<< 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.
Every guy I know love their gadgets. The GTM electronics suite is a vast opportunity to devise, scheme, plan and plot a digital cornucopia. With the order date for the kit a mere three and half months away, it is time to start making decisions. As with everything, decisions begin to narrow your options - this is a good and bad thing.
The CarPuter or Car PC is a powerful option. Mobile Computing Solutions is a great site to research the available options. Centerfuse Auto provides software framework to load apps (similar to iPhone and Droid) to a XP, Vista or Windows 7 environment.
The CarPuter idea is seductive and extraordinarily powerful. Unfortunately, there are some red flags. Many of the apps rely on an external board connected to the CarPuter via a USB 2.0/3.0 cable (in some cases up to 10 possible inputs). I live in this world professionally, and my experience has been that trying to push a Windows OS with 6 USB inputs is iffy at best. This is going into a car. I need it to be reliable. The other warning flag was that people are relying on hacks to make things work (e.g. hand soldering boards). Again the reliability/kludge factor causes me to pause - especially in a car capable of 200 (or better) mph.
I went with an independent TPMS system offered by Orange Electronics. Most systems are rated to 7 years on the Lithium Ion batteries. This is a direct monitoring system. The pressure monitor is mounted on the inside of the wheel rim. I plan to mount the screen on the lower left hand side of the dash. This becomes critical in the build, as I want to get the car up on wheels no later than July. Therefore, I need a TPMS solution ready to go by then. This also means I have to decide on tires and tire sizes.
The electronic suite consists of the following:
Parking Assist Sensors
TPMS (My buddy Vern hates these things)
AM/FM/DVD/BT/MP3/GPS/XM
HomeLink
Automatic Headlight Sensor (under $30)
Auto Dim Mirror
Compass
Temperature
Trip Computer
Forward and Rear Cameras (Night vision is a plus)
OBD II Diagnostics
Cruise Control
inTouchMax
Seat heaters (this is a Minnesota car - needed for late and early season driving)
Directed Electronics 545T Nite-Lite System uses a photo electric sensor to measure light and automatically turns on/off the headlights, tail lights and parking lights as necessary.
The goal of the electronics suite is functionality. This means I need to pack a lot of functionality into a small number of versatile interfaces. One of the major driving factors is space. The GTM is not a Chevy Suburban that has boat loads of room. It is basically a cockpit strapped to a rocket motor inside an exotic body shape. The center console has room for a double din unit and the ISIS inTouchMax screen (after I move the shifter towards the rear). The ISIS system already has 1 Master Cell, 3 Power Cells and a inMotion Cell. These all need to be deployed out of sight, and they require flat mounting surfaces. ISIS localizes 95% of the controls to the inTouchMax screen. Add to this speakers and an amplifier (I'm thinking of hiding this under the passenger seat) for the sound system and there aren't many places to stick a CarPuter.
This is a Bluetooth enabled scan tool that is compatible with Droid, Android and Torque. Torque is an Android app that directly monitors the vehicle's ECU. I plan to use this with an Android (Samsung Galaxie II) tablet on an as need basis. I will test it on the Corvette and see if Torque lives up to its billing.
Since space is at a premium, you start asking questions:
Does the GPS and/or cameras get deployed to the rear view mirror or the sound system controls?
Does the sound system use a fixed screen double din solution, or a single din with a motorized screen solution?
Does HomeLink get deployed to the rear view mirror, or is it an independent 3 button solution? If so, is there room on the headliner?
Does the parking assist system use 4, 6 or 8 sensors? And how does it interface to the screens?
Do the OBD II diagnostics get pumped to a really ugly instrument panel (looks like a cheap 1980's Nintendo system)?
Is a 7 inch touch screen large enough to adequately display the information?
Where do the compass, temperature, trip computer and map lights get deployed?
Is there even room to go with a paddle shift controller behind the dash or inside the tunnel?
Does the GPS software have a built in trip computer? If so, how good is it?
Is there a reliable vendor and method to update the GPS map and software?
For the parking assist system, I am going with a 2 speaker, no display, 8 sensor system. One sensor on each corner, and two sensors on each bumper. I plan to deploy the speakers so I can differentiate the front from the rear. The rear sensors activate when the back up lights engage. The front sensors activate when the brakes are applied. The stated range is five feet. Each has an independent controller.
This is what planning is about. In the final analysis, the only place left for the CarPuter was under the driver's side seat. I'm not sure how much space there really is down there. I've started making decisions (without putting a lot of money at risk). None of them are cast in concrete - that's the beauty of building your own car. The thing I like about the decisions I've made is that they are simple, modular and easy to replace.
