Builds Fly By Night (5 Viewers)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Thinking a lot about the new electrical system that will be getting installed soon.
Won’t be going back with the OEM wiring harness - all new stuff. Was originally thinking of whittling the 5.3 engine harness down to what I need, but the plastic connectors are degraded as well as some of the corrugated loom, so I think I’m just gonna go new with that also.
Been scoping the internet to see what fuse boxes and chassis wiring harnesses there are out there, and what looks the best for what I’m wanting to do.
The top two contenders so far are the -

Highway 22 Plus Universal
www.americanautowire.com

Highway 22 Plus Universal Wiring System

Highway 22 Plus Universal Wiring System
www.americanautowire.com www.americanautowire.com

837C5AA8-616E-494C-8E6E-BC02A3F1225C.jpeg


And

Haywire 21

Haywire 21 Fused Wiring System

Haywire Inc - Automotive Aftermarket Wiring Components
www.haywireinc.com

0C02D6E6-D5ED-4C9B-BF7D-EEBE58A5D34E.jpeg



The OEM 1977 fuse holder had 8 fused circuits (Heater, Stop, Turn, Engine, Tail, Headlight, Lighter, and Wiper) with several of those pulling double duty for other functions.
I made a list of most every circuit I think I’d need in a badass Cruiser (comes out to way more than 8), and even went on to separate them from main/starting battery and house/auxiliary battery. Had a good discussion with my ol’ pal @RHINO about a good way to split the duties of the two batteries up.
Anyways, here’s the list -

Main fuse panel
  1. Headlights (relay)
  2. Tail lights
  3. Marker lights
  4. Turn signals
  5. Brake lights
  6. Reverse lights
  7. A/C
  8. Heater
  9. Rear window (relay)
  10. Radio
  11. Windshield wipers
  12. Fuel pump (relay)
  13. Ignition
  14. Horn
  15. Seat heaters (?)
  16. Dome lights
  17. Comms radio
  18. Cigarette lighter / 12v plug(s)
  19. Auxiliary lights

Auxiliary (house) panel
  1. 12v accessory plugs (3-4)
  2. Back extendable cargo light

Other circuits
  1. Winch
  2. Air compressor


I’m sure some of those circuits can be combined, and on the other hand, like having circuits separate for troubleshooting.
 
Last edited:
The DC-DC charger

www.renogy.com

DCC30S 12V 30A Dual Input DC-DC On-Board Battery Charger with MPPT

Designed to give you options, the Renogy 30A Dual-Input DC-to-DC MPPT On-Board Battery Charger can charge a service battery in two different ways. The multi-stage charger can utilize connected solar panels or an alternator linked to a starting battery.
www.renogy.com www.renogy.com

10611961-4FB8-41A7-B0C4-5312908AD8C5.jpeg
 
Rush,

We used the Highway 22 stuff with no complaints. Put the winch and air compressor on the house battery and don't forget about some type of security ( alarm, tracker, cut off switch, etc. ).

I just bought two of those Odyssey batteries for my 5500 Dodge last week. OUCH!
 
Good plan. I don't recall what engine harness you're using, and not going to look through 145 pages, but the fuel pump relay and fuse are typically on the harness in the engine bay on a separate fuse block, so you can take that off your list.

Install an onboard battery maintainer too and it will keep your expensive batteries going longer.
 
samc2447 said:
Good plan. I don't recall what engine harness you're using, and not going to look through 145 pages, but the fuel pump relay and fuse are typically on the harness in the engine bay on a separate fuse block, so you can take that off your list.

Install an onboard battery maintainer too and it will keep your expensive batteries going longer.
Click to expand...
I didn’t recall that about the fuel pump circuit - thanks for the reminder!

Scrappy and I had talked a little about the maintainer - he went with a unit from NOCO, and it’s mounted in one of the rear quarter panels. Who am I to reinvent that wheel?
 
I use one of these in one of my own cruisers and have installed a couple for others. I'm very happy with them and plan to put one in my 55. Have used it to self jump on more than one occasion when my starting battery was going bad.

IBS battery isolator
 
RUSH55 said:
What method of isolating and charging are you using?
Click to expand...
I have a blue sea(?) isolator. As far as the charging goes I let the engine take care of it. Maybe this is my mistake, this is my first dual setup. I’ll do some research on charging the odyssey…
 
RUSH55 said:
First of the year update…(2023)

Been working on this little winter project so that it will be done by the time it warms up enough to get back to painting. I’ve had a couple ideas I wanted to try out which required some groundwork, and moving in a sequence. Most of the way done now so I’ll post some pics.

Welded 8M coupler nuts to the firewall for attaching heat shields made out of 1/8” aluminum plate. Made some templates using CAD.

Ran the brake and clutch hardlines across firewall to some new bulkhead mount points.

View attachment 3208379

View attachment 3208381

View attachment 3208382

View attachment 3208383

View attachment 3208386
Click to expand...
Wow!
Meticulous is a word that comes to mind...
 
RUSH55 said:
The heat shields are spaced out 3/4” from the firewall, so unfortunately blind riv-nuts wouldn’t work behind them, so welded new hex nuts in place to anchor the ECM, DBW module, and firewall mat to the inside.

Got two of the heat shields cut and fit. The center will require some bending on a brake.

Got the inner mat cut, formed and fastened to the inner firewall. The ECM and DBW module will mount just like Scrappy’s (no pic).
The bolts holding all these on won’t be on the final cut.

View attachment 3208395

View attachment 3208396

View attachment 3208397
Click to expand...
Is the inner met rubber diamond plate?
 
RUSH55 said:
I’m gonna cover them with this material first and see how I like it.

Design Engineering 050501 Floor & Tunnel Shield II - Adhesive Heat and Sound Insulation, 21" x 24" (3.5 sq. ft.) Amazon.com: Design Engineering 050501 Floor & Tunnel Shield II - Adhesive Heat and Sound Insulation, 21" x 24" (3.5 sq. ft.) : Automotive - https://a.co/d/2CZJ5GD
Click to expand...
Did you think about running this on the inside of the firewall?

That, plus some color changing LEDs and it be all pimpy up in there!
 
DTC72 said:
View attachment 3208587
Really like the all in one Vintage Air unit I put in. Both AC and heat work awesome! The four vents are spaced well for both driver and passenger. Notice from the picture above I made a mistake: I wanted the unit flush against the dash but then after all the plumbing was done the glove box cover and middle trim were too wide/fat to fit. I had to make a brushed aluminum glovebox cover and trim piece which I actually kind of like now.
Click to expand...
Are you saying you mounted the unit too close to the front seat? Ideally you would have placed it closer to the firewall?
 
PabloCruise said:
Are you saying you mounted the unit too close to the front seat? Ideally you would have placed it closer to the firewall?
Click to expand...
Vertical closeness. I would have left a small gap between the top of the unit and the bottom of the dash/glovebox. The thickness of the glovebox hinge and foam cover wouldn’t allow me to open it. So I scrapped both and created an aluminum cover with a piano hinge…much slimmer.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

coldicer
Introducing the CurbCrawler. My 1973 build.
3 4 5
Replies
88
Views
7K
55guy
5
JLB206
Builds Build Thread: Jim’s ‘55
2 3 4
Replies
70
Views
8K
JLB206
JLB206
REZARF
Builds This years homework
2 3 4
Replies
65
Views
3K
REZARF
REZARF
kbahus
Builds The Short Rib
7 8 9
Replies
162
Views
10K
RUSH55
RUSH55

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 6 (members: 0, guests: 6)

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom