I'm about to remove the wire harness from a '95 Jaguar (lots of electronics!) for the purpose of transplanting it and its engine/transmission into an older Jaguar. In the past, I've merely used masking tape and a Sharpie to make labels for each wire connector and the corresponding item into which it plugs into. With the huge number of connections, that method will be inappropriate for the task at hand. What have others used to temporarily identify wire connectors and/or electrical components during a restoration process? I'm going to need a method that is rugged enough to pull wires through body openings yet simple enough to attach and remove. Any thoughts?
Not cheap and not simple to remove, but the upside is that they'll stay on no matter what and the results will look professional enough that you won't need to remove them.
Heat shrink tubing printer kit
I've thought about something like this but I anticipate some connections w/ large plugs over which the heat shrink won't fit.
I save plastic bread-bag clips just for that reason. Easy to clip on wires, easy to write on and they come in different colors.
I use these at work all the time, and they work pretty well. Durable enough to be pulled through an opening and stay on, and not too hard to take off.
For automotive use I just kept a numbered list on a sheet of paper. Tag a wire, write it down, repeat. YMMV
I used different colored duct tape and a sharpie when I labeled my Miata wiring harness for building my Exocet. I used red for trunk,yellow for interior and red for underhood. White for undercarriage. I would place the cut tape on the windshield to write on then peel and wrap around the wires sticking to itself. This makes cutting off easier with a razor utility knife. No issues pulling the whole harness through firewall holes etc and all were legible even after liberal spraying of penetrating oil.
The Rhino will accommodate up to 1" tubing. It will also print "flags" that you can use to label wires. I picked up a used Rhino off of eBay for about $30 and have been using it for years.
When I pull an engine (as opposed to re-wrapping a harness), I use tags like these:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-100mm-Wire-Cable-Label-Mark-Marking-Tag-500Pcs-Plastic-Zip-Ties-Tags-Sign-Tie-/371210133585?hash=item566dd92051:g:K0YAAOSwaNBUhnT2
I like to number the tags with a Dymo label on both sides, and keep an Excel spreadsheet with a key that corresponds tag number to function. Makes things a lot easier than trying to write the plug name on the tag itself. Also less likely to wipe off if you get brake cleaner or similar on a tag.
