I didn't realize this was a joke thread. My bad.
You honestly think 20-30 year old wire sitting in a junk yard is better than new wire? Really. I guess I've been doing it all wrong the last 40 years.
From now on I'll stop buying quality wire from Allied or Belden and just drop by the local wrecking yard.
Please. Do not follow bad advice. Buy new wire if you intend to build it yourself. Allied Wire and Cable or Belden are distributed by many vendors, you can simply go to Mouser or Digikey and get 50Ft rolls fairly cheap. Use 18AWG, even though it handles way more current than you will need. The larger diameter wire handles vibration better.
Solder and heat shrink everything. If you want to add connectors, you can get low cost Molex connectors, but they won't be water tight. Deutsch are a much better choice, but are more expensive.
If you splice a wire, heat shrink rather than using the easy but fault prone "bullet" slices. When you do, put a little RTV over the wires, then slip the heat shrink over that. When you shrink the tubing, the RTV with squirt out, but the remaining will give you a water tight connection.
You won't do all of it with 18AWG, some will need larger like the charging system.
