Cobra Heat Seat Heater Wiring

[Traveller]

For those of you running the CobraHeat / WarmSeats and who put the switches in the dash, I assume you simply extended the switch wires (between the relay and the switch) so you could run all the way up the tunnel to get them into the dash, leaving the relay and it's legs to the pads and power back under the seats somewhere? Or did you move the entire relay bundle behind the dash and just run the 4 wires for the pads (power and gnd for each pad) down the tunnel to the seat area?

Thanks,
Jason

[Caddy Dad]

Hi Jason,
I mounted the relay bundle under the dash and just ran the wires down next to the tunnel. I mounted them where I could get ease of access for any maintenance issues. I then taped the wires in place using metal duct tape. Here's a picture of the passenger side. Hope this helps.
132272

[Papa]

Hi Jason,
I mounted the relay bundle under the dash and just ran the wires down next to the tunnel. I mounted them where I could get ease of access for any maintenance issues. I then taped the wires in place using metal duct tape. Here's a picture of the passenger side. Hope this helps.
132272

That looks very similar to what I did, but my switches are in the tunnel cover. Just remember that those wires are there when you go to attach the e-brake boot!!!

[Traveller]

Hi Jason,
I mounted the relay bundle under the dash and just ran the wires down next to the tunnel. I mounted them where I could get ease of access for any maintenance issues. I then taped the wires in place using metal duct tape. Here's a picture of the passenger side. Hope this helps.


That looks very similar to what I did, but my switches are in the tunnel cover. Just remember that those wires are there when you go to attach the e-brake boot!!!

Thank you, gents. I like that approach to keep the clutter hidden away. On a related note, do I NEED to run the 4 wires from the dash back to the seats, or can I just run the 2 power wires to the seats, ground the other two black wires behind the dash, and ground the black wires from the pads behind the rear cockpit wall where I am putting a local ground screw to the chassis? That way I am only adding 4 wires to the existing rear harness running through the tunnel (the 2 power wires per each seat) instead of 8. Seems to me this would be fine and keep the amount of wire I'm running down the tunnel to a minimum, but I know enough about wiring to be dangerous (and burn my car to the ground)... I'd also only run power for a trunk courtesy light to the rear harness and ground it at the back end as well if this makes sense.

Thanks!

[egchewy79]

seems easier to splice 2 wires to the switch rather than 4 to the relay. I put mine in my tunnel cover, a bit behind my shifter. my relays sit on the floor behind the seats and the switch wire harness runs through a small hole w/ a grommet in the small angled wall piece of the rear tunnel into the tunnel itself with wires zip tied to the diagonal cross members.

if you wanted switches in the dash, you could also run the switch wiring into the trans tunnel, all the way to the engine bay alongside the rear wire harness, into the engine bay, and then through one of the firewall grommets to avoid having to carpet over your wiring.

[edwardb]

I leave the relays under the seats and for every build have extended with wires and put the switches on the dash. I run the wires in the corners of the cockpit, placed before insulation and carpet. They disappear without putting holes in the cockpit or having wires on the outside. It's been a while since I've done one, but the harness can be simplified reducing the wires that need to run up dash switches. Since I wire them to a fused circuit, I also remove the fuses in the harness.

[silver_pilate]

Another option is to mount the switches on the tunnel beside the seat. Then you just run power and ground from behind the dash. Mine are mounted down below the seat surface using brackets made from angle aluminium. They are low enough that they aren't noticable and will not get accidentally activated. Plus, I have their circuit on an fuse panel that is powered by a relay keyed to the ignition so they only get power if the key is on.

https://i.imgur.com/X9MEroP.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/VBLfnUG.jpg

[nuhale]

I used a seat heater setup picked up on Amazon. They are mostly all the same setup but for mine I did some surgery. The relays are mounted behind the dash and ran wires down through the tunnel and back into the cabin near the rear inside of the seats. I also ditched the toggle switches and wired them into Lucas 3 position toggles as I want the vintage look. They work great but in my case took a couple hours soldiering joints and running new longer lines.

[Traveller]

seems easier to splice 2 wires to the switch rather than 4 to the relay. I put mine in my tunnel cover, a bit behind my shifter. my relays sit on the floor behind the seats and the switch wire harness runs through a small hole w/ a grommet in the small angled wall piece of the rear tunnel into the tunnel itself with wires zip tied to the diagonal cross members.

if you wanted switches in the dash, you could also run the switch wiring into the trans tunnel, all the way to the engine bay alongside the rear wire harness, into the engine bay, and then through one of the firewall grommets to avoid having to carpet over your wiring.

Thanks. I am actually just starting chassis wiring and am adding a few extra circuits into the rear harness, so it would be easy to just add the necessary wires now to the rear harness.

[Traveller]

I leave the relays under the seats and for every build have extended with wires and put the switches on the dash. I run the wires in the corners of the cockpit, placed before insulation and carpet. They disappear without putting holes in the cockpit or having wires on the outside. It's been a while since I've done one, but the harness can be simplified reducing the wires that need to run up dash switches. Since I wire them to a fused circuit, I also remove the fuses in the harness.

Thanks Paul. Good tip to remove fuses and do some cleanup on the harness.

[Traveller]

Another option is to mount the switches on the tunnel beside the seat. Then you just run power and ground from behind the dash. Mine are mounted down below the seat surface using brackets made from angle aluminium. They are low enough that they aren't noticable and will not get accidentally activated. Plus, I have their circuit on an fuse panel that is powered by a relay keyed to the ignition so they only get power if the key is on.

I like where you positioned the switches. I'm using different seats, so I'll have to try that out. So many options...

[Traveller]

I used a seat heater setup picked up on Amazon. They are mostly all the same setup but for mine I did some surgery. The relays are mounted behind the dash and ran wires down through the tunnel and back into the cabin near the rear inside of the seats. I also ditched the toggle switches and wired them into Lucas 3 position toggles as I want the vintage look. They work great but in my case took a couple hours soldiering joints and running new longer lines.

I keep going back and forth on using the provided switches or going with something more period correct as you have done. Thanks!