown in the later wiring diagrams (current flow charts).

The Cap'n

Thanks for the info, so wire from an older wrecked car would be better than locally sourced new wire?

Anyone know where to buy new European wire?

Thanks,
Jeff

I would not use primary wire anywhere near the engine compartment. It will break down with the heat and chemical environment. Cross linked insulated wire is meant for that use. Here is one source:
http://www.waytekwire.com/products/1454/Au...e=SAE-J1128-TXL

aircraft home builders use a lot of high quality (Teflon insulated) wire and it is not prohibitively expensive. Here is one source very easy to deal with - www.steinair.com/

there is also a lot of wire sizing info in the aircraft home building world. search "aero-electric connection"

Not all of the wire will be covered in shrink wrap. It is nice to be able to use the correct colored wires if you can--but if you can't, then you can't.

Whatever you do, MAKE A WIRING DIAGRAM! It will help you build the harness, and if you have to change things along the way, update the diagram. Future-you will thank present-you when he has to troubleshoot some electrical issue. And using wires of more than one color will also make his life easier...

--DD

Thanks for all the replies and info. Don't worry Dave I've already drawn a diagram for both harnesses already, I've got my old harness tacked up on a wall in the shop stripped down to the wires but laid out how it sat on the engine, then I took 100 pictures of it from 200 different angles, I think I'm covered. Was planning on different colored wires just maybe not the exact OEM colors.

Looks like I'm just going to modify the harness I have to use on the carb motor, then I can source the proper wire to build a new harness for my FI 2.7, got lots of time for that one, that engine is still sitting on the engine stand....need to take it apart.

Thanks again for all the great info.....as always.

Jeff

You have to determine how much current something draws and then select the appropriate wire gauge.

Get wire here http://www.prowireusa.com/ or here https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/group.asp?GroupID=WIRE2

Heat shrink from above or from www.wirecare.com

If you want to use all one color (or even multiple colors), get a label maker like http://www.imagesupply.com/productcart/pc/...ont-126p943.htm to put heat shrink labels on each wire.

t18.net

http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/VWP-...me/homepage.php

Thanks for all the responses, I've got plenty of resources for wire now, thanks.

Got my wire harness modified to work with the carb 2.7 yesterday, had a pile of wires and connections from the 911 I didn't need, then a pile specifically for the CIS injection, I took those out and marked the connection, the rest I went through replaced a few connectors, rerouted wires to fit the new engine, then wrapped the whole thing.

Got it installed on the engine last night......like a glove...

Click to view attachment

Thanks again for all the help.
Jeff

Nice work Jeff!