Various Build Questions

[Ric S.]

I am finally making visible progress now that have I gotten over the idea of drilling holes in a new car. I have looked through the search areas of prior threads and found plenty of very good feedback. But certain questions remain. So...........

1. Since the idea is to have "clean" firewalls, has does one go about securing the fuse panel on the wiring harness without drilling into the wall?

2. I have an SA 406, so if you have the same, what are the cranking amps for the battery you installed?

3. Just making sure, I need to drill 7 holes in the tunnel for the wiring needs. The rear wiring, the engine harness, the speedo cable, the MSD connector to the distributor and the two cables for the oil/water temp sensors. ???

Finally, I have learned quickly that the days of an all purpose auto parts store have gone the way of the rotary phone. I did a frame off restoration on my Jeep in '95 and got all the automotive replacment parts from one NAPA store. I have yet to find simple items in one single place. Jegs, Summit and the UPS driver now have to serve that purpose. I am taking Alan's advise and looking for a good local speed shop.

Enough said, let's build.

Thanks all, Ric

[Brent]

I agree, a clean firewall is key to a quality build.
I made a bracket out of .100 alumminum to hold my MSD box and my fuse panel. I drilled and tapped the cross bar behind the dash and mounted them on that. You can use some rubber grommets to mount them as these cars vibrate a lot at idle.

The 406 is not as revelant as the other components of your build. Are you going to run a high torque starter? Will you use the two pusher fans as well as a puller fan? What alternator are you running..60 or 100 amp?
I would run a red top Optima. Cood cranking amps and good reserve and a dry cell to eliminate fumes and corosion in the trunk.
Good info here: http://www.optimabatteries.com/publish/optima/americas0/en/config/product_info/automotive.html

The routing of the wiring in your car can be as indivigual as the rest of your build. Nothing can ruin a gorgeous engine quicker than a pile of spaghetti and that cheap plastic sheathing laying on the intake and across the firewall. It is cheap and easy to to invisibly wire a car. Take some time here and do it right the first time.

Jeg's and Summit are good resources as well as Motorstate if you have a local dealer for them. A speed shop is great to use on parts that you will buy multiple of with plans to return what you do not use. Motorstate has a small dealer body that can match or beat anything Jeg's or Summit has. We have dealt with them for years and we spend about 100K with them each year.
Look here for someone local to you:
http://www.motorstate.com/subcat.htm?c=Motor%20State

Best of luck and have fun,

[weaver]

You won't need 7 holes, if you don't have a heater 4 should do it. You can run more than 1 set of wires through a hole. I would run the Optima red top also.

Alan

[nolastyankee]

Ric,
Regarding the holes for wiring, we are running an EFI system and an electronic transmission in our FIA. We have an extra 100 wires or so in addition to the normal harness and are doing it all with two holes in the tunnel below the dash and one out of the top corner to the front of the car. If you need more room for wires you can purchase larger wire loom and combine the runs. 1" loom is only $0.40 per foot at NAPA!

[Justin Upchurch]

I drilled two holes in the top of the tunnel by the passanger, and one in the upper left corner of the firewall.
Think about how you will route the wires to the front of the motor, and that will determine where you go from there.

Justin

[pgermond]

Perhaps a little late, but maybe some help - I would postion the holes in the firewall more toward the fender wells if I were doing it today. As for the fuse panel and MSD box, I would do it the same way. I used long threaded bolts with wing nuts on the fuse panel (makes it easy to drop down and inspect).

Good luck and keep us updated....