Just wanted to thank you for this great post. Anyone who has tried to navigate the subculture world of Milspec or CPC connectors knows what a confusing maze it is, and there are so many rabbit holes that lead to dead ends, that at the end of a full fruitless day of researching, you're liable to have forgotten what it was you were researching in the first place......
Mark (or apaird) why don't one of you start a thread on automotive wiring and connectors, and we could all contribute what little we know. Although I'm a EE, I'll be the first to admit I get overwhelmed REALLY quickly whenever I open up the Amphenol catalog...... Besides that, I'm 65, and just don't have the patience anymore for extended learning curves, especially those that are only liable to stay with me a week or two because I suffer from CRS syndrome (Can't Remember Sh*t)
If you get the -E007 variants of the plugs, they have an additional 'tail' on the end for heat shrink to grab the connector. The receptacles don't need this since all of the mating features are internal and you can heat shrink around the entire body of the connector.
If you want them more cheaply, we've bought Amphenol brand ATM series connectors (which are inter-mateable with Deutsch DTM) from Newark. However, they don't stock the Amphenol's equivalent to the -E007 variants so we are now buying Deutsch connectors from Prowire.
If you need a large pin count connector (such as a firewall pass-through), the best connector is a MIL-DTL-38999 type. The Deutsch type AS ('Autosport') is a variant of the 38999 series 2 (bayonet lock) and can intermate with a series 2 38999. The AS type connectors have a knurled ring on the end for heat shrink to grab, the real 38999's will have a thread for a backshell to connect (38999's are normally used in military and aerospace where 100% shield is required, even through the connector, so they have a metal backshell). If these are too expensive, Deutsch makes some round connectors (HD10,HD20,HD30), the HD10 and HD20's are plastic and cheaper.
If you need CAD models of the connectors,
https://laddinc.com/ is where I usually go for that, go to the 'interactive product finder' to find the connector, then go to 'drawings' on the connector page and they have STEP files
Also, not sure what crimping tools you have, but we use the round nickel-plated solid connectors, not the stamped ones. These seem to work better for us.
We also make our own fuse/relay box out of a Deutsch EEC box, this is very compact and totally sealed. However, our loads are low enough that we can get away with ganging 2-4 DTM 7a pins for the high current lines, but you would probably need something higher current.
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