944 / 968 battery cables

[Tom]

The original Iceshark kit I have used Excelene welding wire, but that was the one things I always wondered about. Back when Sam Memmolo was the host of Two Guys Garage he said:

"Don't use welding wire or welding cable -- nice and soft and it bends good, but doesn't carry the current and doesn't have the right insulation on it. I promise you it's a source of problems."

That always kind of stuck in my head. If I were starting over, I'd be tempted to have a battery cable place put lugs on the end of real battery cables, and use that with the military-spec battery terminals of the original IceShark kit.... (It's cheap, so not a lot at risk if they aren't good anyway....)

https://www.batterycablesusa.com/1-gaug ... -with-ends

p.s., the Excelene welding wire itself may be flexible, but the bulk of the fuse link and terminals makes it pretty cumbersome to work with. I'd skip the big fuse if I were doing it again...

[mwc951]

I was looking at this stuff real hard...but went with the Excelene instead.
If it was good enough for ice shark(RIP), good enough for me.

https://www.prowireusa.com/c-20-battery-cable.html

[Tom]

I was looking at this stuff real hard...but went with the Excelene instead.
If it was good enough for ice shark(RIP), good enough for me.

https://www.prowireusa.com/c-20-battery-cable.html

Yeah, in fairness, mine still looks as good as new.

[Ajay213]

I made my own, I used marine grade tinned copper cable and lugs, covered everything in high-heat/flame retardant tech-flex, the heat shrink is high heat/high abrasion and adhesive lined, so I should be golden. The 1ga cable is pretty flexible, but not great.

Honestly it's complete overkill, the cables in my car are 30+ years old and the only real failure was on the ground cable where some of the insulation was cracking. The way the cables are routed (at least in a base 2.5/2.7L car) aren't around any serious heat, should never see any caustic chemicals, etc. Basically if you want new cables, buy new OEM cables, they will last another 30+ years.

Oh and it cost me more to make my own cables than it would have to buy OEM cables, and that doesn't include the tool side (which I already had), crimping 1 and 4 ga cables is not easy without a proper crimping tool.

944-battery.JPG (819.7 KiB) Viewed 986 times

[dcmachinist]

I am back in business (cables and harnesses at least)!!! https://www.dcmachinist.com/ is now active again.

[mwc951]

....crimping 1 and 4 ga cables is not easy without a proper crimping tool.

I bought a slightly used YQK-70 hydraulic crimper on eBay for $30, it does an amazing job crimping 1/0 cable lugs.

https://www.amazon.com/Hydraulic-Crimpe ... B08PPQYZRG

[dcmachinist]

I've got two hydraulics in different sizes and I rarely use them. I prefer mechanical crimpers because I can feel the pressure much better and they are MUCH faster. Someone will want it though. Hydraulic is nice for really large lugs but I rarely crimp over 1 gauge. I use a telescopic Temco for my 1 and 2 gauge and an old Thomas and Betts WT115 for my 4 and 6 gauge.

[cp99]

@dcmachinist

Do you offer a wire that is a heavier gauge than the factory cables, but also offers very good flexibility?

[dcmachinist]

I have made some with 1 gauge SGX but I don't remember if I have any 1 gauge welding cable back at my old shop (in my now ex-wife's basement). I have yet to move most of my equipment and quite a bit more materials. I've never had anyone report that 2 gauge didn't work for them. 968's would need heavier cable much more than 944's because of greater displacement and the higher compression ratio. That said, I've sold a lot of 968 cables made of 2 gauge and no one has ever contacted me saying their car didn't start because of it.

[cp99]

Thanks. What gauge are the factory 968 cables?