Firewall Forward, Part 4

I am now moving into the electrical wiring phase of the firewall forward construction.  Before I get too deep into that I want to set up some of the basic electrical wiring procedures I am using for the power distribution system and its cabling: battery, contactor, alternator and starter.

First order of business is to show off the Harbor Freight tool of the month that I have used with great success in electrical cable construction.  Let me also add that for the firewall forward electrical, I am speaking of 10 AWG wire and smaller gauge (larger diameter) wire.  The first shot below shows the HF hydraulic crimper - its a bad boy!  Makes even my unskilled hands produce some nice professional looking crimped terminals.

I should also brag on my HF wire/cable cutter, shown in the lower right of the next picture.  It makes cutting the 6, 8 and 10 AWG cabling a breeze and leaves a nice clean end.  But I digress.  Of note is the stripped end of the 8 AWG wire in preparation for the ring terminal attachment.  I have done all of my wire stripping with attempted surgical precision utilizing a brand new razor sharp Exacto blade and knife.  I have had perfect results just scoring a ring around the insulation without breaking into the wire bundle and then carefully working it off, again, with the knife.

Next step is to place the shrink tubing and uninsulated ring terminal into position and grab the bad boy.

 Jig up the assembly perfectly centered in the appropriately-sized jaws of the crimper.

A nice view of the assembly being crimped onto a 8 AWG wire.

Removed from the crimper and immediately prior to heat shrinking...

And the finished product.  Terribly out of focus pictures as the camera was giving me some attitude that I could never resolve - sorry about that.  Suffice it say that I am very pleased with the results of the cabling.

 The next few shots are of the power distribution system and are not quite permanently in place as I am still "noodling" the layout.

Shown below is a shot of the contactor, alternator and coolant overflow tank, without the battery.  Of particular note is the shunt mounted along side the seafoam green (primer) doubler.

The next image shows the battery in place, but without its hold down strap.  You can also make out the battery and battery/alternator leads that will run to the power buss, along the upper edge of the firewall.  Yet to be installed in this space are the two 1/2 inch manifold pressure (MAP)  hoses from the throttle body that will penetrate the firewall and connect with the ECU.  I anticipate that the ECU will be mounted just about directly behind the contactor (backside of the firewall), which will be on top of the glove box.  Yes, it is crowded.

Top view of the same.

Also worth mentioning is the routing of the starter cable (6 AWG) through the unused engine mount hole, on its way to the 5/16 inch stud on the starter (not shown).  Another 8 AWG wire runs from the contactor down to the 50 amp fuse (little black box) then to the shunt and then up and over to the alternator and its 1/4 inch stud.  The small, white wire poking out from the loom is the alternator field wire that will run (from next to the stud on the alternator) to the master switch.

 Much more forthcoming in this Firewall Forward series of blogs...