race car wiring

Have to rewire my drag car, money is always a issue!!! Who makes a good wiring kit? Could any of you show me some pictures of how you installed you Ign.panels. I do not know if I want to install panel off the top bar or not [roof] Would like to see what other racers have done, thanks

I used a Painless wiring kit.The one I used was for a roll bar mount,but I made brackets and mounted it to the trans tunnel.It was very easy to install and it works great.

I think I want to mount that way too. got a picture? thanks

Sure! I'll get one for you later tonight.

EDIT..camera batteries are dead!! I'll get it tomorrow for sure.

I prefer ARC when it comes to a racer budget wiring panel and harness. I have noticed that Jegs has their own brand too. Just depends on what you need.

There is some stuff out there that is incredibly nice but it will cost ya.

Most of my customers are very happy with the ARC stuff I have installed.

Leon

will look into it, thank you

A ARC switch box with painless wire kit mounted on the trans tunnle

Not to be a Samrt-azz but do a Google search of Images " Race Car Wiring". There are a lot of pictures out there.

Wires & Pliers and Spaghetti Menders also have some good pics on their websites.

I'm with Leon on the ARC stuff, Looks good and is reasonable on the price.

There is Better out there but you'll pay dearly for it.

Do yourself a HUGE favor and make the install neat, clean and label your wires.

I just put one of these boards in my car. It cleaned things up quite a bit. http://www.yellowbullet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=146727

I just rewired my whole car.
I went with a K&R unit.
I was very impressed!!
It came with every single wire and they were all labled and color coded.
It also came with a huge laminated diagram that was very easy to follow.
It comes with a sweet switch pannel also.
They also have great customer service.
I found them at a MOPAR show.
I went with the super duty.
It is not the cheapest by any means, but in my opinion its the best!
Here is a link to them.
K&R

Few pics of my DIY...

http://www.nmbuilder.com/Panel-o-stuff.jpg

http://www.nmbuilder.com/Dash_installed.jpg

http://www.nmbuilder.com/terminal_blocks.jpg

Now that I've done it, I know how to do it....It's just like installing a sprinkler system, only smaller parts.

I usually build my own to suit the customer needs. Heres a few pics from a 68 Dart I wired a couple years ago. This is the under dash board that has the MSD, coil, shift lite control box and RPM box, relays and self reset breakers. I buy most components from Waytek Wire or Del City.

Back of dash. Switches, gauges, ignition and brake switches, and connectors for turn signal and front/rear wiring harnesses.

Trunk panel with main shut off, fuel/start relays, with start solenoid and main breaker on back.

Dash switches. Switches scourced from Waytek and I labeled them.

Just out of curiosity! How much do shops usually charge to do complete wiring.

Say a Turbo/EFI car that needs everything, it Has been stripped of all wires?

I ask because I need to wire mine, and wondering what the $$$ difference would be of doing it myself or paying for someone else's services?

I'm an Aircraft Electrician by profession so this would be easy. Just hard to get it done when I'm gone all the time.

Thanks, for all the help, I have been beating myself to death, working on wiring problems for a long time, instead of having fun, racing, ect. ect....... Did not know I had so many choices. Going to plan it out, take my time and do it right, thanks again

I have rewired several cars and I like the ARCtouch panel the best.

Inexpensive and comes with a relay panel.

My 2

Evilspirit you have some nice stuff. And about the time I was gonna jump on my soap box I saw your relay panel in the trunk.

Here is my little ole opinion. Many of these kits and panels are extremely attractive and neat. The neat little relay panel everyone mounts in their particular chosen location. Makes for a really nice neat job. But, I am a practical guy. Been doing electrical and electronic work for 30 years.

I would like to show these guys were they mislead their customers. Here it goes follow along. Your battery is most likely in your trunk.(If not disregard everything I am going to tyep). You run a large 15ft cable up to a distribution or simply to your starter realy or starter solenoid. You then run a #10 to your relay panel that is probably fairly short. 15 ft of #14 from the controled side of the relay back to the fuel pump in the rear of the car. 10ft of #14 from the relay panel to your fans, water pump of whatever on the nose of the car. Your fuel pump is now 30ft of wire away from your battery. Your fan and water pump is 25 ft away from your battery. If you run an alternater you run your wire back to the battery so the shut off works unless you have it relay controlled most don't. Your 12 volt battery without an alternater has about 12.8 volts. Put a meter on your fuel pump wire with it unhooked from the pump, 12.8 volts. Hook the pump up and check it. The battery still has 12.5 volts with the 6 amp load on it but, at the pump you only have 11.5 volts. Unless you run #4 welding lead to everything you are gonna have a voltage drop with running 12 volts up 30 ft of wire on anything that requires any power. Evil spirit seems to share my idea you need a realy at the rear of the car so you can pickup power from the battery limiting your circuit to 5 ft instead of 30 ft.

