Project: Over My Head

[mrvette]

47 Ftoys......I assume you are going to put that whole plate in the project somewhere?? or you just laying it all out on that and final install be on the firewall/back behind seats/etc??? when I did the '72 vette, I just found out where the computer would fit, happened to be behind the map pocket hung on two tabs bolted to the windshield frame....so I just extended out all the wiring through the firewall, and draped the wires over the engine, hitting all the crap and spliced in the connectors... and make the harness look pretty after it's working.....all my stuff for decades now has been derived from junkyard parts, being as I like to walk through the boneyards anyway....nice summer day in the sun....

Decades ago I had a '70 Lemans/GTO convertible I put a Pontiac 455 in it 400 trans, 321 12 bolt Chevelle rear.....converted to disc brakes and some Global West front suspension parts.....I put a mid 70's Caddy FI system on it, still have the induction, looks like a hell of a mess, but it worked fine, until the computer died, it was an old analogue computer from early/mid 70's well before CPU's were around the Design work on it was from Bendix in Newport News Va......later on bought by Allied Signal, now Siemens ......the systems were primarily in the Sevilles.....but the one I had came from a Sedan DeVille....425 engine,.....

[yossarian19]

Well, I spent most of my free time today trying to find something that would work as a firewall pass-thru for the ECM and the rest of it fighting the tools in my garage.
I did finish the board I'm mounting the ECM to, get the mounting to the firewall figured out & cut a patch to weld over a bunch of the holes left in there by the factory. Getting a little bored / frustrated with the project so I might skip garage time tomorrow but hey, maybe not. Progress is being made.

[Mjminino]

How big is the hole going through the firewall?

[yossarian19]

There were / are probably two dozen holes left over from the factory, largest at about 1 1/4". I am just tacking 22ga sheet steel over them en masse & will seal with heavy paint / sound deadener stuff, then go over it with carpet when I'm sure the pedals etc are all staying put.
If the baby gets to sleep properly, I might have another half hour of coherent thought and productivity left in me. More likely, I'll get back in there tomorrow.
I think a shear / brake combination unit is in my future. Bead roller would be nice, too.

EDIT: OH. You meant for the wires. I'm going to run a Daystire "universal" firewall boot with a 1" inner diameter, 1 1/4" hole in the panel. The LS harness will *just* make it though a 1" hole if wrapped snug in electrical tape. I'll probably have to slice the grommet with a razor and put it on the harness instead of pass connectors through it but se las vis.

[yossarian19]

I've got another dozen or so solder connections to make, a fuse box to mount & a hole to cut in the firewall. Naturally, the 1 1/4" hole doesn't match anything already there and I don't have the hole saw on hand. That's OK - I'm a holesaw and a few hours away from seeing if it runs (again). You can sort-of see the braided, 300* F velcro-closure wire wrap I put around the trunk of the harness. It's a little lumpy but so's the truck.
I'm using long bolts thru the factory battery tray mounts as studs to put the ECM mounting "plate" on. It's made out of plywood & you guess it, my buddy's old fence. I'm getting a kick out of mounting 2002 engine management to cedar planks.
Not invisible from the bench seat but not in the way of passenger's feet, I don't think.

[Mjminino]

very interesting and I love the plank, fits your 'budget build' truck perfectly. I really like it!

[Kim57]

Looking good.
Good luck on getting it running.
Kim

[47 Fasttoys]

Yea, in my case the complete panel is bolted behind the seat.
Rob

[yossarian19]

!
That's good thinking.
I'll probably just wind up stowing a jacket, tool box & lunch back there. If I'd bought an extended length harness, I'd be shamelessly stealing your idea.

[Advanced Design]

Yossarian,

I sat down this morning and again this evening to read your entire build from start to current. The journey was excellent and I love your resourcefulness. Plus just flat sticking with the build. You've had a lot happen along the way so hats off to you sir!

Tagging along,
Doug

[mrvette]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Yossarian,

I sat down this morning and again this evening to read your entire build from start to current. The journey was excellent and I love your resourcefulness. Plus just flat sticking with the build. You've had a lot happen along the way so hats off to you sir!

Tagging along,
Doug

YEH!@!!!!! that's my son there.....

[Advanced Design]

Originally Posted by mrvette

YEH!@!!!!! that's my son there.....

You done well Dad!

[mrvette]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

You done well Dad!

Yeh, he is a chip off the old block, but that's why I missing a cylinder.....

[yossarian19]

Careful, gents, or I'll grow a big head

Funny story from stealing a few minutes to work on the truck...

I was looking at firewall grommets to run wires from under the dash to the engine. Seals-It makes some but they are all a bit spendy for what they are (more on this later). So I look around a little further and Daystar makes a rubber grommet with a 1" ID, takes 1 1/4" hole, costs $14 shipped thru Amazon. Perfect. I even already have the right size hole saw.

A few nights ago I went out to the garage thinking I'm going to get some things done, like running cables. Lo and behold, my 1 1/4" hole saw has turned itself into an 1 1/2" saw! The dirty, rotten pig! OK, I think, I'll get to the hardware store.

