Wrote this up for another forum and it got more involved than i anticipated so i figure it might be useful to somebody. Seeing as how i re-wired my entire camaro about 2 times, somebody else might be in the same predicament but wondering how to do it.
Wiring can be as easy as you make it. Patience is the key! To properly splice a wire for your harness you must go pin by pin, wire by wire. It takes along time but do ONE AT A TIME.
As for soldering, you can do it like this which is the most common:
Or another way i like to do it is Interlocking them, not just overlaying like u see above.
[i]1. First figure out which two wires you want to splice, cut the ONE wire from the bulkhead or connector that you are going to use as well as have the other wire that you intend to splice it too ready.
Grab some shrink sleeve but off about an inch in length and slip it over one of the wires.
Next get some wire strippers, strip off approximately a 1/2inch of the insulation from the tips of the 2 wires.
Then take bare wire at the ends that you stripped, IF its a bigger gage wire (14ga, 12ga, 10ga) fan out the wires evenly so they are flat, dont be afraid to fan them out pretty far. Do this to both wires and then interlock them and twist them together. Heres an example of fanning it out.
However if your working with a really small ga. (16ga, 18ga, etc) wire you can just twist them without fanning them out. Either way the end product will look the same as pic #3 below.
Now for soldering them, I take some flux on a pick or end of a screwdriver and spread alittle bit on top, then touch the bottom of the wires with a soldering iron or gun let it soak down thru the wires, next holding the iron or gun to the bottom of the wires touch the top of the wires with some solder and let it pull thru the wires just as the flux did. Turns out beautiful evertime with alittle practice.
And your justa bout all set, pull the shrink sleeve up to cover teh wires, take a lighter and give it alittle heat to make it conform to the joint and your good to go.
LOL that makes it look simple, you should see some of the wiring ive had to correct on other cars, might seem as common sense to some but others are better off trying a different hobby like rock skipping or something.
You dont know what flux is? You know the flux capacitor that sends you back to the future…
i like to smear a little glue/silicone/etc on the jacket of the wire, slide the heat shrink down and then heat for an even more positive seal… or use that heat shrink that has the glue on the inside of it. it rocks.
Good write up for the basics; that’s for sure. Most of the time I just do the first method (overlay); easiest when you’re twisted and contorted laying under a dashboard trying to get at BS wires; and as long as there is little/no stress going to be put on the wires afterwards.
Good write up. I do all the methods depending on which one presents its self. I wired a '98 PCM to work with my '96 GP. Then I had to wire a '98 PCM to work with my '97 GT. Then wire in the fuel sender because I got a 98 dash and a 98 dash has a fuel gauge that must go through the PCM to work. So theeeen, I had to get a 98 sender for the tank…oh wiring is grand.
cold heat is the biggest piece of shit on the planet. Also, you can just use flux-cored solder instead. Get a real soldering iron, not that cold heat pos.
It’s how the iron works can’t apply consistent heat because it’s near impossible to keep both ends of the tip in contact with the work, get a real iron. Even a cheapy $5 special will outperform it in most cases.
Flux core wire is usually the easiest to work with. It’s not too much more either, it’s mostly used to get the solder to apply smoothly and flow on the surface as there may be imperfections while not 100% necessary it will make the job much easier, and the finished quality much better.
