Still working on electrical harness. It really does take hours to crimp, solder, heat shrink and stab pins into each connector. All the wires are gradually becoming wiring harnesses. Just working the build plan.
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Das Beast: My E30 track / street build
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Another day, another connector
Still slogging through connectors and wiring harness.
Connectors assemble better with the right crimp tool. Molex wants $400 for their OEM crimper. (gag) This SGT 18600 is $20 and gets the job done right.
Note the "dimple" on the lower part of each die. This turns out to be critical for getting a proper crimp on the Molex pin. FYI, the MX150 connectors are affordable but also highly engineered. The pins need to be crimped exactly for them to stab into the shell.
Before
After
"And then we broke the car. Again." Mark Donohue, "The Unfair Advantage"
1987 E30 3L Turbo Stroker Das Beast
2002 E39 M5
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Here's a look forward at the To Do list:
- Wiring harness
- Cockpit wiring conduits
- Defogger
- Electronics bulkhead
- Dash and cluster
- Engine bay conduits and wiring
- Engine bay accessories
- Engine and transmission"And then we broke the car. Again." Mark Donohue, "The Unfair Advantage"
1987 E30 3L Turbo Stroker Das Beast
2002 E39 M5
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Note about assembling these MX150 connectors. The white face plate is a locking mechanism. You need to pull it out with needle nose pliers BEFORE trying to seat pins. It will move out about 1/4" with a "click". Once all pins are stabbed, push the face plate it and it locks them all.
These are nice connectors.
"And then we broke the car. Again." Mark Donohue, "The Unfair Advantage"
1987 E30 3L Turbo Stroker Das Beast
2002 E39 M5
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Back to Wasted Spark
Time to revisit the wasted spark system. Here's my original design (from ages ago) Bad ass MSD coils waiting patiently to be mounted.
That architecture diagram gets turned into an electrical schematic. Here's the working draft.
Schematic gets implemented in a harness with connectors.
Harness installed in the bulkhead. Looking good. Round things are LED flasher relays.
Yes, we are freaking nuts. But we will finish this car. :devil:"And then we broke the car. Again." Mark Donohue, "The Unfair Advantage"
1987 E30 3L Turbo Stroker Das Beast
2002 E39 M5
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Audible Call
So, the wiring harness has gotten Large And In Charge. No way this giant octopus is going into two 1" x 1" wireways.
We're changing out the wireway for a 2" x 2". Here is Obi Wan carefully prying them out of the chassis. Lucky for us VHB tape does not adhere so well when just stuck in place. That just means it's an unholy bastard to remove. When applied to two metal surfaces and set with compression, metal will tear before the VHB. (WTF? Ask Obi Wan) Apparently they use it instead of welding to hold the wing panels on Boeing passenger airliners.
"And then we broke the car. Again." Mark Donohue, "The Unfair Advantage"
1987 E30 3L Turbo Stroker Das Beast
2002 E39 M5
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Been subscribed for a while. Very through build.
Coming from the GM market, I have had bad experiences with those MSD coil packs (also the yellow Accel). The regular GM coils are far more sturdy and provide more than enough voltage (stock coils will arc over two inches).
How do you like the crimp pliers? I have the same double jointed pair and didn't feel they crimped down enough and the wires often fail the pull test. They do work well on the cheap plastic insulated terminal ends. I tend to go back to my worn out "Made in Taiwan" crimp pliers that have been kicking around since the early 90's. I can't seem to find a pair as good, and the smallest hole is completely worn flat. :/
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'Bird, can you point me to the coil packs your referring to? I'll take a look.
The crimper works great for MX150 pins specifically. The die folds pin ears and pushes them down in the right profile. We are using wire gauges matched to the crimper die, so we always get a clean tight crimp. Can't pull a pin off. All the pins get a solder reflow for good measure though.Last edited by dvallis; 02-09-2018, 04:19 PM."And then we broke the car. Again." Mark Donohue, "The Unfair Advantage"
1987 E30 3L Turbo Stroker Das Beast
2002 E39 M5
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The red coil packs in post #819.
Yes, my old crimp pliers also fold the ears over, but do a much better job, and are single jointed. I do a lot of re-pinning for c101/x20 connectors and that double jointed crimp tool wouldn't crimp tight enough for me (failed pull test). I don't flow them with solder. I feel if it was ok to use solder, OEM MFGR's would have too.
My old trusty crimp pliers looks similar to this...
Worst part is, I got the double jointed off the tool truck and probably over paid, and they have hardly been used since purchase.
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