Moving along on Project Olds-Camino!

We have reached the point where it’s time to start thinking about battery cables. Since this is all custom, I’m thinking the best way to get exactly what I want is to make them myself.

Question #1: what gauge did Olds use on the top of the line engines and car lines? I’m thinking 1 gauge, maybe 1-0 would be plenty for a stout 455, I figure use at least the same size as the factory did.

Question #2: does anyone in readerland know where I can buy cable by the foot? My plan is to mock everything up, figure out how I want to run things, and go from there. I know some people use welding cable, I’m wondering how the insulation of welding cable will do long term in a hot potentially oily environment. Maybe I’m overthinking this?

 

You can probably get bulk battery cable at your local auto parts store. I would think 1/0 or 2ga will probably work fine. Welding cable is flexible and the insulation is quite good because it's dragged everywhere.

 

I like batterycablesusa.com . They're reasonably priced with American made cable, and you can spec them out. I'm not a big fan of their side post boot, but the top post terminals are nice. I used 2ga, I believe.

 

Welding cable is very durable and flexible, buy a hammer set crimping tool and some good ends, (blind) that the cable goes into, then hammer the tool crimping the cable into the end don't forget to but a couple of heat shrink tubes over it after, the key to crimping it is to smash everything together preventing any oxygen from getting in and corroding, soldering works also but isn't as flexible or as solid as the crimp.
there are some custom battery cable people out there but you can do it all at home, Mc Master has most everything, 1 or 2 cable should be fine, especially if its high quality welding cable, more strands the better.

 

I use 2 ga welding cable. I also crimp and solder the ends followed by heat shrink. If you are re-locating the battery to the rear of the car ("smugler's hatch" in an elcamino), you could step up to 1/0. If the battery is still under the hood and you have a good starter, 2 ga should be fine.

 

Pasco does make battery cables if you have one in your area.

 

Nearly any marine store sells battery cables by-the-foot including terminal ring connectors, battery clamps, etc. They will install any connectors, clamps, etc., as well. I don't often speak highly of West Marine (I've owned a number of boats), but even West Marine in most locations sell battery cables by-the-foot. Check your local marine store(s) - they generally have rolls upon rolls of many AWG cables.

 

Napa sells it by the foot. I run "0" gauge.

 

I had custom battery cables fabricated by a local electronics shop for my 86 Ford F250. It's 00 gauge, but the engine is also a diesel. Unfortunately, they really dropped the ball and the terminals fell off of the cables due to poor crimping. So, I bought a heavy duty crimper from Amazon and re-crimped the cables.

I ended up fabricating my own cables for my 96 98. I think I used 2 gauge. My 71 98 just has store bought cables in it.

 

Soldering on the eyelets is really easy..

 

X2 on this. I use them for all my battery cables. Figure out the length and ends you need and they will make them up for you. I went with 2ga also.

 

A good heat gun will work very well for soldering the larger diameter cable. Support the terminal in a block of wood, tin the cable, heat the terminal with your heat gun to the point it melts solder inside and plunge the tinned cable in while keeping the heat on. After it cools use the heat gun again to form a length of glue shrink to seal it.

 

In figuring what gauge wire to use for your battery cable, measure the new length and adjust the gauge to keep the resistance the same as the factory cable.

Here's an easy table that shows the length of wire that has the same resistance as a stock Cutlass V8 cable (2 gauge and 4.4 feet long).

2 ga 4.4 ft
1 ga 5.6 ft
1/0 ga 7.0 ft
2/0 ga 8.9 ft
3/0 ga 11.2 ft
4/0 ga 14.1 ft

For example, I have a rear mount battery in a long-wheelbase car. My starter cable is 15 ft long. I should have used a 4/0 to keep the cable resistance the same as the car was built with.

For the same money, I bought a modern, permanent magnet starter that drew 40% less starting current and used smaller cable. 40% less than 15 feet is 9 feet; the table shows 2/0 cable, which is what I used.

Regarding crimping the terminals, if you don't have the right equipment for crimping, go to an old-line auto parts store that has a machine shop--such as some NAPA stores. Ask if they have a hydraulic crimper. They will do a good crimping job for you.

 

My local Napa doesn’t have any in stock, they didn’t seem too interested in ordering any. I’m guessing they have to order in bulk, and would have to sit on what I don’t need for quite some time.

I guess I could call nearby Napa stores, maybe someone fairly close has some.

 

I bought a hydraulic crimping tool years ago. Once crimped, I use a small propane torch to heat the terminal just hot enough to melt the solder. Once cool, I seal everything with marine style heat shrink.

 

I've always liked the majority of NAPA stores - some are hit or miss. Being independently owned stores, I think each store supplies, stocks & trades (w/ other NAPA stores) differently. I think lots is based on location. I would check a marine store if any in the area. Marine yards/stores customarily (and, often routinely) cut varying sized AWG w/ a supply of terminal rings, clamps, etc. & most often excellent bench-mounted crimpers. I'm on an oceanic coastline; yet, the better inland water marine centers provide the same (most often). If a marine yard/store exists, they're worth a call to ask the question.

