4th July 08 - As the day approaches ever nearer when I start the engine for the first time, I have turned my attention to the electrics needed for the start. I am just doing a temporary wiring job and not using the full GD loom initially. I just want enough to get me going!! I am following the example of Simon Rudman and making a temporary dashboard to house the require items. These being as follow:
Rev Counter (Tachometer)
Oil Pressure Gauge
Water Temp gauge
Oil warning light
On/off switch for the fan
On/off switch for the fuel pump
Ignition switch (MOM/off switch)I made the "dash" out of MDF and bolted a bit of angle aluminium to it so I could then bolt that to the chassis. Moving the the rear of the "dash", I put a bolt through to use as a "distribution post" for the 12v feed from the battery. I will take all my 12v power from this point. I have included a fuse box to pass the wiring through for the critical parts. The square item to the right of the fuse box is a "blade" fuse holder. This is to carry a 30amp fuse for the electric fan circuit. I just need to get a Rev Counter and Oil pressure gauge, plus Oil pressure sender and oil and water temp senders. I'm going to use ETB gauges and parts, as apart from liking the "original" look, they are guaranteed SVA compliant.
This all sounds like I know what I am talking about, but believe me, this is my first time with anything like this and I am making it up as I go along!! Must remember to get a fire extinguisher from somewhere!!!!
20th July 2008 - Well, after an afternoon in the garage, I think I have just about got the temporary wiring sorted ready for the first engine start. The pictures below explain most of what I have done so here goes with an explanation:
Picture 1: I have taken power from the distribution post on my temporary dash to power the fan. the second lead from the fan circuit is to earth. This is the same earth point as the engine and battery earth, see Picture 2. I have not used the relay supplied with the fan but take power directly to and from a switch on the temporary dash board. I will turn this on when I am ready to start and it will remain on permanently while the engine is running.
Picture 3 shows the back of the temporary dash. I have taken power from the battery (when I get it) to a distribution post on the dash. All 12v supply will come from this. I have also run everything apart from the start circuit through a fuse box (see pic 3) with everything fused at 8amp. The exception being the fan circuit which I have fused with a 30amp blade fuse.
Pic 4 shows the temporary earth point for the dials. I guess this will be somewhere else when the permanent loom goes in.
Pic 5 shows the power take off from the Tachometer going to the negative terminal on the coil as recommended by ETB.
Pic 6 shows my temporary "Ignition switch". Essentially one end goes to the battery + terminal (that's the black wire you see hanging down) and then connects to the switch (marked " "). Then on the other side of the switch, the red cable goes to the MOM (momentary on switch) switch that acts as my starter button on my temporary dash. Thinks that does the trick, but we shall see!!!
Pic 7 shows the Carter fuel pump (wire needs connecting). The pump is earthed to the chassis and takes power from the temporary dash via the fuse box (8amp fuse).
Pic 8 is the oil pressure warning light. One wire from the oil pressure sender (see pic 10) and one from the 12v supply.
Pic 9 shows the wiring on the back of the dash. Looks a mess but means something to me...I think!!
Pic 10 shows the Oil pressure gauge sender. This also has a connection for the oil pressure warning light. It wouldn't fit into the Mocal pump cover because of the Aeroquip connectors so I had to by an extended fitting (Aeroquip again). It was ideal and cleared the cover allowing me to fit the sender without a problem
Pic 11 shows a heat shield "wrap" I bought from "Demon Tweeks" which will hopefully protect the starter solenoid from the full heat of the headers. This is held in place with stainless steel tie wraps. I also have heat resistant tubing wrapped round the starter cable and battery cable. Its not pretty but isn't really in view when the car is complete, and will hopefully give the starter a longer life!
Pic 12 is the finished temporary dash. The "start" switch is a "MOM" switch (momentary on) which means when you let go it turns off again. Ideal for a temporary starter button!
Just need to find a battery or some other way of providing 12v power and I am nearly ready to rock!!! Need to get a little bit more tubing for the heater return ( will double it back through the system temporarily) and also a temporary fuel tank.....................Nearly there!!!
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26th Dec 08 - Having stripped out the temporary wiring and the temporary dash and fuel pump circuit just before Christmas, it was time to permanently fit the engine bay wiring loom. Having bought the loom from GD some time ago, it was a matter of fitting it neatly to the car. I used various sizes of convoluted tubing and some "HarnessFlex" fittings from a company called "Auto Electrical supplies" to make a neat job of it. They were very helpful and delivered by return of post.
