Home of Vintage
Connections™
Professional Connection Kits
- Quality Wiring
Products for Antique & Near-Antique 2- and 4-Wheeled Japanese Vehicles -
- Specializing in
the 1960's through the late 1970's -
Vintage Connections is a home-based, mom & pop, sole-proprietorship. We sell only via the Web and mail-order. Our low business overhead and factory-direct volume purchasing are what allow us to better the prices of our competitors and still remain in business.
- We don't accept telephone orders.
- We don't have a walk-in storefront.
- We don't accept orders from locals requesting to pick up their order at our home. This policy exists for our personal safety in this urban environment.
We realize that there are those potential customers who will find these limitations frustrating, or even completely unacceptable; for that we apologize.
--==New Items==--
-- High-Quality Reproduction Rubber Connector Pairs --
The rubber connector pairs that are shown in the photo below began being used in the late 1960's on motorcycle models that are fitted with Capacitor Discharge Ignition (CDI) systems. This included the entire run of Kawasaki 500cc H1 and 750cc H2 triple cylinder two-strokes. These rubber parts have been "unobtainium" for perhaps a couple of decades, unless you wanted to cannibalize and reuse old hardened and weathered parts.
The reproduction parts illustrated
below are domestically manufactured by KDI Reproductions in Long Beach, CA. KDI
uses American-made molds and molding compounds to reproduce the parts. These
aren't old hardened weathered parts, but brand new, freshly manufactured parts.
While they look gray in the photos, due to the intense light of the photoflash,
the reproduction rubber shells are actually matte black in color. Each connector
pair comes complete with a matching complement of 4mm bullets/sockets.
NOTE: For the brass terminals to fit properly inside of these snug-fitting
rubber parts, the brass terminals MUST be crimped onto the wire. There is no
spare room in the recesses of the rubber parts for blobs of solder and
jury-rigged crimping done with needle-nose pliers. In other words, if you don't
have a proper open-barrel crimping tool, you buy these parts at your own risk.
We will not refund the purchase price of perfectly good parts that have been
buggered up by an amateurish installation.
Two-Pin Pair
Three-Pin Pair
For pricing, look for the HC2 (2-pin) and HC3 (3-pin) part number entries described in Section 4A of our main order page. To get to the order page, click on
the
Place
an Order link
in the Navigation Bar to the left.
-- OEM-Style Non-Latching Connector Shell Pairs --
These shell pairs match 1:1 with the dimensions of the original non-latching Hitachi shells that were used on virtually all makes and models of Japanese four-wheeled vehicles from the late 1960's through the 1970's. Also used in some motorcycle makes/models. Commonly found in the under-dash wiring of early Datsuns, such as the 510, 240Z, 260Z, 280Z, Roadster, and possibly other makes/models as well. Be sure to compare this photo with your actual connector shells, before ordering.
Molded of beige-colored ABS to match the material and color originally used
by the factory. Your original 35-year-old factory shells may be lighter or darker
in color, due to aging.
For pricing and individual photo illustrations, look for the entries described in Section 4 of our main order page. To get to the order page, click on
the
Place
an Order link
in the Navigation Bar to the left.
-- Custom Manufactured Silver-Gray Reproduction Electrical Tape for Early Honda & Suzuki --
This tape is a
perfect replacement for the silver-gray vinyl electrical tape that was used by
Sumitomo in their fabrication of electrical harnesses for many models of Honda
and Suzuki bikes in the Sixties and early Seventies. Use this tape in
conjunction with our 4mm, 6mm, 8mm, and 12mm ID silver-gray PVC harness sleeving
for a faithful restoration of your wiring harness.
For pricing and photo illustrations, look for the entries for silver-gray
sleeving and electrical tape, toward the bottom of our main order page. To get to the order page, click on
the
Place
an Order link
in the Navigation Bar to the left.
-- Economy Wire Stripper --
You've asked us to offer a lower priced wire stripper and we have responded. This is a well made, high quality wire stripper, but at a lower price than we have to charge for our Ideal Tools Model 45-120 wire stripper. This tool has a very narrow working end to allow its use in tight quarters. It also has a plier tip, in addition to the stripping function. It's price is half what we list our other wire stripper for.
