|
|
Factory Five Roadster Body Install - Project Snake Charmer Part: 12We Finalize Our Wiring and Start on the Body From the May, 2007 issue of Modified Mustangs & Fords By Mark Houlahan Photography by Mark Houlahan
|
|
It's been 11 months since... It's been 11 months since the body was last mounted on our Mk III chassis, and it was great to have it back on again, especially with the wheels, the suspension, and an engine poking through the body openings. As we alluded to last month, the wiring phase of our project really debilitated our schedule for completion. As with most of our projects, we have a specific show in mind at which to debut our FFR Roadster project. This time, it was to be the 13th Annual Silver Springs Mustang Roundup in Central Florida. We've never missed a year of this show, and we've debuted completed projects from several magazines there. Alas, between a few parts delays and the wiring taking longer than we thought, we had to push back our projected completion date. Our next option was the NMRA season opener in Bradenton, Florida, in March, but there was little chance we'd have the car back from paint then, let alone have time to install the interior, register the car, and so on. So now we are planning for the 10th Annual Mustangs & Mustangs: Legends Havin' Fun show in Polk City, Florida, in April of this year. Keep an eye on our Web diary for up-to-date info on where we'll finally unveil the project. It took about a weekend to wrap up the remaining wiring for the project. We had to finish wiring the dash area and then completely wire the nose of the car, including the lights, fan, horn, and so on. The nose wiring wasn't too stressful since the horns, fan, and lights were pretty much in fixed positions, or at least they were fixed once we decided on their mounting points. As we said last month, the wiring isn't technically difficult; it's the thought that goes into parts placement, wire routing, and future servicing that takes up so much time. But it's time well spent. Mapping out the wiring harnesses on paper and noting special splices, crimps, fuse, and relay locations helps for any possible repairs or upgrades you may do. Of course, the best-laid plans can still be foiled. For instance, we planned on having an open underdash area, so we mounted the EFI fuse block where we felt it was easily accessible. We then added an underdash block-off panel to clean up things and add security to our ignition wiring. In order to access the EFI fuses, we'll now have to remove the complete dash assembly. While it's only six screws and a few wiring plugs, we may still relocate the EFI fuses for easier servicing before the car is finished.  If you saw last month's story...  If you saw last month's story on our Roadster project where we started our wiring, you'll remember we installed the kit-supplied headlight switch in a custom bracket to the left of the driver on the frame. The headlight switch includes a molded connector and terminals to wire the switch to your harness. As with pre-'68 Fords, there's a terminal on the headlight switch you can use to shut off the front parking lights, but this will require wiring the front and rear parking lights to the switch separately.  Due to Florida statutes, we...  Due to Florida statutes, we have to build our Roadster with FFR's optional wiper kit. The kit comes with an off-low-high toggle switch for the wipers, but we passed on that and used an aftermarket rotary wiper switch and a billet knob on our dash. To maintain easy removal of our dash, we added another Weathertight wiring connector from MSD to the lone wiper switch.  The Roadster dash is precut...  The Roadster dash is precut for a push-button horn setup, but we ended up using that location for our '65/'66 Mustang ignition-switch mounting. During a test-fit of the dash, we realized the perfect place for a horn button would be just above the ignition switch and a bit closer to the steering wheel, which would allow us to simply push the horn button with a fingertip without removing our hand from the steering wheel. We installed a stainless steel pushbutton for our horn that has a ring of blue LED illumination to match our Auto Meter Cobalt gauge lighting.  The Roadster kit comes with...  The Roadster kit comes with a red dash warning light that many people wire to their charging system to indicate a charging-system failure. We opted to use this warning light instead as a parking brake reminder. The lamp is wired to the parking-brake contact switch at the base of the parking brake (power goes through the dash light, and the contact switch grounds the circuit). Whenever the car is started and the parking brake is engaged, this light stays on as a warning to not drive off with the parking brake engaged.  The dash wiring required a...  The dash wiring required a few different grounds (the speed-sensor instructions state a dedicated ground should be used). We simply ground away a bit of the frame's powdercoat and then utilized stainless steel tapping screws to secure our ground leads. Don't be afraid to use multiple grounds, as stacking ground wires can sometimes lead to electrical "noise" in a circuit and cause problems with sensitive devices such as stereo equipment, gauges, and so on.  With the dash wiring finished,...  With the dash wiring finished, the ground wires connected, and our Optima battery hooked up, we connected the dash to the main harness via the preinstalled MSD Deutsch connectors and tested the circuits. The Auto Meter Cobalt blue-LED lighting is certainly striking. Oh, and everything worked great the first time we connected the dash.  There are plenty of available...  