I followed the GD wiring instructions for the engine bay loom (a bit sparse to say the least, but just about enough), apart from the Electronic Fan Controller that I had bought. I took advice from Simon Rudman on this one. I did away with the EFC (Electronic Fan Controller) relay, (simply cut it off) and connected the blue wire straight to the green and black in the GD loom (this connects to a relay on the body loom when I put that in). Of the other two EFC wires, the red goes to a 12v supply and the black to earth. The finished job is fairly neat as shown below. The thin red wire on picture six is for the 12v feed to the EFC which will connect to the fuse box somewhere I guess! The thick red cable is the main battery feed to the starter. Also on that picture you can see the two connectors that connect the engine loom to the body loom.
24th May 2009 - Once the rear part of the loom was fitted I started on the front part which includes the relays and fuse box. This is the more difficult bit to handle. I found it easier to fit the fuse box and bolt it into place first. This stopped the loom wondering all over when I was handling it. I then fed the forward part through the pre drilled hole (by GD) through into the engine bay, where it will eventually connect to the engine bay loom. This part of the loom should have had a pre-fitted grommet on but it didn't. I spoke to Andy at GD and he is getting me the right grommet which I will have to split to fit on. I'm not too bothered about this, and if it doesn't sit right when fitted, I will probably superglue it together. The grommet you can see in the third picture below is a temporary one. I support the loom at this point by two 'P' clips before it disappears under the engine bay lip. From here the loom feeds forwards under the lip and is 'P' clipped into place. This can't be seen at all from above making for a neat installation. As the loom reaches the front, it branches off for the nearside lights, entering the wheel arch area through a grommeted hole. The remaining part of the loom goes across the front of the bonnet hinge mounting, and is 'P' clipped into place. The bit of loom hanging down in the last picture below is for the fan. When it reaches the other side it goes through another grommeted hole into the offside wheel arch area for that sides lights.
23rd May 2010 - Time to fit the lights, starting with the headlights and indicators. I still haven't finished the compounding and polishing, but I will do it later once I know all the electrics etc work and before I fit the carpets.
I fitted the nearside headlamp and indicator, and used some waterproof connectors from a company called "PoleVault Ltd". They are a good company with everything you need in the wiring and connector field. The wires basically pass through a rubber bung into the connector, which seals it from the elements. One anomaly is that the front indicator wires have a loop back for the side indicator which means there are two wires to fit to each terminal. These won't go through the rubber bung together, so I used a 4 way one the same as for the headlight wires. Once through the rubber bung, the wires pair up again and crimp to the two terminals. I then held the two connectors in place with some 24mm stainless P clips. Fairly neat, and more importantly, weather proof!
Looks more like a car with the lights in!!
13th July 2010 - Finished the penultimate bit of wiring today before the final task of fitting the dash. This was to wire up the rear lights. After a senior moment when I couldn't work out what the third wire was for on the lights (brake and light combined if your a bit slow like me!!!!) I got them all wired and neatly clipped to the body. Just need to test once the dash is in and everything connected. While I was at it I connected an earth wire (as suggested by GD) from the filler cap. This is to cover the unlikely event of a static spark when filling with petrol. I tool the wire to the earth connection on the fuel sender.
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While I was on a roll, I fitted the battery retaining bar (which I had forgotten about!!), and fitted some battery cable boots. Fitted some boots to the other end of the cables and connected up to the bolts that go through into the engine bay. I also touched both cables with a spanner when I was tightening up...............fireworks!!................must be more careful!!!
Next was to find some power for the Electronic Fan Controller (EFC) which I have fitted. I had all ready routed the red cable from the fan controller to the dash area when I fitted it, so I simply spliced into the live feed from fuse 3 which is 10amp and should be fine. I also fed through the feed from the Oil temp sender to the dash area. this wire will fit on the back of the Oil temp gauge on the dash.
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22nd May 2010 - I sorted out out a few outstanding wiring jobs today. Firstly was to change the wiring on the Washer bottle motor. The original wiring on the GD loom is for a switched earth supply to the motor. This is the green\black wire. Now with the Vectra steering column, this becomes a switched live. Therefore you have to substitute the original live feed (which is the green wire on the GD loom), for an earth. All I did was to replace the green wire with a black one and route this to the earth multi plug on the dash loom, and splice it into one of the black cables there.
