cygnusx1 Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 I went to the autoparts store to pick up a spool of wire. They wanted $50 for a 50foot roll of stranded 16g. I vhad two rolls in my hand one red and one black, I left them both there. Where can I get cheap wire? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badjuju Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 buy aluminum is about theonly thing i could tell you for cheap wire. ebay might be a good place too, but copper is pretty much at rape me prices right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e_racer1999 Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 radioshack! too bad you're on the other side of the country; otherwise i'd say "stop in and get 30% off!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badjuju Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 racer, 30% off would probably be worth the postage... you willing to hook all the folks on hybridz up with cheap wire? don't bring it to class unless you have enough for everyone... lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirkatwork Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 www.mcmaster.com ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e_racer1999 Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 haha, i suppose i could take it upon myself to do so... take a look at the website, find me some skus, and i'll buy and ship! but don't overwhelm me, or else i might never get the Z done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonfly Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 Unfortunately the cost of all building materials including wire (both stranded and solid core) has gone up over 100% in the past couple of years. You probably will not be able to find it much cheaper in any retail type store. What you can do if you have one of these stores around you is go to "Habitat for Humanity" and look for some wire there. These stores are for people to donate construction items to and the donor can take a tax right-off. The general public can purchase these donated items at a reduced price and even though some of the items are used most of the stuff is brand new including wire and can be purchased at amazing discounts. You can think of Habitat for Humanity as a Salvation Army store for construction equipment and tools. Dragonfly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HizAndHerz Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 I bought a 100ft roll of 16ga from Ace Hardware for less than $15. I believe it was rated for automotive use, but I used most of it away from the heat of the engine anyway. For engine wiring (sensors, injectors), I ended up buying a full wiring harness out of a pristine Northstar at the junkyard. Pricy at like $30 but I got all the connectors with it which included 10 injector connectors, 2 sets of 14-pin water-tight connectors for the FI and transmission subharnesses, and maybe 15 more misc connectors. It got me 3 runs of shielded two-pair for the VR, ignition, and TPS. Also, got several runs of 10ga for power. The folks at my local junkyard consider any bundled wiring of any length to be a "harness" whether it has 4 wires or 50. Same price. The trick was to pull every subharness out and connect them together so that they only charged me for one harness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cygnusx1 Posted May 15, 2007 Author Share Posted May 15, 2007 mcmaster wants $3.00 a foot! I am going to go to home depot....I think they are about 33 cents a foot for 16g. stranded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e_racer1999 Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 how about industrial liquidators? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z-ya Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 Stay away from aluminum wire... Home Depot actually has a decent selection, and good prices. They also have tire-wraps, crimp lugs, and other stuff that comes in handy. I've bought stuff from Sherco auto supply. Check out these wire prices: http://www.sherco-auto.com/primary_wire.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 what about JCwhitney? last time I checked that was the cheapest place I found for automotive wire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cygnusx1 Posted May 16, 2007 Author Share Posted May 16, 2007 Holy Cow found the deal of the century for 18G wire. I actually think Home Depot is losing money on this one. Look for the dog fence wire. It's red wire 18G stranded copper. 500 foot roll for $27.00. It's thin for the heavy stuff but for the low current stuff it should be fine. The 16G stranded is 33cents/foot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trwebb26 Posted May 16, 2007 Share Posted May 16, 2007 If you don't mind what it looks like - the ends of an extension cord can be cut off and that can be VERY cheap as far as wire goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ledphoot Posted May 16, 2007 Share Posted May 16, 2007 And my buddies always laughed at me when I would pull any long pieces of wire I could find at the Pic-a-part yards!!!! HA! ( I grab the wire-snake wrap stuff too) I've also used 4-5 strand trailer wiring for making my own "mini harness" in dashes.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lammbn Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 hate to bring back such an old thread but just thought i would share. http://www.delcity.net/delcity/servlet/catalog?parentid=791874&page=1 14 gauge GXL wire rated for 125ºC and solvent resistant for $0.1135/foot. you have to buy it in 100ft spools but that’s still only $11.35 a roll. it gets cheaper too if you buy 500ft or larger rolls. this is the same exact quality stuff modern car manufacturers are using (TXL) but with slightly thicker insulation. this site pretty well explains the differences. http://www.kayjayco.com/catPWireSelect.htm hope it helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xander Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 I ones disected a wiring loom of a z31. The complete wiring loom weighs about 20 lbs!!! thats a lot of coper. I now have a big box of little spools in different lenghts en colors. I build 3 complete megasquirt wiring looms and still have lots left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zmanco Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 Here's a thread I started earlier this year about my experience with cheap wire... http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=125898 lammbn's source looks like a good deal and appropriate for use under the hood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bird1979 Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 Hi Every body . I am a newby. I love classic car too and I see on the picture it's very nice. Same on the transformer (movie) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WizardBlack Posted December 1, 2007 Share Posted December 1, 2007 I wouldn't buy the "low thread count" junk they sell at auto parts stores for anything critical anyways. Painless Wiring sells extremely nice stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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