Wire Tuck Thread

W3bb3r04

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I am going to try and do a good write up as I go through my wire tuck. I am going to try and do it as step by step as I can because this is my first time and Im sure most of the people that would be trying this will be too.

First off I removed the battery and battery tray.
urepyjuv.jpg


Then I removed the fuse box cover and loosened the 4 bolts inside to allow me to remove the box itself. Then I removed the 3 bolts holding the bottom of the box on. Following that I removed the (4) bolts holding the ECU bracket to the car.

vedamame.jpg

se7a2ery.jpg



Then I started removing the wire loom. This is very time consuming. You have to unplug connectors as you go. Be sure to label ones like the coil packs and injector plugs so you know where they will go at the later point and time. This is all that I have for the night. Anyone that has done this so far, tips are appreciated and any questions from anyone else Ill be glad to answer as I come to them!!

ebe2etug.jpg
 
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LAStang1234

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Your my hero! I had been going through all the ones throughout the forum, because I'll be doing this this winter. Could you make a list of all the things required? I'm assuming majority of the wires that need to be extended are 16/18 gauge wires?

IDK if it's just me, but the pics are gigantic.

Good info in these.

http://www.s197forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=96580&highlight=wire+tuck
http://www.s197forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=52507&highlight=wire+tuck
http://www.s197forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=54257&highlight=wire+tuck
http://www.s197forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=66104&highlight=wire+tuck

You going to put the fusebox where the battery was or under the glove box?
 
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Makdaddy

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This is great

But I should drop my car off.
That way you have a reference point , then you can do mine right behind yours. But have mine as a fall back in-case you need one



Good for practice also :beer:
 

PLee

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I just wrapped mine up not that long ago. My suggestions:

-TAKE YOUR TIME. This is not for the faint of heart.

-Have a plan for where you want to mount the fuseblock and pcm FIRST. i.e.- plan your harness routing ahead of time. I mounted my fuse block where the battery was. Had to open some holes up under it to get the harnesses through w/ their huge connectors.

-You do not need to unwrap all of the harnesses. Some you can leave alone, as you can (depending on where you mount stuff) end up w/ more factory harness than you need. Others you can get away w/ only unwrapping a portion of the harness.

-Unwrap/extend only one harness at a time.

-Extend only one wire at a time. This helps eliminate the possibility of screwing up. Knowing where your harness's destination is will help you know how much wire to add.

-Buy lots of electrical tape, shrink tube (w/ the adhesive inside), solder, and/or butt connectors. NOT the cheesy red or blue ones you get at the auto parts store. I recommend the nice non-shielded connectors that you shrink tube w/ adhesive lined tube, for a good seal. Like these:
NonInsButtSplice1.jpg



-DO NOT SKIMP on your electrical supplies. There is NOTHING worse than chasing electrical gremlins, and the few pennies you'll save on cheap butt connectors, electrical tape, etc. just isn't worth it.

-You will need 20awg, 18awg, up to I believe 14awg, if memory serves me right.

-Get good wire strippers. This style is popular, but the clamps that hold the wire in place actually break the wire jacket, so I DON'T recommend using them:

wcs190a.jpg


I LOVE the ones below. I have wired at least 5-6 complete FULL hot rods (front to back) with these. They DO NOT cut the wire jacket when stripping. Worth every penny, I promise.

http://www.matcotools.com/catalog/product/WCS191/WIRE-STRIPPER-RECESSED-AREAS/

WCS191.jpg


-Last but not least- be OVER protective of your wiring. I can't tell you how many times I've seen wires running unprotected along sharp edges of metal. When you unwrap a harness, save the plastic loom. A lot of it you can reuse to help protect the wires. If you're passing a wire through metal, be sure you put a grommet or some sort of edge protection on it. Consider every chafe point or edge to be something that can cause a short or FIRE, and protect against it. If you're not sure, protect it anyway. Why risk it?
 
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LAStang1234

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W3bb3r04

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I just wrapped mine up not that long ago. My suggestions:

-TAKE YOUR TIME. This is not for the faint of heart.

-Have a plan for where you want to mount the fuseblock and pcm FIRST. i.e.- plan your harness routing ahead of time. I mounted my fuse block where the battery was. Had to open some holes up under it to get the harnesses through w/ their huge connectors.

-You do not need to unwrap all of the harnesses. Some you can leave alone, as you can (depending on where you mount stuff) end up w/ more factory harness than you need. Others you can get away w/ only unwrapping a portion of the harness.

-Unwrap/extend only one harness at a time.

-Extend only one wire at a time. This helps eliminate the possibility of screwing up. Knowing where your harness's destination is will help you know how much wire to add.

-Buy lots of electrical tape, shrink tube (w/ the adhesive inside), solder, and/or butt connectors. NOT the cheesy red or blue ones you get at the auto parts store. I recommend the nice non-shielded connectors that you shrink tube w/ adhesive lined tube, for a good seal. Like these:
NonInsButtSplice1.jpg



-DO NOT SKIMP on your electrical supplies. There is NOTHING worse than chasing electrical gremlins, and the few pennies you'll save on cheap butt connectors, electrical tape, etc. just isn't worth it.

-You will need 20awg, 18awg, up to I believe 14awg, if memory serves me right.

-Get good wire strippers. This style is popular, but the clamps that hold the wire in place actually break the wire jacket, so I DON'T recommend using them:

wcs190a.jpg


I LOVE the ones below. I have wired at least 5-6 complete FULL hot rods (front to back) with these. They DO NOT cut the wire jacket when stripping. Worth every penny, I promise.

http://www.matcotools.com/catalog/product/WCS191/WIRE-STRIPPER-RECESSED-AREAS/

WCS191.jpg


-Last but not least- be OVER protective of your wiring. I can't tell you how many times I've seen wires running unprotected along sharp edges of metal. When you unwrap a harness, save the plastic loom. A lot of it you can reuse to help protect the wires. If you're passing a wire through metal, be sure you put a grommet or some sort of edge protection on it. Consider every chafe point or edge to be something that can cause a short or FIRE, and protect against it. If you're not sure, protect it anyway. Why risk it?

Thanks for the tips! I definitely plan on soldering every connection. I am also planning on putting the pcm in the place of the battery. One question I had was when mounting the ecu how many bolts are used to hold it to the body?
 

PLee

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Depends on the bracket you make. I took the stock PCM bracket and cut it up, using a majority of it to mount the PCM in the fender well area- in the gap between the fender and kick-panel area. What's left of my stock bracket is bolted to the pinch weld, then the pcm bolts to the bracket w/ the same two bolts that held it in originally.

I will comment however- that you're going to have a lot going on in that corner w/ the BEC (bussed elec center) there AND the pcm. With all the harnesses that feed both, you may not have enough room.

I'll try and snap a few pics tonight to add to the discussion. Can't wait to see how the OP's wire tuck goes! Always cool to see everyone's ideas.
 

W3bb3r04

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I'm in for this .. Good luck Rj..

Thanks Ryan!


Here's the progress from tonight.k
I decided to put the fuse box under the dash so consider that when looking at it. Also to fit the plugs through to the fender I had to pry on it to make the hole large enough.
e6yzutu3.jpg


I then ran the plugs for the Fuse box through the hole where it entered into the engine bay. Then I ran them back towards the firewall so the could enter into the car
a2aty4uv.jpg


aramyned.jpg


This is after it has been tucked into the passenger side floorboard through the hole pictured
u7yva9yd.jpg


Definitely a motivation pic!
ure7yzy7.jpg


Then I pulled the intake out and passenger seat out for easier access.
jute6u3y.jpg


Tomorrow I am going to lengthen the headlight harness wires and the COP and injector wires. Then I am going to mount the ecu and possibly start wire looming the wires.

Another thing I will be doing during this is adding a catch can set up with a breather that will be mounted on the firewall where the battery was originally. I will include all that in here too.
 

mfergel

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In for this as well.

I'm sure it would be difficult to do but I'm thinking one thing to do might be to test the vehicle every so often. Maybe wire up a loom and then start it up to verify you aren't having issues. I know I've done some electrical stuff in the past where I've made a bunch of mods, fire it up and it doesn't work and then I'm left wondering what mod was responsible.
 

onehotpny

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Very good write up, wish you had started this project two weeks ago.I did my wire tuck,but not as through as yours. will be waiting till later down the road to move the pcm and fuse box. I can't move the battery,since my audio system already has two batteries in the trunk area. The coil & injector wires is 18 gauge,from what I found most of the wires connected to the engine is 18 gauge.
 

onehotpny

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I found a good way of labeling the wires,just write the it on a piece of paper,then use clear transparent tape,stick the paper facing up to the tape,then pull your tape ,attach it to your wire or connector you want to label. At first I just use regular masking tape, but after a little bit it would get oily and dirty, this clear tape method works a lot better.
example
 

mfergel

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Yeah, good idea. I used to work as an audio engineer and you can actually get specialty labels that have numbers printed on them. You use them to mark the cable, the connector, etc. That way you could always match them up when unplugged.
 

1QIKPNY

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In for results, don't think I'm brave enough to attempt this myself.
 

Timmbo

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I'm wayyyyy too ADD to tackle this. I would want it done in 5 minutes lol!
 

onehotpny

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Yeah, good idea. I used to work as an audio engineer and you can actually get specialty labels that have numbers printed on them. You use them to mark the cable, the connector, etc. That way you could always match them up when unplugged.

Yea, I wasn't able to find the labels,so i had to make my own, but I know what your talking about , I've used them in the past,just wasn't able to find any when i started this project.
 

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