12th May 2010 - Been away for a few day but had an hour or so in the garage this evening. I've got most of the Steering Column wiring done now. I need to fit the new ignition switch but need the extract the ignition barrel first before fitting it. I will kill two birds with one stone and wait till I am fitting the leather to the Steering Column shroud before removing the barrel.
Apart from wiring the instruments, and a couple of other bits of wiring to connect (fuel pump override switch, Handbrake micro switch for brake test and 12v socket) that is this area just about sorted.
7th May 2010 - New switch arrived today from E-bay by return of post, I'm impressed!!
The connector is a really good idea, and once I get the switch from e-bay, I can put the finishing touches to the steering column wiring.
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5th May 2010 - After speaking to Alan while at Stoneleigh about wiring the ignition switch, I called at GD today and picked up a Vauxhall plug that connects the loom to the ignition switch. GD discard them because they can foul the steering column aluminium shroud. Alan found with a little bit of constructive filing and cutting he could make it fit. The beauty of using this is the wires are all ready on the connector and held in a permanent way. All you need to do is solder the wires from the loom to the relevant wires on the plug, connect it to the switch, and your off!! Seemed a doddle, till I took the switch off and it fell to bits in my hands!!!!! So..........on to good old E-Bay and have found one for a fiver which should be here by the weekend! Talk about one step forward and two back!!!
23rd May 2009 - Its been a couple of weeks since I have spent time in the garage due to one thing and another. Anyway this weekend I started to tackle the fitting of the main body loom. It really is a difficult thing to handle until you get it all roughly in place. I first installed the rear part of the loom that goes from the front bulkhead, backwards and into the boot area. As shown below, this is P-Clipped into the corner of the the tunnel and eventually feeds through a hole into the boot compartment. This part of the loom connects to the forward part in the nearside footwell. You can see the connectors in the first picture below.
4th Mar 2009 - Had a look at the main body wiring loom tonight that I had picked up when I collected the body. I'm sure when I get going, everything will become apparent, but at the moment it just looks like a big pile of spaghetti!!!
10th Jan 2009 - Continuing with the engine wiring today. I wired in the electronic Speedometer Transducer on the gearbox, to the engine loom, and also routed the loom to the reversing light switch.
My Wife bought me a set of air horns as a stocking filler for Christmas, so I had to fit them as well. It's only right after she went to all the trouble to get them!! Due to the placement of my oil lines it was a bit awkward to fit them how I wanted. Eventually I made a bracket up and put the compressor in between the two horns. This made a neat job, and at the end of the day, no one is going to see them anyway!!!
The HarnessFlex connectors make a neat job when using convoluted tubing, I must admit.
14th Sept 2008 - On running the engine for the first time I noticed the Alternator sounded a bit noisy as if a bearing was on its way. The Alternator was the original Rover one (see first picture below). With not much to spend my money on at the moment as I save frantically for the body (!!), I decided to buy a new alternator from the RPI online shop. Its a slightly up rated one (70 rather that 55 amps) which is fine, and fitted easily as a straight replacement. I used a modified MG V8 alternator bracket to secure the top of the new alternator to the water pump housing.
25th July 2008 - Here is my temporary start wiring diagram. I am not sure if it is perfect, and am hoping that anyone reading this may mail me and tell me if it is right or wrong!!! Got to say, I am a little nervous about it until someone confirms its OK!!
17th July 2008 - Took a delivery of Dials and sensors from ETB today. Must admit I'm impressed with them. I was going to buy Smith's but having seen ETB dials on various cars, only a trained eye could tell the difference, and allegedly these are more accurate!! I got the Tacho, Oil Temp, Oil Pressure and Water Temp. Didn't bother with the rest as I won't need them for a while so no point in spending the money just yet!
I also got sensors for the Water temp, which goes into the front of the Edelbrock Manifold, and the Oil temp which goes into a Mocal unit in the oil line just before the oil thermostat which sends oil to the cooler when necessary. Lastly I got an oil pressure sender which fits into an adaptor on the bottom of the Mocal oil pump plate. I needed the adaptor because with my pipe setup the sender was to big to fit directly because of the Aeroquip hose fittings. The adaptor was ideal, see the pic below.
