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Let The Rewire Begin

10K views 27 replies 10 participants last post by  SUPRNOVA 
#1 ·
I've finally decided on a full rewire. I decided against the ones from AWW, Painless and others because too small to handle every thing I currently have and have limited room for growth. After looking at all the fuse panels available from Bussman, Delphi, Painless, AWW and others, I've decided on a Delphi electrical center that can be mounted under the hood and easily handle 200 amps of continous power. I will have lots of room for growth and it will even handle my Taurus fan with ease.

 
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#4 ·
It shouldn't be a nightmare. If you are building it yourself, plan it out throughly. Proper preplanning will save a lot of headaches. I currently have about 6 pages of Viso drawings. I should be able to build 75% of it in my living room. If you go the premade route, most of the better kits have comprehensive instructions.
 
#7 ·
66 rewire

:confused:I NED HELP ON THE BEST KIT FOR MY REWIRE WITH ROOM FOR GROWTH. I'VE LOOKED INTO PAINLESS AND AWW. BUT WHATS THE BEST GUYS. THE MOST CONVENIENT AND FEWEST HEADACHES THAT I CAN DO MYSELF. I CURRENTLY HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO WIRING AT ALL IN THE CAR.
SOMEBODY HELP ANYBODY:confused::(
 
#9 ·
Rewire

AAW is in the process of making a new kit for the 62-67 Nova for modified cars! Right Now should be done in about a week or 2. I know this because my car is their project car being used for the new kit. Give them a call and ask them about the new kit!
 
#11 ·
I have started my project by making some heavy duty ground wires out of 1 gauge, from the engine to subframe, and engine to unibody.
Adequate grounds are often overlooked in the rewire process. I'll run individual 8 gauge grounds to the core support, body and dash. I don't have anything connected to the frame, so no ground there.
 
#13 ·
Checkout the Delphi catalog under modular electrical centers. The have several options in there. The trick is locating them. Mouser, Terminal Supply and Wayteck have some of them. I was able to get the parts for my traditional electrical center from Mouser. Delphi has a single position unit that will hold 6 mini 280 series relays. These are rated up to 35 continuous amps. There are a lot of options

Bussman also makes a water tight unit that will hold either 5 mini or 3 standard 280 series relays.

280 series relays are a SPDT and DPDT relay with a slightly different pin layout that plug into Metri-Pack 280 terminals. The relays in the picture at the top of the post are 280 series relays.
 
#15 ·
The best part is I can mount it under the hood. I can also build all circuits for less than .2 voltage drop through the panel and a max of one volt drop at the end of the circuits. I can ensure my fuel pump and head lights have 14 volts.
 
#16 ·
I've got the electrical center wired up and most of my circuits are in the harness. Just need to add parking lights, turn signals, wiper wiring and hazzard flashers. Those don't run through the electrical center so I've closed it up.

Tested my relays to make sure they are wired correctly. Eight AA batteries did the trick to test them The ignition and accessory relays have diodes to ensure they shut down when the power is turned off. The other ones are for the hi and low fan, fan controler, and head lights.



The wiring in the underside. that is about as neat as I could make it.


Top side with the bottom cover on
 
#17 ·
I've gotten all of of the old wiring out of the car, got the new bracket made, the main harness built and started fitting it in the car.

This is the bracket. It will hold the fuse panel, fan controler and future F/I computer (if I ever do it.


Eletrical center and main harness. I got the altenator, choke, coil, starter, and temp sender fitted and terminated tonight. The harness going to the firewall will be behind the fender.
 
#18 ·
Bone Head Move

I removed the connectors to the wiper motor before I wrote down the order of the wires. My wiring diagram doesn't show the exact locats that they connect to. Does anyone have a pick of the wiring on the wiper motor? I have the pump figured out.
 
#21 ·
I looked long and hard at that system, but decided against it. It really isn't that flexible unless you get the very expensive controller software. Also, 20 outputs wasn't enough in the preconfigured kits. The AAW and Painless systems were too small so that is why I decided to build my own.
 
#22 ·
Lots of progress this weekend. It is basically in but I'm trouble shooting one bug. My rear brake/blinker/hazzard doesn't work. The issue is under the dash somewhere. I'll find it on Tuesday. I really wanted to put the dash in today and close it up. I guess it will have to wait a few more days. The up side is I have backup lights for the first time. I haven't tested the gauges yet, but everything else works.



 
#28 ·
Boy I wish mine looked that pretty. That's something I learned with my summit kit. Even though their directions repeatedly say never to undo the entire wiring harness from the zip ties it's shipped with, it would have saved me a bunch of ***holes (wires looped around trying to get to their destination).
 
#25 ·
I measured everything for the main harness and the core support harness. The loose ends of the connectors I left extra wire to do final fitting at the end point. The best thing I did was label all the wires as I built the harness. I did reuse the rear body harness. It was in decent shape and I haven't added anything in the back.

Very nice work. When done correctly the electrical system is so much more efficient. The factory had some long looping circuits, especially the exterior lighting.
The factory harness is very clugey. They pull all of the ignition and accessory through the ignition switch so you are limited without auxillary panels which I used to have too. I also had a three volt drop to the head lights. All critical circuits are now sized for a 1/2 volt or less drop.

Wiring is time consuming, I have about 50 hours into just adding additional circuits for the windows, locks, trunk release, alarm, power seat, all the extra gauges, line lock and interior lighting. All connections have been soldered and insulated. Everything in the console is run through harness plugs to make it easier to install the console. The circuits from the TKO for back up lamps, cruise control and neutral safety switch are all run up through the floor under the console too. It has taken more time to do the wiring than it did to build the engine :)
It has been very time consuming. It took me a couple of months to design and build the main harness. I have another 20+ hours putting it in the car. I've used Delphi Metri pack and 56 series connectors throughout so I have only four or five splices.
 
#24 ·
Very nice work. When done correctly the electrical system is so much more efficient. The factory had some long looping circuits, especially the exterior lighting.

Wiring is time consuming, I have about 50 hours into just adding additional circuits for the windows, locks, trunk release, alarm, power seat, all the extra gauges, line lock and interior lighting. All connections have been soldered and insulated. Everything in the console is run through harness plugs to make it easier to install the console. The circuits from the TKO for back up lamps, cruise control and neutral safety switch are all run up through the floor under the console too. It has taken more time to do the wiring than it did to build the engine :)
 
#27 ·
The blinker is resolved. I took a fresh look at it tonight and I had the Lt Rr light wire in the wrong socket. It goes in the second from the end and I picked the wrong end. I hope to get the dash installed in the next couple of days and it will be done.
 
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