Mk4 Trunk Lid Wiring Route Advice?

[Doc76]

Guy that built my Mk4 left the license plate light wiring hanging under the lid. I know what you’re thinking, “way to un-finish the car”.

I’m going to run it through the truck lid inner and then make a cover for the hole at the back-inner. I have noticed there are so many different ways guys do this.

What I am wondering from those of you that have done this, is there a best route?
I’ve seen guys drill through the front lip, the bottom side….and then the shear laziness of mine…..just leaving the wiring hanging ;)

Is there an area to stay away from when I drill and place a grommet?
Any advice is muchly appreciated

[Nigel Allen]

Don't overthink it. Drill a hole through the inner skin adjacent to the hinge. Poke some thin fencing wire through the hole until it pokes out of the access hole in the inner skin. Use fending wire to pull the licence plate lamp wires through.
Saddle the wires to the hinge arm with a p-clip or cable ties. Leave a little slack at the hinge pivot for flexing of wires. Finish by making the cconnections. Switch on lights, observe functionality whilst cracking a beer.

[egchewy79]

Put my hole near the hinge and put a weather pack connector zip tied to the hinge in case I ever need to remove the trunk lid.

[i.e.427]

Small hole next to the hinge and fish the wire through. Easy Peasy!

Frank

[Doc76]

Any chance someone could post a picture?
Knowing my luck I’d drill it too close to something and it’d lead to cracking 😂

[JohnK]

Here's where I put it.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=177758&d=1672971193

[Norm B]

Same as above only on the other side.

[Doc76]

Thanks John
Looks great!
What did you make the cover from?

[Railroad]

I put a connector behind the plate on the bottom of the lid. It makes removal and installation of the tag light easier for paint and body.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Sometimes I go through here,

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=203453&d=1725114506

Other times I go to one side or the other next to the hinge arm kind of like John showed. Can't speak for how John did his but when I make the covers I just use the same .040" 6160 as the FFR panels. I have a pattern that I made from card stock years ago and simply bend the aluminum over my knee.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=203454&d=1682519277

Jeff

[Mike.Bray]

As others have mentioned I added a weather pack connector near the hinge so the trunk lid can be easily removed if required.

I also attached a tilt switch (https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/comus-international/PD5005-7TC/7497022) to the hinge and installed an LED light strip so it comes on when the trunk is opened. I tied it into the license plate light so the trunk light only works if the headlights are on.

[Doc76]

Thanks guys
What decision makes you go through the side by the hinge vs the middle of the hood?

[Mike.Bray]

I went through the side near the hinge so the cable didn't have to route across the trunk lid and sticking out like dog's balls.

[Norm B]

I went through beside the hinge so that the wires could be supported by the hinge and are tucked out of the way and protected. I have a front battery box and use the upper trunk shelf to store my Whitby soft top. Didn’t want anything hanging down getting caught up. Mike paints a better word picture ��

[toadster]

203455

finishing up under my trunk lid, still need to wrap the wires up at the bottom
one item to note, if you drill close to the hinge (like I did) you'll hit the metal plate inside the trunk lid - just adds a bit more oomph to get through it and now have to 3d print a grommet due to the depth

the added light up top is awesome and gives more light if you have stuff in your trunk that may cover the other lights in thereSurface Mount Led Lights, Aluminium Base Led Backup Lights 6500K (https://amzn.to/3Z0VNBo)

[John Ibele]

Photo of one option already mentioned. The loom also goes to a tilt switch I mounted inside the aluminum access cover which turns on the trunk lights when I lift the lid.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53568806209_c8cf2be568_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2pBG8M4)
Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/2pBG8M4) by John Ibele (https://www.flickr.com/photos/familycobra/), on Flickr

[Doc76]

Thx guys
I really like all the options posed. Appreciate it.
Think I’ll go with the same one John did (to the inside of the hinge)
Cleanest look IMO

John what method gave you the cleanest hole?

[JohnK]

Thanks John
Looks great!
What did you make the cover from?

I hit the easy button and ordered the cover from Dark Water Customs since I was ordering a few other items from them, but it's a simple little piece and you could easily make a template and fab it out of some .040 aluminum as Jeff says. If you rivet it in place, you want to use rivets for soft materials, like these (https://www.mcmaster.com/97545A025/).

[JohnK]

Thx guys
I really like all the options posed. Appreciate it.
Think I’ll go with the same one John did (to the inside of the hinge)
Cleanest look IMO

John what method gave you the cleanest hole?

I think it was Paul (Edwardb) that recommended this drill bit set a while back.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D1B3B51/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It's intended for plastic, but does an amazing job in fiberglass.

[Doc76]

Oh man
I thought 30 years of tool accumulation would have seen everything I needed.
I’ve never seen these drill bit points before.

