Weather Pack Connectors

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      Parking Lights - Circuit 4/8
      Lighting - Circuit 4/10
   
Major System Category: ISIS Wiring
Task: Build weather pack connectors for doors and tail lights
Parts: 4 x 6 way cinnectors
           2 x 3 way connectors
Prerequisite Tasks:
Additional Costs: $49
Time Requirement: 2 hours
Date Started: January 25, 2014

Date Completed: January 28, 2014

One of the things I worked on in late November was connecting the tail light and door assemblies into the main wiring circuits. I was so intent on just getting something to connect that I failed to consider the greater problem of moisture on these contacts. I recognized, correctly, the doors and tail light assembly need to be able to disconnect from the main chassis. I did not wire this up the first time through with any consideration to rain or car washes or any of the other things that can mess up an electrical connection.

These are the little parts that can get dropped, wander away or get lost. On left hand side of the dish are the posts. These fit inside the barrel terminals. The green insulator fits over the barrel connector and the reddish/brown are the individual wire plugs.

The other issue was that by making an individual connection for each circuit, I had a real mess of wires on my hands in the tail light area, and burgeoning mess in the door area. I understand today how everything connects, but what about three or four years from now when something quits working and I need to go into the area.

This is a 6 way connector for the passenger door. Two wires for the popper, the interior lights and power  windows. These wire colors correspond to the wire colors used for the circuits and those colors are dictated by ISIS wire circuit color.

My solution is to go with a weather pack connector that is water proof and vibration proof when it comes to connections. By the time I figured this out, winter had descended with a heavy hand on the Northern Man Cave. I only really got to work the first ten days in December, after that it was just too cold. I mapped out the wiring for taillights and doors. I had 8 wires running to the tail lights and six wires running tot he doors (not counting the speaker wires that I am going to run continuous from the head unit). This will be a maintenance problem.

These each go on the single bulb rear tail light.

The weather pack connector consists of two hard plastic pieces. One holds the barrels and the other the posts. There is a inner rubber insulator to keep water out that fits over the barrel connector and individual rubber plugs that slip over each wire. These are pressed into the back end of each connector. Wires are crimped to the post and barrel terminals. (I really suggest doing these one at a time so as not to get confused.)

These are not a bunch of dying cockroaches. These are the six weather pack terminals I built. Four for the tail lights and two for the doors.

I decided to go with a uniform six inch wire to form the pig tails. To this I measured out 1 foot and cut it in two. The rest just involves stripping the end of the wire and crimping it to the connector. These connects have two "ears" that hold the connector in place. The connector snaps into place. It can be removed using a special tool that fits over the connector and pushes the ears down.

Rear Stereo Speakers

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Major System Category: Electronics
Task: Build speaker box for rear speakers
Parts: Wood Board
            Carbon Fiber Vinyl
            Infinity Reference 3032cf 3.5-Inch
Prerequisite Tasks:
Additional Costs: $75
Time Requirement: 6 hours
Date Started: January 14, 2014

Date Completed: January 21, 2014

Initially I was going to just go with speakers in the doors. There really isn't a good place to mount rear speakers. I started to look at the rear quarter glass. These are really worthless in terms of seeing anything. I plan to rely on mirrors and cameras to see what's going on around the car. Vraptor Speedworks sells a NACA duct that provides air into the engine compartment. I plan to replace the quarter glass with these ducts and use the ducts to push air directly into the cold air intake.

Everything seems so straight forward when you start out. I am just fitting the box together using clamps.

This solves two problems as it now gives me a place to mount the rear speakers. 

The tricky part was getting the hole centered and big enough. I came across a great multiple hole saw kit for about $12 that handled everything from 1/2 to 6 inch holes. 

There are no mounts for rear speakers in the GTM design. There are only mounts for door speakers built into the inner door liners. I 6.5 inch speakers for the doors and 3.5 inch speakers for the rear. Time to make rear speaker mounts!

This is sanded on the seams, glued and screwed together. The speaker wires are running through the small hole in the back of the box. I also have a rubber grommet installed to minimize chaffing. 

I found a sturdy 1 x 12 x 48 pressed board at Home Depot. This is your basic 7th grade shop project where you need to build a box. I managed to mess it up a little, but eventually I had box with a center hole to mount the speakers and rear hole to feed to wires through. I purchased enough board to fix the mistakes. I secured everything with wood screws and glue, then I sanded it down used wood filler to take care of the gaps on the seams and level things out.

I am prepping to wrap in vinyl. I made 45 degree cuts in the vinyl so I could wrap the box.

