Final Electrical Routing & Side Pipes

Yesterday after work I began routing what was left of the front wiring harness. I shortened a couple of grounds that were several feet too long. Apparently I didn't splice them tight enough, because one of them separated under the electric tape and the car wouldn't start. This was the first start attempt in several days so it took me forever to track down! The starter was turning, but no fuel pump.

While I was hunting for it, Diana got home and changed into garage clothes. Diana and I fixed the broken ground and tried to crank again. This time, believe it or not, I had fuel pump but no starter! Turns out I originally had 3 grounds at the same location and only rehooked the broken one and one other.

After the electrical problems were resolved, we decided to mount the side pipes. I'm sure they'll have to come off at some point in order to mount the body, but at least this way the hangers will be in place and the next time should go much faster. We cranked it up with the side pipes on and it sounds _good_. Then I looked at the clock and realized it was like 12:30. I had to be at work by 7 am! Ugh.

5.0L vs 4.6L

Found this picture while surfing the forums today. A lot of people have the misconception that the 5.0 is larger than the 4.6L because the displacement is greater. Clearly depicted here with the engines side by side - the 4.6L is CONSIDERABLY larger. Now you know why it barely fits in my car!

Yesterday Josh & I continued ripping through the wiring harnesses. Everything is just about laid out. All that is left to do on that is to lay out the headlights, cleanup the fuse box area, cut a new hole in the aluminum for the front - dash harness connection, and build a bracket for the fuse box. Also attached the hood brackets.

I didn't want to spend much time in the garage today so I just went in and since the trunk silicone is pretty dry, I mounted the fuel evaporative charcoal canister and cut the hole in the front aluminum for the harness connection. I'll just wait until the wiring is all done to upload pics of it. It's hard to make much out until it's complete. And even then, it's a LOT of stuff going on.

Snow!

Man, it was a cold one today! Quite a bit of snow on the ground. BUT, with ChannelAdvisor's mail server down, VPN down, and the build being broken, I couldn't work at all. SO, I spent all day in the garage!

I routed the rear wiring harness in it's final location and wrapped it up real good. I trimmed up a few more extraneous circuits and then employed the help of Diana for the final trunk mounting.






On the left you can see the Fuel Inertia Cutoff switch and the AntiTheft module. You can also see the battery sunk below the trunk deck.

Starting the exterior lighting and more bodywork

Since the first bit of body work is finished, Josh came over to lay fiberglass in the seams. Talk about stinkin'. Diana and I ended up having to sleep in the guest room because our room is directly above the garage and it smelled so bad! *upload smell*

We also got some more of the wiring done. I found the problem with the OBD port - a blown fuse. Must have connected a hot and ground when I cut some wires. It does happen! Josh found the turn signal issue. There was a relay I cut out thinking it was an airbag relay, which turned out to be the turn signal relay. We're not quite done wiring everything up, but we've tested everything and it's ready to be hooked up.

Check it out!! A working turn signal!

Lopping out wires

I'm about done 'dieting' the wiring harness at this point. The car still cranks so that is one in my favor. However a few things don't work.

1. The turn signal relay is not clicking.
2. The OBD port is dead.
3. The driver side tail lights don't work.

It's a mess and a pain in the butt. On the upside, mom and dad came over today and helped prep and sand down the body. I think it's looking pretty good and just about ready for some primer! I got a few 'ridges' that need to get knocked down, but other than that, it's pretty much ready to go.

First Fire!

Josh came out tonight and we did some final preliminary wiring - I realize that doesn't really make sense. Sorry I missed band practice, but I couldn't miss this opportunity! We ran all the grounds and ran the ignition. After a short session of troubleshooting we came to the conclusion that there wasn't any gas left. So we went to the gas station and got 2 gallons of gas. Put that in, had one more short troubleshooting session, and turned the key.