Thanks for that JohnK
Ordered just now ☺️

[nucjd19]

Easy button here too. Dark Water. Then powder coated it chrome and routed the wires by the hinge. These little projects were so fun to do. https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=174906&d=1668393189

[toadster]

I think someone else is making the inserts now since DWC is out of business - maybe i.e.427 (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/member.php?22850-i-e-427) Frank?

[Mike.Bray]

I think someone else is making the inserts now since DWC is out of business - maybe i.e.427 (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/member.php?22850-i-e-427) Frank?

Yes, I got one from Frank.

[i.e.427]

I think someone else is making the inserts now since DWC is out of business - maybe i.e.427 (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/member.php?22850-i-e-427) Frank?


Yes, I got one from Frank.

I heard something like that. All our products can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063745612711&sk=photos_albums

Or, send us an email at: i.e.427garage@gmail.com

Frank

[John Ibele]

Thx guys
I really like all the options posed. Appreciate it.
Think I’ll go with the same one John did (to the inside of the hinge)
Cleanest look IMO

John what method gave you the cleanest hole?

Assuming you meant me since you said inside of hinge. You can indeed buy all sorts of tools which constitute the 'ideal' thing for whatever you're doing. In my case I'm almost certain I just picked up my step drill bit, which is indispensable in the build for all sorts of things. I can't remember it snagging fiberglass (or anything else for that matter).

[JJK]

I used the old drill in reverse trick with standard bits. Started small and worked my way up.

[Doc76]

Same as above only on the other side.

Where to you mount your prop?
Looks like perhaps up on the body lip?
I have the same one mounted to the lid and down to the floor and I think it’s too low because it appears to be putting more stress on the riveted joints than I'm comfortable with. When I open the truck and relax the trunk lid on the prop, the lid is twisting quite a bit as it rests down on the prop. Doesn’t look healthy.
As you can see it’s way far back contributing to what I feel is a really bad prop angle
206507

[Rebostar]

Thanks John
Looks great!
What did you make the cover from?

As I have carbon fiber covers for the fuel pump, fuel sender, and battery it only seemed right to use Carbon Fiber. 1 or 2 mm thick from Amazon.
206509

[Doc76]

Thanks for all the advice guys. Very much appreciated!
This is what I settled on. I preferred the grommet inside and tried expanding loom to keep it as small as possible. Also tried cable restraints rather than zip ties around the bracket. Feel it looks cleaner.
206525206526

For the cover riveting through the thin fiberglass on the lid, is it just simply aluminum rivets or is there a softer rivet that should be used?

[Nigel Allen]

I haven't found a self adhesive cable tie that won't fall off in hot weather. Then again, our hot weather down here is a bit more than in BC. You can glue them on, or another option is P clips. It is easy to drill and tap the arm.

As for the cover plate, I used 4mm nutserts. Rivets should also do the job. Shorten the drill bit by winding some electrical tape around the bit so that you don't drill into the outer skin of the trunk lid when drilling the holes for the cover plate.

Cheers,

Nige

[Doc76]

This is what I ended up with. Black perforated aluminum with raw aluminum in behind. All held up with 3M double sided Velcro so access into the inside doesn’t require drilling.
Time will tell.
208213208214

[Norm B]

Where to you mount your prop?
206507

Post 21 in this thread has my method of installing the prop rod explained. https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?21846-Show-me-your-trunk-prop-rods!

Norm

[Rebostar]

I haven't found a self adhesive cable tie that won't fall off in hot weather. Then again, our hot weather down here is a bit more than in BC. You can glue them on, or another option is P clips. It is easy to drill and tap the arm.

As for the cover plate, I used 4mm nutserts. Rivets should also do the job. Shorten the drill bit by winding some electrical tape around the bit so that you don't drill into the outer skin of the trunk lid when drilling the holes for the cover plate.

Cheers,

Nige

Great in a pinch.
Try these, I've been using these for years. I got them from ATS (Aircraft Tool Supply)
https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/topages/fourpiecedrill.php

208238

[Doc76]

Post 21 in this thread has my method of installing the prop rod explained. https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?21846-Show-me-your-trunk-prop-rods!

Norm

Thanks Norm.
I actually removed mine last night as I always seem to forget I needed to address the bad geometry of the original install and it was putting a lot of stress on the prop/hinges at the lid mount points. Mine was mounted at least 3/4 of the way down on the lid as you can see from the little black plugs in the picture I used to plug the rivet holes.
No signs of cracking around that bolt on the body in your install?
Any observable deflection on that mount point at the body?

[Norm B]

Doc, the trunk opening edge where I attached the prop rod is over 1/4 inch (6.5mm) thick. No signs of cracks around the two bolts and no deflection when the lid is up. My wife accidentally forgot to release the up lock and hauled down on the lid without damaging anything but her feelings when I communicated her mistake to her.

Norm