 

Well, you certainly know what to do. I don't have that crimper, but several friends own them.

 

I bought the crimper from a flea market, I don’t think they are too expensive new. If you make more than a few cables, it’s not had to justify the expense. As if an automotive enthusiast needs too much persuading to buy more tools!!!

A lot of people have a negative opinion on soldering, saying it makes the wire brattle. As long as you don’t get carried away with the amount of solder I don’t see how the wire would be any more brittle inside the terminal than with solder.

 

Solder is debatable. Yes, it is a more solid and conductive connection in a fixed environment. Some say it makes the copper more brittle under vibration. I recently took the High Performance Academy courses on Basic and Practical Wiring, and they were strongly opposed to solder. They recommend open barrel crimp connections with compound lined shrink tube. Those things are a tedious time suck, but look pretty nice.

That being said, a friend says the military stuff he builds is soldered and crimped. I don’t think you can go wrong, as long as t they're both done correctly.

 

Uh oh, better tread lightly. There's a few topics that are a no-no on interweb forums and solder vs. crimp is right up there with the greats such as ported vs. manifold advance.

 

I'm no stranger to controversy around here. LOL

 

The cables on my 86 Ford F250 and in my 96 98 had crimped terminals, I didn't use solder.

IMHO, the battery cable current is too high to solder the connections. I'd be interested to know how the OE cables are fabricated though.

 

I know for a fact the factory starter ends are soldered. In the past I needed the fancy 90* cable end that goes on the solenoid. I had a couple of junk cables, I clamped the 90* end in a vise, melted the solder with a propane torch and started to wiggle the cable. I then cleaned up the end, recrimped the terminal onto a new cable, used a LITTLE solder and done heat shrink.

 

Since this might become the perpetual battery cable thread I prefer tinned lugs over copper lugs for many reasons.

 

Preferably, in the reverse order.

 

Live a little 🤣

 

😉

 

EXCELLENT!

I still wouldn't solder my battery cable terminals though (due to my essential tremors). 👋

I'd have to get @Oldsguy to help. Maybe one of these days I'd have to fabricate battery cables for my 71 98.

 

I am thinking about the law of physics stating that energy does not disappear it just changes state. When electrical energy is transmitted through a conductor and some of it is "resisted" then some of the energy changes to heat, and if there is enough of this change possibly light as well (glowing from heated metal). So, if the solder joint is done well, with no impurities left there would be less chance for resistance to occur, if not then there may be some heat. The takeaway from this ranting is that if a cable end is crimped well and soldered well there should not be enough heat to destroy or melt the solder in the joint. I think the crimp would provide most of the physical strength while the solder would enclose the whole joint including the spaces between the individual strands of wire and between the wire and the crimped end preventing corrosion. Addressing the question of whether to solder first or crimp first it seems that it would be a good idea to tin the cable first (cover it with enough solder to fully enclose the individual wires but not so much that the individual wire shape can still be seen on the outer surface). A thorough cleaning first with an application of flux should be done. After then crimping the tinned cable end a secondary solder application might be good to fully enclose the completed end with the crimped termination so that there is less opportunity for moisture intrusion which would offer a chance of corrosion.

I am trying to remember and share some basics from my training in the Navy when taught micro-miniature repair which included soldering techniques. It was about two months long, a lot of those considerations were applied to very small scale as the name of the training implied but the laws of physics concerning energy, current, and resistance shouldn't change with scale in this case, I think. If I am wrong, then I would defer to correction. Just hoping to share some insights in this case.

 

In my previous post, #12, I mentioned a soldering method for those who so choose. Alternatively, I worked for a defense contractor, Electric Boat, for 15 years as marine electrician building various copper conductor cables for use in submarine systems. We almost exclusively used crimp connections throughout, regardless of cable gage.

 

The wire itself does not get brittle.

When cooling, it's the solder that can form what's called intermetallic crystals that can cause the entire joint to crack instead of bend when stressed. The stiff intermetallics are also prone to cracking from vibration.

The extent of this behavior depends on the composition of the solder.

Solder with 96.5% tin / 3.5% silver composition does not form intermetallic crystals. So, it has much higher strength and flexibility than others--but it can still crack under heavy shock. However, vibration doesn’t affect it and it is strong enough to be used in some structural applications.

I use that solder on electrical connections (including my 2/0 cable).

 

The battery cables I got for my 86 Ford F250 weren't soldered by the electronics shop I bought them from. They failed only because the technician that assembled them was a drunk that didn't fabricate them properly. I ended up getting my money back from the electronics shop and crimped them myself.

A word about solder, I had a 2003 Ford F150. When I bought the truck the overhead compass was non-operational. The display was completely dead. I disassembled the overhead console, removed the circuit board and found a cold solder joint. After reflowing the solder the compass worked like a champ. Those 97-08 Ford trucks had problems with cold solder joints. Sometimes the odometer would be dead too.

 

Cold solder joints are notorious for developing minuscule hairline cracks in many automotive circuits. I removed my 2003 Ford F250 diesel tractor instrument cluster, sent it to Circuit Medics (where they re-flowed all the solder connections).