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2nd Feb 08 - Building up towards an engine start in the near future so thought I better start thinking about the electrics. Got all the plug leads sorted and the dizzy on, so time to fit the coil. I have a standard lucas coil for the SD1, but have tarted it up a bit with a polished stainless steel cover from a company called "RatSport". Think it finishes it off nicely!!
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3rd May 2010 - After a very cold trip to Stoneleigh yesterday, I spent a few hours in the garage doing a bit more wiring. I wired up the Wash\Wipe controls on the steering column, integrating an intermittent wipe relay as per Simon Rudman's wiring. Not sure I am ever going to need this, as the plan is not to go out in thee rain, but you never know!!!
I started by using an 8 way block to accommodate all the control stalk and Relay wiring. Once wired I then connected the 8 way block to the GD loom. Following both instructions from the GD wiring guide (picked up when I took delivery of the loom), some advice from Andy at GD on the intermittent wipe side, and Simons wiring diagrams, I ended up with something not too bad. The wiring certainly isn't tidy or professional, but I know where all the wires go, and no one is going to see it!! Don't take to much notice of the yellow and blue shrink wrap coverings, it means something to me (identification during the wiring process) but the colours are irrelevant.
I have done a similar exercise to the other stalk (Lights and indicators) and just need to wire the loom side of the 8 way block and then connect together.
After I had finished wiring for the day, I checked everything with a multi meter using the wiring diagrams as reference, to make sure I had connected the right wires to the right connectors from one end to the other!! It seemed OK (Phew!!).
18th July 2009 - Started doing a few small jobs this weekend. I fitted the battery tray and bolted it through the floor to secure it. I will cover the underside in liquid rubber later, just to be safe from leaks from the outside.
I also fitted the two engine bay studs that protrude through from the battery compartment. These are what the battery connects to to and where the engine bay gets power from. I used two long stainless steel M6 bolts with the heads cut off. You can just see the lower one of the two at the top of the picture below. The brown cable is through from the passenger foot well and gives power to the loom via the bank of relays in the nearside footwell. Fitting the relays tomorrow, not a job i'm looking forward to!!
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24th Apr 2010 - Fitting the number plate light and wiring, is not the easiest of jobs, until you get your head round it and start taking advice from your wife!!! I had read other blogs about having to thread the wire down the reinforcing mouldings but that is almost impossible. I then drilled some pilot holes at the top and bottom but still no good. It was then that my wife came to the rescue with some thin but stiff wire she uses in the garden for tying plants up. I threaded the wire through (pilot hole to pilot hole), made a loop in one end, attached the three lengths of cable (one at a time) and "Bobs Your Uncle"!! What would we do without them!!?
Regarding the cabling on the loom, it has to thread through the hinge (you have to drill holes in the hinge for this) and then into and round the boot lid to the light, I wanted to be able to take the boot lid off in the future so I have cut the loom cable and will connect it to the cable I have threaded through the boot lid with spade connectors.
The retaining bolts for the light go through from the outer skin into the boot lid inner void. I drilled the holes right through, but made the holes on the inside bigger so I could get a socket in to tighten the bolts up. I will cover these holes, and the pilot holes I drilled, with blanking grommets.
One last thing. I replaced the self tappers that hold the boot lock in place with M5 button heads and nylocs
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. The self tappers didn't seem strong and one of them didn't tighten properly.
19th July 2009 - Well, I couldn't put it off any longer. Spent this afternoon on my back in the foot well, fitting the bank of Relay's. What a bleeding job!!! I fixed them with self tappers but had to pre drill to get a good purchase. Definitely going to have a stiff back and neck tomorrow!!! I also had to fit the main battery feed with its high capacity strip fuse on. This is the brown cable you can see in the pictures below, feeding through into the battery compartment.
I then connected the heater to the loom via the connector provided by GD. I was a little confused because the wires on the heater were Red, Yellow, Orange and Black. The three on the GD loom are Green\Yellow, Green\slate and black. Now I new that earth was Black, but wasn't sure about the other two. After looking at some pictures from GD (see last picture below), it became apparent that the three wires on the heater are different speeds for the fan. I looked at the GD photo and as there were only two wires I assumed there are only two speeds to the GD config for the fan, so copied it. Time will tell!! Time for a drink!!!!!
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