For pricing, look for the STL2 listing under the hand tool entries described in
Section 11 of our main order page. To get to the order page, click on
the
Place
an Order link
in the Navigation Bar to the left.
Featured Products
--====--
-- OEM-Style Non-Latching Connector Shell Pairs --
These shell pairs match 1:1 with the dimensions of the original non-latching Hitachi shells that were used on virtually all makes and models of Japanese bikes and cars from the late 1960's through the 1970's.
The 3-pin shells are molded of beige-colored ABS; the remaining three shell pairs are molded of nylon. It was the same situation, back in the day.
For pricing and photo illustrations, look for the entries described in red as
Non-Latching shells on our order page. To get to the order page, click on Place
an Order
in the Navigation Bar to the left.
HP-Series Latching Shell Pairs for 2.8mm
Spade Terminals
(All shells are available in white, as well as the specific
red and black pairs shown above. The green 3-pin shell pairs have been
discontinued.)
For pricing and photo illustrations, look for the entries described as HP-Series shells in Section 3
of
our order page. To get to the order page, click on
Place
an Order
in the Navigation Bar to the left.
-- A Reasonably Priced Terminal Extraction Tool for Multi-Pin Connector Shells --
This inexpensive
tool works perfectly with either size of our locking spade terminals and it
costs about 20% as much as you'd have to pay to buy two separate dedicated
screwdriver-type extraction tools that wholesale for well over $20 each. Our retail price for this tool is $15 and you can order it as
our part number ETL by clicking on
Place
an Order in the Navigation Bar at the left and scrolling down
toward the bottom of the page.
-- Terminals & Insulators (Bullet/Socket, M/F Spades, Eyelets, Nylon Block Connectors) --
Our
professional-quality connector repair kits are based on OEM-style components for
the various styles of connectors that have been used on
Japanese cars, motorcycles, and stereo equipment, beginning in the 1960's.
We offer brass eyelet terminals in three different internal diameters, as is shown in the photo. The 4.5mm I.D. eyelets are suitable for 4mm screw connections, such as ground leads. The 5.5 mm I.D. eyelets are perfect for 5mm threads, such as most coil primary leads. And, the 6.5mm I.D. eyelets are suitable for 6mm threads (10mm hex-head bolts) as are found on motorcycle battery connections. For more details on pricing and quantities of individual terminals, click on
Place
an Order
in the Navigation Bar to the left.
We also offer male/female spade terminals in two different widths: 2.8mm and 6.3mm. The 6.3mm terminals are shown in the illustration at the left. These are the locking brass inserts that are used in molded plastic block connectors.
The smaller 2.8mm male and female spade terminals are very similar in appearance and proportions. They fit into the miniaturized multi-pin connectors that are used on modern Japanese bikes. We offer our CK-5 connector kit for repairing these connectors. For more information and a digital photograph of this kit, scroll down to our Connector Kits section.
We sell packets of terminals/insulators as replacements for expended kit contents
or for use with your own open-barrel crimping tool or Hero Electronics Connector
Kit. For more details on pricing and quantities of
individual terminals/insulators,
click on
Place
an Order
in the Navigation Bar to the left.
-- Our Ergonomic Ratcheting Crimp Tool
Makes Professional Crimping a Breeze! --
Still only $35.00! Compare at $45.00- $75.00, elsewhere on the Net.
We offer an industrial quality ergonomic hand tool that is phenomenal, yet it's reasonably priced. It crimps both the conductor and strain relief (attachment to the insulation) simultaneously.
To order our RTL crimping tool, click on
Place
an Order
IMPORTANT: NEVER use your RTL crimping tool on a live circuit, especially in the presence of liquid gasoline or gasoline vapors! Fire, personal injury, and electrical-component damage can occur!