Since the box is going to be two rather large frame posts and the quarter windows are going to be dropped from the design, the visible part of the box is basically the speaker and the edges leading away from the speaker. This doesn't have to be a perfect job. It just has to look good from the top. Of course, now I have two tan colored boxes. This is where carbon vinyl wrap comes in very handy. This doesn't cost a fortune and it is relatively easy to work with.

Finished product. Now all I have to do is get the GTM transported to the New Southerns Man Cave this summer.

I wrapped the boxes before I installed the speakers. Once I had the component pieces assembled, it went pretty fast.

Headlight wiring - Circuit 1/5

<< Mount Headlights and Turn signals                     Gen 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 Lights - Circuit 2/3

<<  Brake Light Switch                                       Weather 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.

Brake Light Switch - Circuit 2/3

<< Side Marker - Circuit 4/8                               Brake 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.

Bracket bolted in place.

Nine Month Milestone

Chassis #402 arrived at the end of June, 2012. It was a good time and a good distraction as I had just said good bye to Ripley, my Black Lab, a few weeks earlier. Rips watched me curiously as we worked on both the Porsche and Corvette - never quite sure what was going to happen next (neither was I). Based on my schedule, budget and other obligations this represents nine months of progress on the build since delivery. I split my time between the Northern and Southern Man Caves. Obviously, when I'm down south, the GTM waits patiently for me to return so we can get working on things.

Except for a few things like mounting the running gear, removing and installing the body shell and getting the transaxle into the chassis, I've done everything myself. Oh, there has been grand kid or two that cut wires and play with lights, several neighbors who stopped by to see what was happening, and plenty of other interested folks who wandered in. All this is to say, you can build one of these incredible cars on one side of a double garage in a suburban neighborhood.

I plan to do the final assembly at Southern Man Cave, which is being augmented  with a number of bells and whistles to make jobs like moving engines and transaxles and body shells much easier. The nine months of work is basically weekends and evenings, a significant amount of mumbling to myself, deer in the head lights stares and wandering about the build looking for the tool I just had in my hand.

The major items completed or close to completion are:

• Suspension installed.
• Brake and clutch lines run.
• Fuel system.
• Most of the door internals.
• Non-ECU wiring
• Body work/modification up to primer.
• Transaxle inside the chassis.
• 50% of the sound proofing
• Most coolant lines run.
• Miscellaneous items installed (e.g. side marker, nozzles, vents, HomeLink, Lights)

Side Markers

<<  Parking Lights                                                 next  >>

Major System Category: ISIS Wiring
Task: Wire up the DRLs
Parts: Side Marker Lights
Power Cell: 4
Circuit: 8 - GREEN
Master cell: N/A - Controlled via control stalk and/or Kenwood DNN990 HD
Prerequisite Tasks:
Additional Costs: Side markers - $20
Time Requirement: 90 minutes
Date Started: November 24, 2013

Date Completed: November 24, 2013

The base GTM design make no allowance for side markers. There are not even any reflectors. My buddy Brian observed that with a car this low to the ground and nothing to reflect on the sides is probably asking for trouble. I purchased two sets of side markers from Super Bright LED. There are many interesting items on this site. The other site I have used for lighting enhancement is http://www.autolumination.com/.

I measured up from the rear edge of the wheel well even with the fender louver. I marked the hole on both sides of the car,

At this point in the build, I have dealt with glassing the seams, shaved door handles, cutting into hood for fender louvers and rear body louvers, plus all the body work necessary to get to primer coats. So the idea of drilling a hole into the side of the hood for side markers is not very intimidating. Ask me about the same issue when the kit first arrived and I would give you a different answer. Once I decided to add side markers, then I decided to drill the holes on the primed vehicle. Things are much easier to fix at this point then on a car where everything his at finished paint.

Hopefully, by the time you end up drilling holes into the side of the car, you've done enough body work to be confident that the process can be reversed.

I plotted a line from the rear point of the wheel well to the fender louvers rear edge. On this line I placed the widest point of the marker. The wires from the marker are about .5 inches off the center point. So I measured 3 5/8 inches up from the rear wheel well point and drew a line .5 inches to the rear. I drilled a 1/8 inch hole as a pilot. I worked up drill bits to 13/32. At this hole size I can fit the wire and the connector through the hole.

The side marker wires run along the inside of the hood and around the inside of the fender louvers. The wire loom protects the side marker wires.

These side markers come with an splitter box that enables you to splice into the headlight and signal circuits. These wires can be run down the inside of the hood.

This splitter box cmes with the side marker lights, It ties into the headlight, signal and parking lights.

This the side marker. It is just held in place by tension on the wires. There is a connector between the marker light and the circuitry. This allows the marker to be removed for final paint.