New battery cables

saudivette

saudivette

Clueless In Sandland
Joined
Mar 24, 2008
Messages
2,633
Location
Aussie expat in Saudi Arabia
Both of my battery cables are pretty rooted. Is it worth trying to make my own or should I just get a pre-made set from a vendor?

I dunno how common the side mount bolt lug is out here or how easy it would be to get hold of new ones... :confused:
 
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buy a good length of oxygen free copper cable (welding cable), some ends and make your own.

You can get bolt on sidemount adapters
 
Wayne -- I'm partial to building my own.

I really like 00 or bigger Welding Cable - with oil resistant cover. Lugs are pretty easy to come by and they are more flexible than most other cable you'll find.

Just my .02! BTW - I'll be making a high speed pass thru UAE - in about a weeks time. We will have to wait for those cold foamies on another pass!

Cheers - Jim
 
saudivette said:
Both of my battery cables are pretty rooted. Is it worth trying to make my own or should I just get a pre-made set from a vendor?

I dunno how common the side mount bolt lug is out here or how easy it would be to get hold of new ones... :confused:
Click to expand...


I also made my own, Went down to the welding supply store. You can twist and turn that cable anywhere you want. And no losses from the battery being way in the back on a 69.

George
 
Either way is fine Wayne. The stock cables is the 81 are 30 years old, and doin fine. As finiky about power as I am, the stock ones are okay for 99% of apps.:D
 
I think it's gonna be that way Jeff. I went into town this morning and found a shop where he said he can get me the cable but wants me to buy 5 metres minimum! All the car shops I went to looked at me like I was retarded when I tried to describe the terminal ends I wanted :banghead: :banghead:
 
Hehe, not the easiest place in the world to get stuff at the best of times but it's definitely the wrong time of year to expect any sense out of the locals :nuts:
 
Ramadan Gene. They're supposed to fast from sunup to sundown, then break their fast when the sun goes down, then carry on as normal - normal bed time etc. The local twist on it is to eat and drink ALL night, then sleep all day - those that manage to come to work (or their shops) are generally chronically tired and hypoglycemic and about as much use as tits on a fish!

:suicide:​
 
The welding suppliers should have the terminal ends like these, a lot heavier copper than the auto parts stores carry. The oem GM were brass.

I made a swagging block out of aluminum for different sizes and just use a chisel to crimp after cleaning and coating the wire with resin flux. Don't use acid flux. After sweating clean and wipe with silicone and then heat shrink. I didn't have any handy for these cables.
I use these on both ends of all the cables, easy to bolt to top or side post batteries.

Swag2.jpg


Swag1.jpg


Here are the lengths of the two main cables, don't have a pic of the starter mount to engine mount cable.
I also made a cable from 4 ga from the frame under the fuse block thru the firewall to the birdcage.
Also one from the alternator, drilled and tapped to the frame below.
Helps to bump up the gauge on the engine compartment harness, for the blower fan and headlites. They were pretty small oem.
Overkill, but extra grounds won't hurt.

Neg4.jpg


Pos5.jpg


Here's the battery connections

KillSwitch.jpg
 
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saudivette said:
Ramadan Gene. They're supposed to fast from sunup to sundown, then break their fast when the sun goes down, then carry on as normal - normal bed time etc. The local twist on it is to eat and drink ALL night, then sleep all day - those that manage to come to work (or their shops) are generally chronically tired and hypoglycemic and about as much use as tits on a fish!

:suicide:​
Click to expand...

Yeh, I thought it was some such religious crap, oh well....

Noonie, in all 50 years of car work, I personally have NEVER used a battery disconnect switch....I know lotsa guys use them, but never found the need, myself....

:drink:
 
cajos, in that part of the world, most welding is done with 2 rocks- IF they can find any. A real welder is imported. Along with an operator.

:D
 
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