I also run relays up front for the fans. What I currently have looks like crap from ARC their generec relay boards are not pretty but you can do anything with how you want the relay to work. These ultra neat relay centers placed next to your ignition or wherever you choose are extremely neat. On OEM cars they do this for service and assembly but, you have an alternater. Our Magnum has a rear mounted battery and also has a fuse are relay panel in the rear so OEM is catching on too.

I'm not saying to disregard using these nice wiring harnesses but remember where your loads are, like the fuel pump in the trunk. Put a relay back there where it can actually do some good.

Leon

I agree...

The heavy hitters like fan and water pump relays are under the hood, fuel pump relay (and battery) are in the back...Everything else is mid point, in the cab.

I have 3 ground lugs, back-middle-front all grounded back to the battery.

I had Trick-Switch http://www.trickcableandswitch.com/mm5/m...ICKSwitchPanels

make up the one that was in the Duster

all switches had lights to denote that they were on, the panel had the relays and mini breakers installed...was a very good setup



could be installed anywhere you want it

Leon and AdobeDave,

Very good points.

These are practices we use in Aviation as well. Not only does it help with power distribution it also lends itself to saving weight too. We do everything with weight, reliability, ease of maintenance and possibility of failure in mind.

Wire weight does add up quick.

On another note. Something I see in many vehicles that makes me cringe is Ignition Boxes mounted right next Data and Digital Boxes (EFI, Timers, Controllers, Delay Boxes etc.)

In aviation we go a little extreme and separate AC from DC from Digital / Data lines.

With that said it would be a good idea to keep any High Voltage systems or Boxes separated from Digital and Data boxes.

My own plan is to put my Ignition Box and relays under the dash (I have a removable dash) and mount my EFI and Controllers on a panel in the passenger area somewhere. Probably in the door like we see on Pro-Cars.

I really like my ARC relay panel but I do use it to power a Product Engineering dual relay for the fuel pump in the trunk. Fans have a similar deal in the front.

When you realize the length of the ground has to be included in determing the ga of wire to run, hello extra weight.

When I look at cars at the track now, first thng I look for is their wiring...Blown Hemi Cuda running 8's...So what, show me the wires.

really getting some great advice and pics, Thanks everyone

Smokinwoody (Jeff) if you look at the panel I built you will see that they have different color lenses and rockers for that style switch. It makes it easier to tell whats on with out having to read the labels. The rockers are easy to change with a cheap tool that pops the rocker off from the front without having to remove the switch body. I have used these rocker switches for at least 15 years. They are avalible through Waytek wire if you are interested.

Leon, another thing I like to do is use a relay to drop out all unnecessary items during cranking. On this car, being a street car, I left the parking lights avalible for safety, but the relays for fans, headlights, etc. all lose their grounds during cranking for more voltage. I also "DUH" proof the electric fuel pump by tying the tach, line lock, etc into the circuit, so if the pump isn't turned on, you notice it fast. I design my systems for the application - a show car will be more geared towards hiding everything, and a race car will be geared for function with more attention to voltage drops.

That's a pretty clever idea. We do all these things we think up but, sometimes you have to stop and say keep it simple stupid. Talking weight. I am guilty of running a #14 that is included with a panel to the relay in the trunk. Really not need whatsoever. The heavy wire may be a little more durable but not a weight saver.

That is one thing I am guilty of taking home with me from the Railroad. Overkill and they care nothing about weight.LOL I have to put my race car thinking cap on at home.

Leon

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Smokinwoody (Jeff) if you look at the panel I built you will see that they have different color lenses and rockers for that style switch. It makes it easier to tell whats on with out having to read the labels. The rockers are easy to change with a cheap tool that pops the rocker off from the front without having to remove the switch body. I have used these rocker switches for at least 15 years. They are avalible through Waytek wire if you are interested.

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looks great...I may do the same when I get back on my 63 Dodge project...thanks