-- Supplemental Die-Sets for Our RTL Crimping Tool --
All the terminals that we sell on this site are crimped using
the standard open-barrel die set that comes in the RTL crimping tool. However, you can now change the standard open-barrel modular die-set for our RTL
tool, to allow you to crimp brazed and butted barrel terminals, standard
insulated terminals (red, blue, yellow), and miniature insulated
terminals
(red, blue,
yellow).
For more details on our optional die sets,
click on
Die Sets in
the Navigation Bar to the left.
To order die sets, click on
Place
an Order in the Navigation Bar at the left. Then, scroll down to the Tools section to order part numbers DSB
through DSD. Or, you can order all three sets at a discount as part number DSE.
--
Vintage Connections™ Professional
Connection Kits --
We offer professional-quality connection kits that include a selection of connectors and terminals in a compartmented storage case.
For
more details regarding our several types and sizes of connection kits, click on
Connection Kits
in the Navigation Bar to the left.
-- Metric Harness Sleeving & Tape --
ORDERING NOTE:
All sizes and both colors of our sleeving are sold in continuous lengths, up to a maximum continuous length of 20 feet. Continuous lengths of greater than 20 feet are simply too unwieldy for packing/shipping purposes.If you enter a quantity of "6" (feet) in the shopping cart, you get six continuous feet, not six pieces that are each one-foot long. If you enter "40" (feet), you get two 20-foot lengths.
We don't have access to other sizes of this sleeving, so please don't ask.
For
more details,
click on
We don't have access to other sizes of this sleeving, so please don't ask.
For more details,
click on
Our OEM-Quality electrical tape is a 25-meter roll of 19
mm-wide, stretchy, silver-gray PVC tape that is a precise match for the silver-gray sleeving we sell, and the original factory electrical tape used on Japanese bikes of the Sixties and early Seventies.For more details,
click on
Many customers have asked for us to provide a high-quality black electrical tape for use with our high-gloss black sleeving. So, we've added this 3M professional-grade, stretchy, black vinyl electrical tape to our inventory.
You'll find this electrical tape (p/n STP) by clicking on
Links to Other Useful Repair and Restoration Resources for Vintage Japanese Vehicles
TWO WHEELS:
- High
quality OEM-style oval-head screw kits for Japanese restorations:
Rimfire Engineering
- Great resource for a huge
variety of colors, stripes, and gauges of high-quality electrical wire:
Rhode Island Wiring Service
- Great reference for photos and details of over 40 years of Honda motorcycles: Honda Gallery
- The best online discussion group for restoring Kawasaki triple-cylinder motorcycles: Kawasaki Triples Worldwide Forum
- Superb online discussion group for restoring classic Yamaha enduro motorcycles: Yamaha Enduro
- A great source for reasonably
priced NOS and high quality reproduction vintage-Honda parts:
Retrobikes
- The definitive organization for restorers of old Japanese motorcycles:
Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club
- Great site for enthusiasts, owners, and restorers of Honda CT70, CT90, S90, & Z50: CT Trail Bikes
FOUR WHEELS:
- The definitive resource for high quality SR20 conversion parts for your Datsun 2000 Roadster: Spriso Motorsports
- Discussion forum for early Toyota Celica enthusiasts, owners, and restorers: 1st Generation Celica
- Definitive resource for Toyota Land Cruiser enthusiasts, owners, and restorers: Toyota Land Cruiser Forum
- Absolute wealth of information on maintaining, repairing, and restoring air-cooled VW buses: Richard Atwell
- Superb resource for Datsun 510 enthusiasts, owners, and restorers: Datsun510.com
- One-stop resource for a huge variety of colors, stripes, and gauges of high-quality automotive electrical wire: Rhode Island Wiring Service
How to Order
Placing Domestic Online Orders
U.S. purchasers can click on the following hyperlink to use our shopping cart system. This system allows you to make instant credit card purchases on this web site. Your shipping fees and any applicable California state sales tax will be calculated automatically by the shopping cart system. Any shipping fees that are charged that are $1.00 or more in excess of our actual shipping costs will be refunded through PayPal, at the time we ship your order. You will be notified by email of the shipping date and confirmation number (if any) of your order, provided that you give us an accurate email address.Placing Domestic Postal Orders
We accept the following forms of payment by mail (please make them payable to Del Gundlach):
- - Money orders
- - Bank drafts from well-known banks
- - Personal checks (shipments for new customers might be delayed while the check clears our bank)
- - No cash payments by mail, please! We cannot, and will not, be held responsible for cash payments that are either stolen by postal employees or are lost in the mail.
