Wiring

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73camaroz28
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Wiring

Post by 73camaroz28 »

Attempting to wiring my car.
73 Camaro pro street, Street Strip Car
Electric fuel pump
Electric spal fans (2)
Electric water pump
nitrous, purge, trans brake, line lock.
battery's in trunk
MSD 6al2
140 amp alternator

Any recommendations on aftermarket harness's?

I was looking at, Racers Inc. Formerly Enos Wiring harness's
Ron Frances
American Autowire

Also looking at ARC 8000 Switch Panel

Can I run all my relays from one location or do they have to be wired by fuel pump, fans, water pump?

This is a little intimidating right now but with quotes of 4500-7500
here in San Diego to wire my car is a little steep.

Thanks.
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Re: Wiring

Post by In-Tech »

Those prices are not completely out of line just because of the sheer time it takes to make something really nice. It's not necessarily so hard as time consuming so if you are willing to do the labor and buy good parts/wire/connectors you can do it nicely for ~$1000.

Here are some pics of one of the waterproof fuse/relay centers I use.
CAM00036.jpg
CAM00037.jpg
CAM00038.jpg
And one of the through firewall 1/4 turn connectors I use for EFI
CAM00117.jpg
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Re: Wiring

Post by In-Tech »

I believe there are some pics of a few harness projects I did, on this forum somewhere. :)
Heat is energy, energy is horsepower...but you gotta control the heat.
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73camaroz28
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Re: Wiring

Post by 73camaroz28 »

Hey thanks,
Yes I got the time to do it myself.

Any recommendations on Harness's ?
Or should I just by a fuse box and pull wire myself ?
In-Tech
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Re: Wiring

Post by In-Tech »

I don't have any recommendations on a base harness, I bet there are a few good ones out there that might save you some time. I wire from scratch and you should always overbuild it. Buy a Fluke 336 clamp meter(this will allow you to check current draw on any circuit you are unsure whether you need a fuse or more relays)

From what you posted it looks like you only need 5 relays. Stay away from the Bussman "bussed" relay centers (notice the pic I posted is not "bussed") as it appears you will have a good deal of amp draw with the 2 fans and a fuel pump etc. I do use the "bussed" versions for low power stuff, just keep in mind what you are building, and, again always overbuild it.

Spend some time on paper drawing out what you need to accomplish, leave yourself room for growth in case you want to add later. Don't worry how many times you start over. ;) Not saying it's the correct way, just how I do it. Draw everything out not worrying about lengths. I start at the fuse relay center(s) and grow from there. It generally makes everything cleaner.

Check out waytekwire.com to see available stuff. There's alot on Mouser and Digikey too. Keep your options open, and research is your friend. :)
Heat is energy, energy is horsepower...but you gotta control the heat.
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OhioMafiaWireGuy
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Re: Wiring

Post by OhioMafiaWireGuy »

73camaroz28 wrote:Attempting to wiring my car.
73 Camaro pro street, Street Strip Car
Electric fuel pump
Electric spal fans (2)
Electric water pump
nitrous, purge, trans brake, line lock.
battery's in trunk
MSD 6al2
140 amp alternator

Any recommendations on aftermarket harness's?

I was looking at, Racers Inc. Formerly Enos Wiring harness's
Ron Frances
American Autowire

Also looking at ARC 8000 Switch Panel

Can I run all my relays from one location or do they have to be wired by fuel pump, fans, water pump?

This is a little intimidating right now but with quotes of 4500-7500
here in San Diego to wire my car is a little steep.

Thanks.
Wow...I know things are pricey in California, but $4500-7500? For real? Not for what you have / want!!! I would love to see these shops work for that kind of maney, but then again...maybe not.

I know this thread is old, but what did you decide to go with? Done?

You could have went couple different ways with this. One, wire it as two completely different systems (street car on a replacement style fuse block wiring kit and then add switching and relays for the "race car side" or Two, use a set-up like Speedwire or the ARC 8000 you mentioned. I've been using both in my shop for years. The ARC stuff has never failed and is great for the budget minded...where Speedwire is top notch, but comes with a price.
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Rick Finsta
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Re: Wiring

Post by Rick Finsta »

I used an eBay kit in my car and it was alright - it was a copy of an American Autowire setup and not a very good copy at that. The wire itself is okay, but not as pliable as I'd like, and the crimps basically all had to be redone. The fuse block was cheap, etc. I went with an OEM style and going back I would upgrade everything with modern parts.

The Ron Francis and American Autowire stuff I've seen has been high quality, and honestly I love the idea of having terminal strips on the fuse/distribution block like they have in some series. I ended up using subpanels, grounding and junction terminal strips, etc. and having it already all in the design seems like a nice idea. From a time standpoint it is SO much easier to use terminal strips than the GM56/Packard style.

All in all, to take an OEM style harness of marginal quality (if I could go back...) and modify it for an EFI install I probably had a good 100+ hours into it but a lot of that is research and planning. Going back I could knock an install out in a month's worth of weekends without much issue but I would expect the car to be down for a while if it's your first go at it.
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Kenova
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Re: Wiring

Post by Kenova »

I'm almost done re-wiring my Nova with an American Auto Wire harness but can't tell you how it compares
to others. The fuse block goes in place of the old one, there is lots of wire so you don't have to worry about
coming up short, and there are extra circuits for anything you may want to add. Buy a good crimping tool,
take your time, and read the instructions. It does take a while to put it all together but I found the process
to be somewhat therapeutic.
When it comes to relays I like to place them as close to the load as I can. This reduces the amount of wire
carrying a higher current.

Ken
Over the hill but still learning!
Retaining it is the hard part.
justahoby
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Re: Wiring

Post by justahoby »

Kenova wrote:I'm almost done re-wiring my Nova with an American Auto Wire harness but can't tell you how it compares
to others. The fuse block goes in place of the old one, there is lots of wire so you don't have to worry about
coming up short, and there are extra circuits for anything you may want to add. Buy a good crimping tool,
take your time, and read the instructions. It does take a while to put it all together but I found the process
to be somewhat therapeutic.
When it comes to relays I like to place them as close to the load as I can. This reduces the amount of wire
carrying a higher current.

Ken
I have piggybacked a heavy duty relay and fuse on top of a GM 12 wire harness for my extra accessories. One wire with the key on turns on the relays, from battery fused to new fuse block... new wires heavy duty circuit, almost nothing added to the stock harness. Only things I change are to accommodate a higher amperage alternator. I just make sure I fuse things, electrical fire I have witnessed as a boy with my fathers truck resulted in him starting from scratch. I learned from that, not to make it complicated, but well thought out.
As I'm approaching 40,I still think I'm 20. What the hell is wrong with me?
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