Seeing its cosmetic, figured this would be a good place to put it. When I put everything back together, I want the engine compartment to be pretty much 99% wire-free, meaning I want to put the short-circuit protector, solenoid, battery, and all the other little doodads that has wires hanging around gone from the engine compartment completely. My question is whats the best place for them? I know the battery will end up being in the trunk, but as far as the solenoid and other things, could it all fit up in the dash somewhere? And if the answer is in the trunk, will I have to run heavier gauge wire to make sure the current doesnt dissipate too much over the extra 6 feet of wire? Suggestions? Ideas? I know there will be a few wires here and there...or do you think I should just go ahead and leave everything up front? Id like everyones opinion as what to do to give me ideas of what can and cannot be done. The car will have a 302 in it from a late 80's LTD more then likely, if that helps any
Good question. I have been pondering this lately, as electric fans, MSD boxes, and pertronix have all added unsightly wires.
Im planning on removing all ducting from under the dash with exception to the defrost ducts(required by law here), so I should have a ton of space to put stuff, the problem is accessibility to the things, not sure how much extra space itll give me.
I put my solenoid in the trunk with no issues. I ran it with 4ga wire through the side panels of the interior and under the door sill. Really cleaned up the engine area nicely. I am moving my coil under the dash this winter that wil only leave the single strand going to the dizzy and the single one-wire to the alternator uder the hood. (MSD box mounted under package tray already)
I just put in the MSD box this week, and that battery area is just chocked full of relays and wires. I am thinking about maybe enclosing all those relays and fuses inside a plastic box like they would on a "real" car. Take a look at this mess...it has gotten WAY out of hand. All the rest of the engine bay is wireless, or at least they are cleanly loomed and hidden. This one corner is a mess.
my solinoid is right under my heater box inside the fire wall. i went to the fuse box and found the thick yellow wire that pluged into the firewall socket. cut it and spliced a new wire that i ran over to the solinoid to provide power to the car. my bat is in the trunk. i have a 0 gage wire that goes to the big lug on my new style ford starter. my alts power wire also goes to that lug. i have a 4 gage wire with a 100 amp inline fuse going from the bat to the bat shut off switch then to the solinoid. then a 8 gage wire goes from the other side of the solinoid to the small post on the starter.
You could build an electrical panel to hold the MSD/relays and such.Mount it under the dash and run the wire harness down low along the frame rails and have wires just come up to components as needed.As for the starter solinoid,get a later mustang unit with the solinoid allready on it and hook it up(this will eliminate the one on the apron).
Actually, I have a late model starter, but I still use the solenoid for all the other keyed-on items. Electric fan on thermostatic sensor, electric fuel pump, MSD, etc. I have been looking in junk yards over the years for a decent sized relay box to mount there and cover all that crap up. They are always odd shaped or odd sized, and I never brought one home that would work.
Get an acessory box from under the hood of a chevy 2500 series PU.Usually found on the left side of the eng comp by radiator.(Its in place of a second battery on the HD models that dont have a second battery).Its the size of a battery and can hold alot of stuff. Usually I find mouse nests, beer cans...empty oil containers.Actually found a pair of ladies panties in one once...That must have been an interesting story...LOL...
LOL... werent any oil stains on em either soo...Cant say it was used as a "checkin the oil" rag. The stuff I see at work
I'd love to move the wires out of the engine bay as well but until I rebuild and wire the car this is the best I could come up with. I moved the battery to the trunk and mounted the MSD (painted black) in its place along with the relays for the fan. I moved the solinoid to the firewall side of the shock tower where the charcoal canister was. I grouped all wires into matching bundles on either side of the engine bay. Next up is to find a new place for the fuel pressure regulator and clean up the break master cylinder area.
Mine was like that, with the black loom over the shock tower, and it looked clean, until I added all this new stuff. Good idea moving it all BEHIND the shock tower. I am heading to the junkyards to find an appropriately sized and shaped box to contain all my stuff, and will see if I can find a way to hide it all behind that tower.
The master cylinder area of our cars is a mess. Still working on making that look cleaner. Any pics of what pthers have done ?
