Fuse box

[deezee]

So I'm getting to the point were I'm planning the wiring. As its all centralised around the fuse / relay box, what have you guys done? I've laid out the donor loom and not only is the fuse box kinda massive, the loom weighs in at around 4 million tonne! Is it worth trying to trim it down? I priced up a fusebox and wiring + connectors from CBS to undertake the job from scratch, but it soon ends up a couple of hundred pounds.

Just wondering if its one of those jobs thats going to be much harder than I planned....... you know.... like all the jobs on the car

[adrianreeve]

Google premier looms or s-v-c, they both do looms for seven type cars. One is £100 without relays, and the other is £120 with everything, can't remember which is which.

Definately worth the money!

Cheers

Adrian

[gus]

Seeing as I like a challenge I decided to use the loom from the donor.

The fuse box is a bit on the large side, but once the bonnet is shut you never see it was my thinking!

The loom is quite easy to strip all the bits out you don't want. Alot of it all plugs together, as is self contained sections. Only earths & power feeds might join to other circuits.

I just started at the connectors I wanted to get rid off and worked my way back to either a joint or the fuse box, and then cut the wire off. Started car & tried lights etc after each cut to make sure I hadn't cut something I shouldn't have.

Look at the attached picture to see how much of the loom I got rid of!!

Cost = Nothing other than a few hours work so far.

Mark

[Peter-C]

I was also put off when I stripped down the donor and found wires going off to sensors all over the place. Do you need these sensors because when I've looked other installs especially the bike engines, the wiring loom is very sparse.

Peter

[gus]

What sensors were they for Peter?

The loom can be broken down quite easily. Looking at it Ford made a basic lights / engine bay loom, and then all the other options are then plugged into it.

Might not be the case for all Fords, but my donor certainly makes it look like this is the case.

Mark

[Peter-C]

Sorry Deezee to hijack the thread but in response to Gus, the last engine that I worked on was a 1600crossflow, only things like oil pressure, ignition light etc. My engine is a 1.8 CVH, so when I traced wires to the air cleaner, various hoses and manifolds I thought do I need most of this or just the essentials ?
It'll be a while before I get round to the electrics so seeing the thread just bought the cold sweats back.

Peter

[Matthew]

My donor was a 2.0L Ghia with fuel injection and ABS so I think I probably have the most bloated wiring loom in existence. Took me nearly a day to strip the various parts from the car and lay them all out, then another day to separate everything. I've pulled the loom completely to bits and removed all the unnecessary wires - some things like the indicators were bundled together with the power windows and central locking which I don't think I'll be needing. After stripping out the bits I didn't need I taped it back roughly together to keep things tidy.

I'm not at the stage of putting it into the car yet, but like most things It's just a case of being methodical and checking everything as you go along.

I do have an electronics background though, and many moons ago spend a couple of weeks on a course that taught how to build looms to military spec so regard the wiring as one of the simpler tasks.


Matt

[deezee]

I think I'm convinced. I'll spend a day with the loom cutting out all the crap. I fully marked up the loom before I stripped it from the car, so it should go OK

[gus]

Peter,

Your using the same engine as me. You basically wont loose any wiring from the engine related sensors, unless you are doing away with the Ford engine module that controls the ignition.

The wiring in the engine bay isn't that bad as it is all needed. It is only the internal car circuits you will be able to get rid of.

Mark

[Spikehaus]

I am going to hijack this thread as I am about to locate my original sierra loom.What I am looking for is the mounting of the fuse box on the bulkhead and where the cable enter the engine. Do you run the loom through the transmission tunnel?

Any photos appreciated as I have a weekend of spaghetti to play with I have any hope of getting the engine running by Xmas!