Engine Bay Wiring + Fuel Pump Wiring
I got in ~10 hours of wrench time on the E30 this weekend!
As I mentioned previously, I shaved the hole in the engine bay for the main positive power cables.
This meant I needed to get power into the bay in an alternate spot, keeping in mind that these are some heavy gauge (factory unfused) cables.
I had considered punching a hole in the firewall and using an appropriate fitting, but ended up with a better solution.
I dug into my parts bin and found the main battery feed from my '86 325e parts car. I was able to tuck this behind the heater core and into the driver's side under dash area. I bought a 300A fuse holder suitable for 0AWG and used this to splice the original and spare main power cables together under the passenger side dash.
Back on the driver's side, I fed the fusebox main power feeds and the large starter feed through the factory firewall grommet. I connected these all together under the dash (secured appropriately) and wrapped the connections in a hefty amount of high quality electrical tape (even though they are away from any metal). As this is now a fused connection I'm not worried about it grounding out, although I may size down that 300A fuse to something smaller for more protection.
I still need to wire in the small gauge battery feed (with the factory fusible link in the trunk) to the relay box power. It has been pulled through the firewall, but I ran out of appropriate terminals to finish the job.
Looking back on my rewiring of the Aeromotive fuel pump (on Post 352), I wasn't happy with the grounding wire just clamped to the metal shell. Last thing I want is a spark inside the fuel tank due to a bad connection! So I ran a small bolt through the housing in a tapped hole, and used this as the fuel pump ground. Ended up being a messy job as the fuel tank was at a positive pressure and I neglected to crack the gas cap first.
I installed the coil packs and harness, and checked clearance to my downpipe. It will be tight but it does clear with a small air gap. I threw on some Thermo-Tec heat wrap, and will be wrapping the downpipe as well.
Next I started on the main engine harness. I pulled it through the firewall, and started buttoning things up on the factory wire tray.
Mounted up my relocated fuse box, and crank sensor.
Even went to buy a replacement label maker as my old unit was inop.
I got in ~10 hours of wrench time on the E30 this weekend!
As I mentioned previously, I shaved the hole in the engine bay for the main positive power cables.
This meant I needed to get power into the bay in an alternate spot, keeping in mind that these are some heavy gauge (factory unfused) cables.
I had considered punching a hole in the firewall and using an appropriate fitting, but ended up with a better solution.
I dug into my parts bin and found the main battery feed from my '86 325e parts car. I was able to tuck this behind the heater core and into the driver's side under dash area. I bought a 300A fuse holder suitable for 0AWG and used this to splice the original and spare main power cables together under the passenger side dash.
Back on the driver's side, I fed the fusebox main power feeds and the large starter feed through the factory firewall grommet. I connected these all together under the dash (secured appropriately) and wrapped the connections in a hefty amount of high quality electrical tape (even though they are away from any metal). As this is now a fused connection I'm not worried about it grounding out, although I may size down that 300A fuse to something smaller for more protection.
I still need to wire in the small gauge battery feed (with the factory fusible link in the trunk) to the relay box power. It has been pulled through the firewall, but I ran out of appropriate terminals to finish the job.
Looking back on my rewiring of the Aeromotive fuel pump (on Post 352), I wasn't happy with the grounding wire just clamped to the metal shell. Last thing I want is a spark inside the fuel tank due to a bad connection! So I ran a small bolt through the housing in a tapped hole, and used this as the fuel pump ground. Ended up being a messy job as the fuel tank was at a positive pressure and I neglected to crack the gas cap first.
I installed the coil packs and harness, and checked clearance to my downpipe. It will be tight but it does clear with a small air gap. I threw on some Thermo-Tec heat wrap, and will be wrapping the downpipe as well.
Next I started on the main engine harness. I pulled it through the firewall, and started buttoning things up on the factory wire tray.
Mounted up my relocated fuse box, and crank sensor.
Even went to buy a replacement label maker as my old unit was inop.
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