Placing Foreign Online Orders
Foreign purchasers should click on the following hyperlink to use our
shopping cart system. The system will calculate the international shipping charges automatically, after you enter an international address. If the fees you pay are $1 USD or greater than our actual shipping costs, we will refund the difference to you through PayPal. We will ship your order promptly, generally within one business day of our receipt of a payment.Please note that we do NOT charge "handling" fees or extra fees for completing international postal forms and customs forms. All you pay for is the actual shipping cost of your order.
Please bear in mind that international shipping is very expensive. The fee we charge is our actual wholesale cost for packaging materials and the actual postage by USPS International First Class mail or International Priority Mail service. We have zero pull with the USPS... if you think what they charge to ship a package to you is too high, then don't order.
Placing Foreign Postal Orders
International mail orders are welcomed, with payment accepted by international money orders, postal money orders in USD, or bank drafts in USD. Please DO NOT send cash. We
CANNOT and WILL NOT be held responsible for cash payments lost in the mail on their way to us from overseas! There are crooks in every postal system worldwide who are very skilled at detecting mail containing cash.S
hipment to certain countries will only be made at the customer's added expense by insured USPS International Priority Mail or Global Express mail, due to past problems with theft of shipments by criminals working in the postal system of that country. At present, this policy applies to Spain, Italy, Portugal, and most Central American and South American countries. We reserve the right to change this shipping policy at any time, with no advance notice.If you prefer to order by mail, click here for a printer-friendly mail order form
. You can email us by clicking on the e-mailbox graphic below to get the cost of shipping for a foreign postal order, once you know what you wish to order. After you fill out the form by hand, mail it with your payment by international postal money order in USD (made payable to Del Gundlach) to the address that is provided on the ordering page.
- About Us -
I started this business many years ago, while trying to restore a low-mileage 1970 Honda CL350, with butchered wiring. The previous owner had decided that connectors were too big of a hassle for him to deal with and had simply removed most of them. What had once been easily disconnected joints, became a butt-soldered nightmare that had then been covered up with heatshrink tubing and wads of electrical tape. There were also many fasteners that had to be replaced, because he had used vice grip pliers on them, rather than wrenches. Ugh, what an amateurish mess that bozo had created, mostly out of laziness!
I quickly learned that wiring supplies for any vintage Japanese bike were virtually non-existent in the U.S, at any price. After countless hours of Web surfing, I finally located the needed repair items from a small European mom & pop business that catered to automotive electrical repairs. As soon as I opened up their parcel, I knew I had found exactly the kinds of repair items that probably hundreds of other riders of old Japanese bikes were fruitlessly searching for. Little did I realize at the time that the "hundreds" were actually "thousands." Or that the same terminals and connectors were also used on Honda, Toyota, and Datsun cars and trucks of that era.
So, I assembled a few crude kits and posted them for auction on eBay. The first kit was a rough equivalent of our current CK-2 kit and it posted with an opening bid of $79.95. Seven days later, it sold in heated bidding for over $150. After posting five more auctions with similar results, I knew we had a viable marketplace and things just have snowballed from there. A business that was originally intended merely to supplement impending retirement has taken on a life of its own and we now serve a customer base composed of many thousands of loyal buyers.
This success story could never have occurred without the Internet.
- Del Gundlach
Need More Info?
If you have questions remaining, after reviewing this page of information, feel free to click on our e-mailbox graphic above and send us your inquiry.
CRUCIAL NOTE: If you email us for information, you need to add vintageconnections.com to your list of accepted incoming email sources. We don't spam our customers, so your email address is only used for providing requested information and/or notifying you of the details of your shipment.
40087 Mission Boulevard, Unit 212
Fremont, CA 94539
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