bringing the CRX back to the track build/thread

[reckedracing]

i used a piece from a smashed carbon fiber hood to make my wideband mount area in the vents
and about the signal lights...
i had a car that had a 3 way switch, left, middle off, and right that i used for signals
its a pain in the dick, and not really all that safe
just something to consider
remember when you're making a turn you're steering and usually downshifting at the same time
just something to think about

 

[GSRCRXsi]

well im going to re-use the combination switch on the steering column. its a perfectly good set of switches, and intuitive to use, just wondering if its possible to cut out the ICM and use something else, or nothing at all. im pretty sure the ICM controls the blinker function (blinking lights rather than a solid light) but like i said ill have to double check the wiring diagram in the helms and see whats possible.

 

[GSRCRXsi]

getting started on this electrical work. starting at the battery and working my way back lol.

4ga wiring from batter to kill switch. starter line off battery is also 4ga, though it doesnt need to be.

kill switch and panel finished.

heres the back for the alternator dump when the switch is thrown. the red wire goes to the fuse box and alternator. when the kill switch is turned off, this will get grounded through a resistor. its only a 10ga wire. hopefully its sufficient.

as you may have noticed, im trying to do this wiring correctly. and part of that is using as little solder as possible. crimping small wires is easy, and there are many crimpers available for small wiring. but finding a crimper for large gauge wires can be difficult and/or costly. and i know a few others on here will be wiring up a master kill switch so hopefully it can help them out too.

you'll need:

regular non-insulated crimpers
hydraulic wire crimpers ($50 from harbor freight) or a vice
appropriately sized heat shrink
heat gun or lighter/torch

wire in need of a terminal:

apply boot (this is on the kill switch with a pos lead from the battery) and move it out of the way:

slide heat shrink over wire, slide it up out of the way:

strip insulation off with a knife or strippers:

add terminal and crimp as tight as you can with the regular crimpers:

it may seem tight, but its not tight enough. it could wiggle its way out over time, not good. basically we just wanted to start the terminal off in folding over. grab your hydraulic crimper and lets finish this off to get it REALLY tight. put the terminal in the crimper sideways so the crimp makes it fold in half.

you now have a terminal connection that is better electrically and physically than a solder connection.

pull your heat shrink down, hit it with some heat to seal it up (i used the kind with adhesive backing). then pull down the boot over it all

thanks!

 

[E_SolSi]

 

[vtecsir1]

very nice work

 

[B16]

Nice! Where did you get then big ends there that cover the contacts?

 

[GSRCRXsi]

I bought most of my stuff from Waytek Inc, Home page to buy fuses, circuit breakers, cable ties, wire and other electrical supplies By Waytek Inc. they have pretty much everything you can imagine. I think you can get them from Pegasus too though.

 

[Korax]

Very nice. I'm looking to do pretty much the same thing with a cut off/gauges (maybe switches down the road if I decide to thin out the whole harness) as you did with your carbon paneling. What is the thickness of the sheets you used? It looks to me like they formed well to the contour of the vents.

 

[GSRCRXsi]

the plate is about 2.5mm in thickness.

making the panel for the switches and starter button was easy. i just cut a rough size, epoxied it to the vent itself, then sanded down the edges until the panel was the same size as the vent underneath. everything was flat so it worked well.

making the panel for the master switch was more difficult, since the vent is curved and the panel is flat, and very rigid. i tried heating the panel with a heat gun and bending it, but it didnt turn out well and ended up looking really bad. so on the second attempt i cut a few slits in the back side of the carbon, applied a little heat, and bent it on a few straight lines. you can see the creases in the pic. i would have preferred a smooth curve, but that would require custom molding a piece of CF, which i really dont have the capability to do myself, and wouldnt be cost effective to have one made. but it came out alright for what it is.

 

[phunky.buddha]

You should see some of the crimps at work- across a 1" section, you can't tell where the lug material starts and the wire strands end. Looks like one solid piece.

 

[GSRCRXsi]

in addition to this master switch im planning out the starter and IGN circuits.

Starter: i see most people run a heavy gauge wire (like 8-10) to the push button switch itself. i assume this is because people just swap over the wire from the stock ign key switch. I am taking out the key switch completely, but planning to keep a starter cut relay and wiring it up like this. this way i dont have to run a heavy gauge wire to the push button, and just something like 18ga. what do you think?

IGN: since i took the switch out, and just added a regular toggle switch, i dont want the full power running through the switch, so i will add a relay to the circuit. like this...

ill have an identical setup for the fuel pump

the way im thinking, the power/start setup will be like this:

1. turn on Master Switch to provide power to all circuits
2. turn on IGN switch to provide power to IGN system
3. turn on fuel switch to provide power to fuel pump
4. push in clutch, press button to start car

car can be shut off with IGN/FUEL switches
in an emergency car can be shut off and all electrical connections severed with master switch

anything wrong with this?

 

[GSRCRXsi]

resisting the urge to be lazy i did a little work tonight.

i made the firewall plates for the alternator passthrough as well as the quick disconnect for the engine harness.

alt plug:

harness disconnect:

i need to add a few more screws to the main harness and tighten it all up and obviously mount up the alternator plate.

wer're getting there

 

[Korax]

Dude, not that it wasn't before, but this is turning out very nice

 

[eg6sir]

u got some professional looking shit going on here.. hurry and finish now.. lol

 

[GSRCRXsi]

It's surprising how much you can do with a bit of carbon and a dremel lol. I don't even measure half of this shit lol. I have this compass with points on both ends and use it to score circles and curves, then I just cut and sand along the lines with the dremel. I use geometry to get centers and right angles. It's pretty easy and "good enough" lol.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll have some motivation to get the fusebox mounted up and start running some wires.

 

[phunky.buddha]

 

[GSRCRXsi]

i got busy yesterday and made up the fuse/relay panel. ive mounted it to the firewall. i was struggling with a place to put this, and im really happy with the result. i wired up battery power to everything. all thats left is to wire up the individual circuits. still not sure what im going to do about blinkers.

the black wire running across the bottom is the wire from the battery going to the master switch. the main red wire is coming back from the master switch and going to one side of a 100A fuse. coming out of the fuse; the red wire to the fuse box, and the black wire from the alternator through the firewall plug. the grey wire is the sensor wiring from the wideband O2.

 

[TurboMirage]

that looks so badass!

 

[E_SolSi]

damn this is coming along beautifully

 

[vtecsir1]

i hate you....new ideas, money i dont want to spend...lol