So today, I head to the hardware store. I ask for a 1 1/4" hole saw. They have three or four flavors. Lenox, Milwaukee, DeWalt and house-brand. Lenox takes a proprietary arbor that the store doesn't have in stock. Milwaukee, they don't have the 1 1/4" size. House-brand lists as "wood only" and though I might have made the single hole I need at the moment, I took a pass. This leaves DeWalt. The arbor was another proprietary job, retailing at $27. The saw itself was, I don't recall, probably $15. OK - not the cheap trip I'd hoped for but hey, hell, so it goes. $42 or so and I'm out the door.

Childcare, park, lunch, yard work etc. I make it back to the garage and grab a utility knife to cut open the damn-food packaging the arbor came in.

Where I discover that my new hole saw arbor needs a 1/2" chuck. My only drill? You guessed it. A DeWalt 3/8". So... what now? Well, I could make a trip to return the saw & arbor and then another trip to the other hardware store in town, hoping that they had something that would work for me. Or, since this isn't exactly the first time I've wanted / needed a larger drill - I could just go buy one from the used-tools-and-stuff shop.

I go to the used tools shop and they have nothing. OK, so I'm off on a second trip anyway - now to the Habitat for Humanity used building materials / etc shop. I find a monster 1/2" reversible drill. Single speed. 6 amps. 500 RPM. It looks like it's from the 50s but it works and it has a replaceable chuck on it that turns pretty decent. $18.50 - Sold.

Now, I throw my hole saw / arbor into the new drill and put a hole in some plywood as a test piece. No sense drilling a hole in the firewall if I can't get the 4L60E's connector through it.
Will the connector make it through? No way, no how. I must have measured wrong...

See where this is going yet?
Yep.
Back to the tool box with the 1 1/2" hole saw I've had all along - the one that also fits in my 3/8" drill.
Out it comes, into the drill it goes, punch a hole through the plywood as a test and YES, all of my connectors will fit and YES, the grommet seats down into a 1 1/2" hole just fine.

Once I'm sufficiently recovered and the baby is asleep, I'll go run cables.

[DransportGarage]

Wow. That pegged the Fun-Meter.

[47 Fasttoys]

Well, on the plus side, you have accomplished one thing: you have proven you are just like the rest of us: a simple job like making a hole can cost 10X what it should and take 10X as long as it should. Hang in there, we all have those kinds of days.
Rob

[mrvette]

It's called Murfology, the study of Murphy's law and the science behind it.....

[Advanced Design]

Yep, been there too due to murphology. At least you have a 1/2 inch drill and another hole saw now.

[Russell Ashley]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Yep, been there too due to murphology. At least you have a 1/2 inch drill and another hole saw now.

That's what I was thinking too. Having a couple of new tools is always a good thing.

[yossarian19]

Hahaha, yep, I'd briefly considered getting ticked off and just had to laugh. I figured you guys would relate.

Sooo, I got my 1 1/2" hole in there and all the connectors will pass thru but get this: as you pass connectors, the wires they are terminating will effectively shrink the hole. I can't get the whole harness through.
So far I've thought of (and am waffling between)
* Drilling another hole and splitting the harness between them, then rejoining on the engine compartment side.
* Saying "screwit", welding some sheet metal over the hole I cut & mounting the ECM under the hood where it was before
* Open up the hole to 1.75 or 2", hope I can get everything through, then add a different ~$30 grommet onto the harness. Also possible to go to the junkyard and find one that might work but this is a time / money tradeoff.

I'm on baby-patrol till 1130, so I've got time to deliberate.

[yossarian19]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

At least you have a 1/2 inch drill and another hole saw now.

Absolutely!

[yossarian19]

Originally Posted by yossarian19

Sooo, I got my 1 1/2" hole in there and all the connectors will pass thru but get this: as you pass connectors, the wires they are terminating will effectively shrink the hole. I can't get the whole harness through.

Wahoo!
I got Clay down for a nap and went out to the garage. Turns out all you have to do for a 1.5" hole to work is strip all the wire wrap off the branches of the harness. Massage the connectors through, put a grommet around the main trunk & thru the firewall et voila.

Also fun to note: you can make a hot knife (cuts rope / any stranded plastic, like wire wrap for instance) out of 10 ga solid core housing wire, a Weller solder gun (not iron) and a hammer.

Pics to follow.

[OrrieG]

Wonder if it would work on foam? We seem to cut a lot and I never got a hot knife....but do have a extra soldering gun around. And you stole the 1/2 drill, I sold my dads 1950 Monkey Ward, 6.8 amp one for $50 a few weeks ago and had lots of guys wanting it. If it every goes bad a rebuild kit with bushings and brushes is about $15 thru Sears online parts, I did that on my 30 year old craftsman a couple of years ago. Now that you have it you will always be using it, much more efficient than the 3/8.

[mrvette]

Tomcat, some day you inherit all my junk in the trunk/garage/storage/workshop, and then you get to sort through 50k lbs of ****.....

I will try to sort out the worst of it, but no guarantees.....so much needs be boxed up and labeled.....Cripe, I cant ever know even 1/2 the auto trans parts on the table anymore.....Chrysler?? GM?? what trans??? what year??

[Kim57]

Been there done that.
New tools are always cool even if they're used.
Kim