<< Mount Headlights and Turn signalsGen II GTM Front Grille >> Major System Category: ISIS Wiring Task: Wire up head lights Parts: Kit wiring Power Cell: 1 Circuit: 5 - WHITE Master cell: WHITE/GREEN Prerequisite Tasks: Head lights new to mounted Additional Costs: N/A Time Requirement: 2 hours Date Started: October 20, 2012 Date Completed: March 30, 2013
The GTM comes with Phillips H9 HID bulbs for both the high and low beams. The first thing the needs to be done is build the KET connectors. These fit into the plugs that fit the H9 bulbs. I looked up this YouTube video that shows how to put everything together.
Now that I am beginning to rough in the wiring, I realize I need to get serious about grounding points on the frame. I also need to think strategically about where to run wires and how long those runs need to be. Finally, I need to seriously start figuring out where I am going to mount my power cells. I have staked out space for the master cell and one power cell to live under the dash on the passenger side; I need to find space for 3 power cells under the hood; one more power cell in the engine bay. And I may need one more power cell.
I ran wires over the front grille opening in wire loom to connect the headlights and fog lights together.
One modification is to relocate and SHRINK the washer fluid container. I think I can put this on the passenger side since I eliminated the coolant overflow tank because I am going with Crash's header tank. My intention is to mount one power cell in place of the standard washer tank location. This is above the battery on the driver's side.
When I started this post, I didn't even have the power cells. Since that point in time, have all power cells mounted and deployed. I mounted power cells #1, #3 and #4 on the center aluminum panel. The mega fuses are on the other side.
Since the high beams and low beams run on separate circuits, I am running lines from the passenger side to the driver side to connect both circuits. This line is mounted in the lip of the hood above the grille opening.I ran the feed wires from Power cell #1 along the driver side inner wheel well to the driver side head light then over to the passenger side.Ground go to terminal blocks mounted on the inner wheel wells. these will be sealed with Automotive Goop.
The power cells are mounted facing forward. The one thing I did run into was interference from the hood louvers. The Vraptor ones are bigger and deeper, so I had to cut a notch to ensure I didn't end up rubbing a wire. I also shortened the data bus cable.
Update: One thing that did happen as I worked on the front end of the car was that the connectors for the headlights did not hold together very well. I ended up ordering prewired pigtails from Auto Lumination. Ultimately, I ended up with 1 master cell, 4 power cells and one motion cell. I'm sure I could find room to mount one additional cell if I had to, but space is pretty tight.
<< Brake Light SwitchWeather Pack Connectors >> Major System Category: ISIS Task: Brake lights Parts: Prerequisite Tasks: Power Cell: 2 Circuit: 3- LIGHT GREEN Master cell: YELLOW BLUE Additional Costs: Time Requirement: 2 hours Date Started: November 13, 2013
Date Completed: November 13, 2013
The brake light circuit is split between two lights (the same the parking lights and hazard flashers). The power leads for the hazard and parking lights come through the tunnel from the forward power cells. At the rear end of the tunnel, these leads split to the right and left. I have a wire loom conduit running along the rear splash guards. The split is located next to the parking brake cable box.
This Is the conduit coming from the tunnel into the engine bay. I ran the hazard and parking light circuits through this. There was no need to run the brake circuit through this conduit, because the brake light switch is wired to the ISIS Master Cell. The signal will be transmitted to through the data bus. This is another instance where ISIS saves you time and effort.
The brake circuit is assigned to Power Cell #2. This is the power cell located in the rear engine bay. I routed the power lead for the brake lights to the same area and spliced the power lead to wires running though the same conduits the parking and hazard circuits.
The hazard lights (yellow), parking lights (green) and brake lights (red). The Hazard and parking circuits come from the front of the car. The brake circuit comes from Power Cell 2, which is mounted on the passenger side of the engine bay. I just ran the brake circuit down the wire loom to get tot he other light. I am glad I did, because the transaxle bracket can be a bear to get back on the car when the body shell is mounted.
The brakes are activated by the brake light switch under the steering column. The switch is wired to the corresponding signal wire from the master cell.
The brake line circuit gets wired together using a terminal block. Once I know everything works I will use Goop to seal up everything.
From a maintenance perspective, all tail light circuits are connected to the power leads with Weather Pack connectors. The reason for this is if the body shell has to come off, the rear lights can be disconnected from the power system.
I ran two legs of wire loom for all the circuits going to the lights. I run them under the cross member at the point where the engine bay begins and the tunnel ends.
<< Side Marker - Circuit 4/8Brake Light - Circuit 2/3 >> Major System Category: ISIS Wiring Task: Mount brake Light switch Parts: Mounting bracket and brake light switch Power Cell: 2 Circuit: 3 - LIGHT GREEN Master cell: YELLOW/BLUE Prerequisite Tasks: Install Steering Column Additional Costs: N/A Time Requirement: 2 hours Date Started: August 7, 2013 Date Completed: August 8, 2013
The brake light switch is a pretty simple item. Basically, you take the Factory Five bracket and the donor car's brake light switch. Install the switch on the bracket, and figure out how far the switch needs to be positioned so that when pressing the brake the circuit closes.
This is the bracket and dwitch clamped in place for measurement. This is looking towards the front of the car from beneath the dash. The switch needs to be half way depressed when the brake pedal is at rest.
This is a job best performed by skinny midgets. The kit manual makes this look deceptively easy, and it is if you haven't installed anything beyond the brake and clutch pedals. However, you really need the steering column in place due to the pillow block on the column. The best thing to do is to leave the steering wheel off (this is the only way I could get my head under the dash). It is definitely impossible for anyone taller than three feet or weighing more than 90 pounds to get under there if the seats are installed.
This is a small space. I have removed the steering wheel, but it is still an acrobatic exercise to get positioned under the dash. You need eyes down there to get things lined up so holes can be drilled .
This ends up being about three or four trips under the dash to get this put together. The manual indicates that rivnuts should be used to attach the bracket. (I'm not a fan of rivnuts, and as the BLEEPING tool is busted, I no longer use them in the build.) If you have done any serious building on the driver's side foot well, then I don't see how it is possible to get leverage that far under the dash to effectively use the rivnut tool. Instead, I use Helicoils. Some people argue there isn't enough metal for Helicoils. I have had good success with Helicoils on the frame when I use them with Red Loctite.
Only two wires are required for the brake switch per the manual. As this is going to connect into the brake circuit and act as the switch via th ISIS system, I wired it with a terminal block so it would be easy to splice into the circuit.
The other thing I did was wire the brake switch into a terminal block so it would be easy to connect. These wires were cut off very short, so a terminal block seemed a better way to go. It is always easy to cut wire shorter; it is less easy to lengthen it in tight spaces. I did all the wiring work on my bench in the Northern Man cave's lower level.
Yours truly packed under the dash. There are many things that poke, grind and scrape as you burrow in under the dash.
Finally, I used bolts with locking washers to secure the bracket in place.
