Wiring Harness Tabs

[Broman]

OK, I am officially an idiot regarding these harness tabs.  Looking back two years ago I inexplicably wrote "a close inspection of mine confirms that they were covered in their rubber casings AFTER the color coat.  I read some folks who said the rubber coatings were painted body color, but that clearly was not the case with mine (5/71 240Z)."

I cannot for the life of me recall which tab had body color UNDER the rubber.  I sliced off all the dried and cracked rubber and every single one was bare metal underneath and the cleaner clearly had factory paint on the outside.  I apologize for this knuckle headed error.

Anyway...

 

Trying to get my interior metalwork ready for final priming means getting replacement harness tabs installed on my new KFVintage floors. The "short" harness tabs from ZCarDepot are spot-on, and not worth time the work to make my own or salvage from other scrap cutoffs.

 

Thru some trial and error found the perfect covering: 3/8" thick-wall, adhesive lined heat shrink (Molex 0192690023, available from Digikey).

 

 

Slip the shrink to the middle of the second hole and apply a heat gun for 10-15 seconds. Then quickly press the end closed between two foam body sanding pads. Don't use any textured surface because that will leave an embossed mark on an otherwise smooth surface (don't ask me how I know this).

 

 

I then I trimmed the end with a razor blade and using my sander rounded the end to match the rounded metal end. Nail clippers would be neater, but mine had too large a radius. Perhaps baby nail clippers would work.

 

 

 

Nissan use a dip-method that I need to investigate someday. These heat shrink ones will be under carpet so I can be (slightly) less OCD about them.

 

But clearly they were pre-dipped before they were spot-welded in place.  So that is how I am doing it for any new tabs. Then I will apply heat shrink to the surviving tabs scattered around the car.  I am not aware of any other non-metal (besides seam sealer) on the car before any coating spraying was started at the factory.

 

[bpilati]

I'm pretty certain they should be body color.

[Broman]

@bpilati  You are right.  Which is why I had to preface this post with a mea culpa.  Not sure what I was thinking/seeing back then.

[dutchzcarguy]

Eh.. first weld the tab and thén put the heat shrink stuff on.. now you will burn that.. So first weld the tab, then spray them in color of the car and then put the heatshrink stuff on.