DIY Wiring Harness?

[SnyderJD]

I thought I had come across a thread a while back where the wire harness was 100% DIY? I cannot seem to find it now for the life of me. The build showed the harness laid out on plywood sheet, and had cost to build etc.

currently looking at my options as I think about the diet method, iWire, Wayne or scratch myself.

[6t8dart]

Not worth it, just to buy all the wire and fuse box will exceed the cost of a complete harness kit. http://www.ezwiring.com/store/viewca....php?groupid=0 I used the 21 circuit kit on my Dart, but in my opinion, the FFR harness by RF is simply a plug and play. Back when I bought it, it was $170.

[SnyderJD]

@6t8Dart Thanks for the link and feedback...

I actually found the link, I was looking for about 10 minutes after I posted.... It was JJ's 818 build, http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showt...8s-Build/page2

[STiPWRD]

I dieted the factory 02 wrx harness and removed 20 lbs of wire. This is the first time I had done something like this and it took me 30 hours during the winter time indoors to do much of the trimming and another 30 hours once I put the harness in the car to extend wires, cover with loom, and mount the ECU etc. Overall this saved me $2k over an iWire harness and I needed OBD2 so Wayne's stand alone option would not have worked for me.

[DodgyTim]

My donor still ran when I got it, so I dieted the harness whilst it was still in the donor.
It was great being able to test that everything still worked (lights, ABS, cruise, Cel's etc) before relocating that to the 818. I still have to extend the harness in certain places, but that is relatively stress free.

[bimmerbill]

What is the FFR harness by RF?

[Bob_n_Cincy]

My donor still ran when I got it, so I dieted the harness whilst it was still in the donor.
It was great being able to test that everything still worked (lights, ABS, cruise, Cel's etc) before relocating that to the 818. I still have to extend the harness in certain places, but that is relatively stress free.

That would have been a great idea for many.
I have less than $100 into my harness. Mostly for dash switches as I took everything off the column.
I re-used wire, connectors, and Main fuse box from donor.
Bob

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showt...l=1#post146406

[TouchStone]

@6t8Dart Thanks for the link and feedback...

I actually found the link, I was looking for about 10 minutes after I posted.... It was JJ's 818 build, http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showt...8s-Build/page2

As an electrical engineer I felt this was something I HAD to do. It also let me fully delete all the useless parts and wires and place components exactly where I wanted them.

[6t8dart]

What is the FFR harness by RF?

It's the Factory Five harness made for them by Ron Francis, I bought the completion kit for my roadster, it's mostly plug and play.

[Jeff Kleiner]

What is the FFR harness by RF?

The Rob Francis harness is for the roadster, Coupe and Hot Rod---not the 818.

Jeff

[Pearldrummer7]

I'm all for DIY for it. I dieted mine myself for maybe ~$50 in switches/switch panel/wire/connectors. I plan to make one from scratch over the winter. If you're confident in your wiring skills, have the right tools (I can give suggestions), and have the OEM wiring diagrams, I think it's VERY achievable. Good way to get more intimate with the wiring/control of the car, and to save money.

[6t8dart]

The Rob Francis harness is for the roadster, Coupe and Hot Rod---not the 818.

Jeff

Sorry, I thought they made one for every car FFR makes. I guess in the case of a car that is mostly Subaru, it makes sense to use the factory harness

[SnyderJD]

I'm all for DIY for it. I dieted mine myself for maybe ~$50 in switches/switch panel/wire/connectors. I plan to make one from scratch over the winter. If you're confident in your wiring skills, have the right tools (I can give suggestions), and have the OEM wiring diagrams, I think it's VERY achievable. Good way to get more intimate with the wiring/control of the car, and to save money.

Can you pm me the OEM wiring harness. I think have all of it but not 100% sure. I have no shortage of time, so I want to try to build the harness myself. I am pretty confident in my wiring ability.

[bimmerbill]

What about the ez-wire or similar kit for the cockpit, lights, etc, wiring, and the OEM engine harness section for engine compartment? I think someone did something similar. I guess I am looking for a less confusing option as wiring is not my specialty. Would I be able to cut off large parts of the OEM harness if I went with something like this?

[TouchStone]

Can you pm me the OEM wiring harness. I think have all of it but not 100% sure. I have no shortage of time, so I want to try to build the harness myself. I am pretty confident in my wiring ability.

I got the OEM manual from: http://ken-gilbert.com/impreza-manuals

[matteo92065]

Pearldrummer7's method is best, and also what I did.
Use the factory harness, cut out everything that you don't use. Then cut out fuse boxes and replace with one (or two compact) fuse box. The factory fuse boxes will have about 50% of the stuff removed, they are large, and don't mount nicely.
The advantages are that ALL wires will have the factory plugs, colors and gauge still. You and future users/owners/mechanics will be able to troubleshoot and fix problems using the factory service manual.

[Pearldrummer7]

Pearldrummer7's method is best, and also what I did.
Use the factory harness, cut out everything that you don't use. Then cut out fuse boxes and replace with one (or two compact) fuse box. The factory fuse boxes will have about 50% of the stuff removed, they are large, and don't mount nicely.
The advantages are that ALL wires will have the factory plugs, colors and gauge still. You and future users/owners/mechanics will be able to troubleshoot and fix problems using the factory service manual.

Not to mention low cost. Plus, it leaves room for options later. I can show you more specifics if you'd like. I really want to update my wiring guide more. I just haven't gotten around to it. You could even replace your fuse boxes if you wanted. I got rid of my relay strips for switches and standalone relays for simplicity and neatness. It's not perfect, but if you entirely unwrap and rewrap it, it looks pretty good

[Buzz Skyline]

I did almost no dieting of my 2002 harness because I wasn't sure what I'd want to include later (power windows, ABS, power mirror adjusts, power door locks, etc). I cut out the yellow air bag wires, but that's about it. The harness is ugly as sin, but it's mostly in the tunnel and behind the firewall.

It was actually pretty quick and (relatively) easy to do it this way. Plus, I can do stuff like repurpose wiring for new things (I was going to use the windshield wiper connector for an intercooler sprayer, before I ended up going with an AWIC).

This technique won't win any awards at car shows, of course.

[TouchStone]

If your going to do it yourself from scratch this may help. May have errors, if you find any let me know I'll fix it.

https://drive.google.com/folderview?...Xc&usp=sharing

Donor comes from a 2003 Wagon.

[Zodiac]

Did you happen to buy new plastic connectors or re use all existing ones? I'm looking to do mine but I want to try and go about it with less downtime since my car is already working with the stock harness. I'm just not sure how much or even where to get all the connectors I need.

[TouchStone]

I reused all the connectors from the donor except ECU and fans (my donor fans had melted connectors). Cut the connector off with a few inches of wire then soldered and heat shrink each new wire. For the ECU I got free samples from Tyco and a bunch of pins from Digi-Key.

BTW I did not redo the engine harness.

[Buzz Skyline]

The only thing I did to the harness that qualified as tricky was extending the high speed signal cables to the engine. It required picking up some shielded alarm signal cable from Home Depot. As I recall, I used some shielded 2-conductor and shielded 5-conductor cable. I have had no problems with noise on the cables as far as I can tell.