There are plenty of available options for horns, from aftermarket European-sounding units to standard domestic "hi/lo" setups. Of course, your choice will determine your final mounting setup, but if you use the standard donor-Mustang horn setup, a nice out-of-the-way place to install it is above the driver-side towhook bracket behind the radiator. Just remember that the mounting point for these horns (as with most horns) is also the horn's ground path.  The FFR instructions for the...  The FFR instructions for the included fan call for a simple dash toggle switch to turn the fan on when needed. We thought it would be a safer bet to have the fan's power controlled by an automatic temperature sensor, so we installed SPAL's fan-controller (PN FAN-PWM, $89.95) and fan-temperature switch (PN FAN-PWM-TS, $29.95). The SPAL controller turns on the fan at 50 percent power once the set low temperature is reached and then goes to full power when your high temperature is reached.  The SPAL controller features...  The SPAL controller features a built-in fan relay and LED indicators from the adjustable high and low fan-speed actuation. The SPAL controller can even be controlled by your gauge sender, though we opted for its own temperature sensor for a plug-in installation, shown here mounted in the bottom of our Forte's Parts Connection degas tank.  With the fan hardware, horn,...  With the fan hardware, horn, and light locations mapped out, we began to route our front body wiring from the driver's foot-box area to the left front of the chassis; then across the radiator support to the passenger side. We used more of our Mr. Gasket Flexible Wiring Covering kit (PN 4457, $23) wire-loom retainers riveted in strategic areas along the frame and two push-type retainers on the top of the radiator itself.  While the headlight switch...  While the headlight switch we're using from FFR's carbureted wiring-kit option includes a built-in circuit breaker, we thought it best to completely take the load off the headlight switch and use relays for the low- and high-beam headlights. This little corner of the engine compartment was a nice spot to mount the two relays and finish our initial wire routing up front.  With the front of the car...  With the front of the car completely wired, it was time to test all circuits before wrapping the harness. We plugged in the headlights, turn/marker lights, horn, and fan, hooked up the battery, and plugged in the dash. Everything worked-including high- and low-beam actuation, parking and turn lights, horn, and fan-on the first try. We're getting jazzed now!  WIth the wiring job working...  WIth the wiring job working and all routing finalized, it was time to remove the harness from the car and cover it properly. The harness comes off the car by unplugging the accessory items and removing the harness section from the fuse box.  As you can see by this series...  As you can see by this series of images, the harness has been routed and secured into sections with tie-wraps. Plastic high-temp convolute and T-junctions from our Mr. Gasket wiring kit are used as the initial protection for the wiring.  Finally, the complete harness...  Finally, the complete harness is tightly wrapped with harness tape from RJM Injection Technologies to make it waterproof.  The finished harness was reinstalled...  The finished harness was reinstalled in the engine compartment, and the Mr. Gasket retaining clips made for a super-clean and secure retaining method for the harness.  We've said it before, and...  We've said it before, and here's proof that we practice what we preach. When building your wiring harnesses, think of any options you may add later and run the wiring for them now. In our case, with the front harness we just finished, we added this power lead for a possible line-lock device. We have a Hurst unit on the shelf and we're contemplating installing it, so we added the wire we would need right away instead of trying to shove a wire through the firewall later.  The Seals-It firewall seal...  The Seals-It firewall seal (PN GS404-16, $27) we mentioned last month ended up being just a hair too big for the wiring running to the front of the car. To reduce the size of the 1-inch center hole, we popped this Mr. Gasket grommet in the center, effectively reducing the size of the center opening to 11/42 inch, and our harness fit perfectly. The Roadster kit comes with a block-off plate to rivet here if you want to route your wiring a different way.  After completing the wiring,...  After completing the wiring, we asked some neighbors (ironically, the same gang that helped us remove the body from our kit 11 months ago) to help us reinstall the body for some test-fitting. We'll see how our riveted aluminum mates with the body and test-fit some of the body components.  With the body securely bolted...  With the body securely bolted to the chassis at both ends and the sides, a standard Sharpie was utilized to check for proper panel gaps. We placed the Sharpie on the edge of the fiberglass and allowed the tip to touch the aluminum panels (mostly in the trunk, but the rear cockpit wall and firewall should be checked as well)....  ....so that the Sharpie left...  ....so that the Sharpie left a mark anywhere the aluminum was too close for the installation of the body gasket. Once checked, the body needs to be removed and the offending aluminum trimmed away.  After trimming the aluminum,...  After trimming the aluminum, the body-gasket material (called bulb seal in the build manual) was applied to the edge of the aluminum panels as called for by the instructions. For the trunk sidewall, we carefully notched the bulb seal to allow it to pass over the gap made by the trunk support without having to cut two separate pieces.  