Electrical System
Headlights
I am lucky enough to be able to use original style Cibie headlamps. They are very wide (240mm) and fill up the space on the car.
I will have to fabricate something myself to hold the lights in place.
In the meantime, I made a template of the area where the light goes and then traced the lamp onto the template. After I cut a hole in the template, I checked for fit, did some trimming, and then traced the hole onto the car.
Using my Dremel, I cut the opening a bit undersize and then used a drum sander to sneak up to the proper fit. It took 2-1/2 hours to go from start to finish (template to finished hole), but the result is fantastic. It fit perfectly.
After the car came back from paint, I reinstalled the headlights and light covers
Dash Layout and Wiring
Installing the gauges was relatively easy and straightforward. The only hard part was getting the nerve to cut the holes for the gauges. But once I got my nerve, I charged forward.
The next obstacle was determining what switches to use, what style and size lights to use, and placement. After nearly a month working various layouts, I settled on using heavy duty bat handle toggle switches from ITC Electronics, Painless Wiring dash lights and wiper motor switch, Finish Line horn and start buttons, and (soon) Vintage Air air conditioning control switches.
Wiring the dash is probably the most complex part of wiring the car. After I installed the gauges and switches, I went about laying out the wiring in such a way to make changing gauges, lights and switches easy. The dash wires will be terminated where the dash attaches to the chassis with Weatherpack connectors to make it easy to remove the dash.
I think the dash wiring is going to be a challenge!
I crimped on connectors and added shrink tubing for a nice professional look
And the plastic convoluted tubing and clamps...
Some of the originals had a redline painted on the tach face like below...
So I decided to have my Classic Instruments tach done the same way...
I installed it in the dash sideways like the originals...
Wiper Motor
I'm using a Lucas 14W 2-speed wiper motor with self-park. I installed it where a lot of the originals installed theirs.
The drive cable passes through the tub and curves up to the gear box. The bundy tube hasn't been installed yet.
SPA Fire Suppression System
I'm using a SPA electrically activated fire suppression system. The kit contains a 3.375 liter tank filled with aqeuos foam, 20 feet of decabon tubing, battery pack, three nozzles, and fittings. I located the tank in the front, routed the decabon tubing through the tunnel, and routed the electrical harness through the tub. The battery pack will be located close to the driver/passenger on the console and near the activation switch.
Misc Electrical
Since I'm using 130W Halogen driving lights, I ordered a Painless High Power light harness (P/N 30815). The harness comes complete with two 15A relays and a fuse. It's completely assembled with plastic loom and connectors. It's a very nice piece.
I like the harness, but felt it just wouldn't look "clean" if I mounted the relays to the front bulkhead as is. So, I decided to build a box to house them in. I found a real nice plastic electronic case at Radio Shack. It measures 4x6x1. I cut an access notch for the wires...and then mounted the relays and fuse inside with some SSTL hardware.
And installed in the car...
Crane HI-6 electronic ignition box with built in adjustable rev limiter...
Many of the original race cars had number lights mounted on the doors and on the rear clip. These lights were used to identify the car while driving at night in the many 24 hour races, such as Le Mans. I did an exhaustive search and found original style lights at Vintage and Classis Car Parts and Accessories in England. In order to place them in the corect location, I made an 18" rondel and taped it to the door. Placement was determined using my GT40s books.
Wiring the radiator fans was by far the easiest of the wiring jobs...
The speedometer is made by Classic Instruments and is electric. It uses a magbetic sensor pickup since my application does not have a standard speedometer cable take-off point on the transmission.
To ensure accuracy and reliability, the magnetic sensor must be installed to sense any change in vehicle speed in relation to the roadway. It does this by reading brake rotor rotations. Several 1/4" dia x 1/8" deep holes are drilled equally spaced in the rotor. The sensor reads these holes as magnetic pulses and coverts the signal to MPH.
I fabricated an aluminum mount from some heavy duty angle aluminum. I drilled and taped the hub for 1/4-20 black oxide hex drive button head screws.
I ran the wire bundle to the rear of the car (lights, brakes, power, engine sensors) on the top of the existing RCR tunnel. I then fabricated a tunnel cover from .040 mild steel, rounded the top, and riveted it to the exiting tunnel. This tunnel cover serves two purposes, 1) it covers the wire bundle, and 2) makes the tunnel more original looking. I added my SPAA fire suppression system activation switch and my Line Lok switch on a piggyback mount.
Fuse Block
Mounting the Painless Wiring fuse block was a challenge. There just isn't any easy place for it. Finally, I decided to mount it on the foot panel I installed. I decided to mount the fuse box inside aa plastic electronics enclosure from Radio Shack. The plastic box will be "recessed" into the aluminum panel.
First I traced the size of the box on the aluminum panel and cut a hole for the box...
I then added some mounting brackets made from some 1x1 aluminum angle. These I mounted to the sides with some screws. They are positioned in such a way as to allow the box to protrude 1" through the plate...
The box then mounts through the hole from the back and will be held in place with screws...
I drilled a large hole in the back of the plastic box for the wires to pass through...
The fuse box fits snugly inside the box. The relays are just below the edge...
The plastic cover is then screwed in place to complete the installation...
And how it looks from the back...
Wiring The Front Clip
Now I just have to figure out here all these wires go...
With perserverance, I am making progress...
After nearly two weeks trying to layout and route the wires in the front clip, I have finaly finished the task, although I still need to add some clamps. At least the wires are all bundled nicely and routed.
I routed the front clip wiring through a hole in the front bulkhead. I made a small access panel fitted with a grommet for the harness to pass through. The hole is adequate to pass the Weather Pack connectors through. The access panel is held in place with 4 8-32 SSTL hex drive button head screws.
To be continued...