Dressing up hoses and wire bundles.
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Dressing up hoses and wire bundles.
Guys,
I wanted to share some ideas for dressing up hoses and wires.
I have used a product called Techflex to dress up home audio cables in the past. I decided it would look good under the hood too.
http://www.techflex.com/land_allprods.asp
Techflex is a braided sleeve made from PET which is very chemical resistant and works up to decently high temperatures. They make tons of varieties for all kinds of applications. It is available in a variety of colors.
I test covered a bunch of vacuum hoses with the Clean Cut variety and really like the results. I plan to replace much of the crappy plastic wire loom with this stuff as well as all my hoses. Here are some pics. More pics coming after I get them installed.
$30 will get you a bunch of different sizes and the heat shrink tube to finish the ends. It can be purchased by the foot at.
www.wirecare.com
I wanted to share some ideas for dressing up hoses and wires.
I have used a product called Techflex to dress up home audio cables in the past. I decided it would look good under the hood too.
http://www.techflex.com/land_allprods.asp
Techflex is a braided sleeve made from PET which is very chemical resistant and works up to decently high temperatures. They make tons of varieties for all kinds of applications. It is available in a variety of colors.
I test covered a bunch of vacuum hoses with the Clean Cut variety and really like the results. I plan to replace much of the crappy plastic wire loom with this stuff as well as all my hoses. Here are some pics. More pics coming after I get them installed.
$30 will get you a bunch of different sizes and the heat shrink tube to finish the ends. It can be purchased by the foot at.
www.wirecare.com
Last edited by 87350IROC; 01-17-2011 at 03:20 PM.
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Car: 1988 Pontiac Trans Am GTA.
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Re: Dressing up hoses and wire bundles.
I'd do it on most hoses etc. minus the vac lines. You need to be able to find a leak if one occurs. Unless you have new(er) vac lines installed then go for it!
It looks dope
It looks dope
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Re: Dressing up hoses and wire bundles.
Nice find.
I know a few guys who compete in car audio that use this stuff.
I know a few guys who compete in car audio that use this stuff.
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Car: 1987 Trans Am
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Re: Dressing up hoses and wire bundles.
I was planning on using this when I was re-pinning my LS1 harness, but I ended up just reusing the factory split loom (not to mention my first job was not all that clean). I will give it a shot on the next try since it does look very slick. Nice work!
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Re: Dressing up hoses and wire bundles.
Didn't like that loom when I had to cut it off of a Chrysler wiring harness, still don't. I'm going for some heat-resistant sleeve that is a metallic red (good to about 600*F, according to the advertisement). It's expensive, but I'd rather have that then that Techflex junk or the factory split loom that breaks every time you look at it.
#7
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Re: Dressing up hoses and wire bundles.
The Techflex covering looks just like the stuff that Spectre started marketing back in the 1980's when they were first starting out.
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Re: Dressing up hoses and wire bundles.
I like that covering. If your going for a non flashy type of setup
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Re: Dressing up hoses and wire bundles.
that actually looks better than i though it would. whats the deal with the zip ties? does the shrink wrap not grab well enough, or are those temporary?
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Car: 87' IROC
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Re: Dressing up hoses and wire bundles.
I have some more sleeve on order this is more fabric like and less shiny. Techflex F6 quiet. Should look better. However the car has been down for months and I'm ready to have it back together. So I will at least cover the wires that will be hard to get to when the car is back together again.
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Re: Dressing up hoses and wire bundles.
it seems to fit quite nicely on the misc. lines and cables.... you had no issues getting it to fit over the connector harness ends?
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Re: Dressing up hoses and wire bundles.
Very nice. Very nice indeed.
Now I can't wait for the weather to heat up.
Now I can't wait for the weather to heat up.
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Re: Dressing up hoses and wire bundles.
http://www.techflex.com/prod_F6N.asp
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Re: Dressing up hoses and wire bundles.
wow now i really like that. especially since i will be doing an lsx swap. my harnesses will have to be depinned so i might be able to do it without the tie wraps.
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Car: 1987 Camaro SC, 1999 Z28
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Re: Dressing up hoses and wire bundles.
looks like something you'd see in the aviation community...brings back nightmares.
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Re: Dressing up hoses and wire bundles.
Blue tracer example.
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Re: Dressing up hoses and wire bundles.
How do those stand up against normal weathering? I'd really like to know, I dig em.
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Re: Dressing up hoses and wire bundles.
i was looking at the black/graphite stuff, super classy. nice going with the color coordinating, good idea especially when it comes to power
#29
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Re: Dressing up hoses and wire bundles.
Looks great. Grainger has similar stuff locally, although I don't know how their prices compare.
#30
Re: Dressing up hoses and wire bundles.
ok wow!....I'm really impressed! Both with the product and esp with your install and pics. I used the old spectre version back in the day and was not impressed at all with the fit and finish. This product looks light years beyond...esp with the use of the shrink wrap. The spectre stuff was so plastic looking and frayed so bad on the ends. Heck the way you zip tied the ends even looks so clean they don't bother me. my only worry is how will they hold up to dust and dirt. How easy are they to clean?
Might fine job tho! I might be looking into using this.
Might fine job tho! I might be looking into using this.
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Re: Dressing up hoses and wire bundles.
A few pictures of the engine finally put together. The coverings are subtle, but I like them.
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Re: Dressing up hoses and wire bundles.
the end product really looks nice. great job. a bit off topic, but what brand strut tower brace is that?
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Re: Dressing up hoses and wire bundles.
These clamps will work on the ends of the radiator / heater hoses. They may not seal with the loom under them, but standard heat shrink could cover them and resolve standard worm clamp problems.
http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Gates-...ign=GoogleBase
http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Gates-...ign=GoogleBase
#36
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Re: Dressing up hoses and wire bundles.
These clamps will work on the ends of the radiator / heater hoses. They may not seal with the loom under them, but standard heat shrink could cover them and resolve standard worm clamp problems.
http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Gates-...ign=GoogleBase
http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Gates-...ign=GoogleBase
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Re: Dressing up hoses and wire bundles.
So im thinking of doing this to my 79 Z28. I was wondering how well this stuff has been holding up?
#41
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Re: Dressing up hoses and wire bundles.
Nice loom but i need a damn link to buy that same camera
#42
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Re: Dressing up hoses and wire bundles.
It has been holding up just fine. Granted the car doesn't get driven that much. There are probably 3000 miles on them. The covers over the coolant hoses have stretched slightly. So they are slightly loose when the engine is cold and become very tight when the coolant warms up.
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Re: Dressing up hoses and wire bundles.
Thanks for the info. Any certain type that you would suggest to use? Or just the same type that you did?
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