The rollbar is a two-piece...  The rollbar is a two-piece assembly that slips over welded stubs, two of which are in the trunk and a third outside of the left-rear frame area. The rollbar requires drilling to secure it with the kit-supplied bolts. Use a sharp center punch to mark your holes; then drill a small pilot hole completely through the bar tube and the mounting stub. Drill the hole carefully, and either use a step bit or work your way up to the proper size.  Once the rollbar mounting...  Once the rollbar mounting holes were drilled, we reinstalled the body for a check-fit of the three rollbar tubes to the body openings. If you didn't order the body cutouts from FFR, you'll have to drill these three holes before putting on the body. As you can see here, our angled downtube made contact with the body.  A high-speed rotary tool with...  A high-speed rotary tool with a grinding stone made quick work of the area we marked off with a white grease pencil. When sanding or grinding on fiberglass, be sure to wear a mask and eye protection.  Here's the rollbar downtube-to-body...  Here's the rollbar downtube-to-body fit after a few minutes of work with the rotary tool. All three holes needed just a little work, which is common since every body/chassis mounting is just a little different. We'll install some polished-aluminum trim bezels after the car is painted to seal the trunk and add some good looks.  The fuel-filler neck from...  The fuel-filler neck from the body to the fuel tank is a stock '79-'04 Mustang part that is cut and lengthened via a section of fuel-filler hose. Our filler neck, from All Mustang Recycling, was cut via hacksaw and the top half mounted to the body via the supplied hardware and body spacers. Don't forget to use the supplied ground wire to prevent static discharge.  While this fuel cap was simply...  While this fuel cap was simply laid in place for mock-up purposes, make sure you drill the mounting holes for the Le Mans fuel cap into the body via the included paper template before painting the body. The less you have to drill, cut, or file on the painted body, the better. We're using a quick-fill fuel cap for easy fueling without having to remove the inner cap once the Le Mans cap is flipped open.  The same goes for the license...  The same goes for the license plate light and mounting bracket. Drill your mounting holes now, verifying placement and fit. When you get the painted body back, simply drop the parts into their mounting holes and tighten the hardware.  The hole for the trunk-latch...  The hole for the trunk-latch mechanism is premade in the trunk lid, but we wanted to make sure there are no surprises when the Roadster comes back from paint. It's best to double-check and adjust the fit of any part going into fiberglass with a bare body. We assembled the trunk latch and handle, fit it to the trunk, and found our mounting-screw holes needed to be opened up to the next drill size for a better fit.  While we initially planned...  While we initially planned to use a Branda Performance oval Cobra air-filter assembly, the dual-stud mounting configuration, while historically more accurate, created fit problems with the mass air meter from the Mass-Flo EFI system. The base of the Branda unit also raised the whole air-filter assembly too high to fit under the Roadster's body. We're sure the Branda part would fit great on a carburetor-equipped 302, but on our EFI 351, it simply wouldn't work. We ended up using a Ford Racing Performance Parts single-stud version. The base of the filter housing is shown here, with the mass air meter wiring passing through the base and connecting to the meter itself.  Flipping over the base of...  Flipping over the base of the air filter shows how we riveted the mass air meter electronics to the base, then routed the wiring forward to the grommet and back to the meter to take up some of the wiring length.  Here's the completed installation...  Here's the completed installation of the FRPP air-filter assembly with one of Mass-Flo EFI's custom air filters. It is specially made to give the EFI enough surface area to support the engine while just fitting under the hood.
 | Project Snake Charmer is finished and on the road Check out the diary for more! |  | We'd like to introduce you to Mustang & Fords' new project, Project Snake Charmer |  | We Go Back to School-and Like It! The Factory Five Racing Cobra Roadster Kit Car Buildup Series Continues At The Build School. |  | Our Factory Five Roadster Suspension Finds Its Way to Our Frame |  | Our Factory Five Roadster gets its motivation from a Smeding Performance 427 |  | We install and prepare the aluminum panels for Project Snake Charmer |  | Our Factory Five Roadster gets a Drivetrain Specialtists rear end for Project Snake Charmer |  | Our project becomes a roller with brakes, wheels, and tires |  | Project Snake Charmer receives an EFI based fuel system to feed the snake |  | Our Factory Five Racing Roadster recieves a Smeding Performance 427 Windsor and a Tremec Transmission |  | Our Factory Five Roadster gets a new dash, pedals, and cooling system |  | Installing the Factory Five Racing wiring harness on our Project Snake Charmer Cobra Roadster Replica |  | We finish up the wiring and then turn towards starting the body on our Factory Five Roadster Project Car |  | Installing hydroboost brakes on our Project Snake Charmer Factory Five Roadster before painting |  | Project Snake Charmer Factory Five Roadster heads off for paint |  | Our Factory Five Roadster Begins the Paint Process |  | Our Cobra Replica's Almost Ready For Paint |
|
|
|