Pat's MK4 Build Thread - Dash and Behind the Dash Wiring

[Mike.Bray]

Hey Pat, don't worry most of these "first start" videos are probably made after multiple attempts:rolleyes:

[cc2Arider]

Congratulations Pat :)

Craig C

[cv2065]

Congrats Pat. Big milestone. Nice work!

[PMD24]

Been posting, along with others, in another thread on torque values, since Blueprint documentation wants several things re-torqued after a few heat cycles, yet they don't tell you in their engine documentation what they used for the original.

Here's the info direct from Blueprint tech support specific to the 347. I assume they would apply to others in that series as well.

Since these engines are used by many here, I thought I'd share it.

Intake manifold: 18 ft lbs

Throttle body: 10 ft lbs

Headers: 24 ft lbs (20 with Remflex)

Water pump: 15 ft lbs

Valve covers: 10 ft lbs

Cylinder heads: 70 ft lbs

Water neck/thermostat housing: 18 ft lbs

Harmonic balancer: 90 ft lbs

Timing cover: 15 ft lbs

Spark plugs: 25 ft lbs

[egchewy79]

congrats. always great to see the grin on faces once you realize it starts up.

[BUDFIVE]

Been posting, along with others, in another thread on torque values, since Blueprint documentation wants several things re-torqued after a few heat cycles, yet they don't tell you in their engine documentation what they used for the original.

Here's the info direct from Blueprint tech support specific to the 347. I assume they would apply to others in that series as well.

Since these engines are used by many here, I thought I'd share it.

Intake manifold: 18 ft lbs

Throttle body: 10 ft lbs

Headers: 24 ft lbs (20 with Remflex)

Water pump: 15 ft lbs

Valve covers: 10 ft lbs

Cylinder heads: 70 ft lbs

Water neck/thermostat housing: 18 ft lbs

Harmonic balancer: 90 ft lbs

Timing cover: 15 ft lbs

Spark plugs: 25 ft lbs

PMD,
I’m curious-when you say Blueprint “wants several things retorqued after a few heat cycles”, was that everything you listed torque values for? I haven’t retorqued cylinder heads (ARP) in a long time. Especially on the SBF (347) since I used thread sealant on the threads on bolts that pass through water jackets.

[PMD24]

BUDFIVE, The Blueprint docs are in my shop so I don't have access to them tonight. I can get that info for you and provide an update here. Probably won't be until Friday. My recall is heads, headers, and manifold now, and front after 500 miles. Will follow up.

Pat

Update: The link below will go BP's Engine Installation Guide. On page 2 in the table at the bottom, they call out retorquing manifold bolts after heat cycling, along with intake, front accessories, and water pump. On page 6 under Post Initial Startup, they call out manifold, headers, throttle body, water pump and valve covers while warm. Then front accessory bolts, distributor and starter once cool. I didn't come across the 500 mile stuff I read but when I do, I'll add it here.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2160/9839/files/BP_Standard_Installation_Guide_REV_7-15-22.pdf?v=1679586470

[Railroad]

I see so many first start videos, that have long cranking times, prior to the engine firing up.
For you fuel injected guys, please cycle the key on and wait, a couple of times, before engaging the starter.
I hope you carb guys know how to start a cold engine.
I made my mistakes in other procedures, LOL

[Dondero14]

Awesome Job Pat. Congrats, I'm sure that's a hell of a great feeling. Couple months and I'm hoping I'll be there too.

[PMD24]

Final Heater Install

Been busy with wiring since first start on 2/14, taking apart the temporary wiring and beginning the process of final permanent wiring, and removal of unused wires and connectors. Making good progress but it's consuming more hours than anticipated. First start confirmed that my heater tube alterations detailed back in post 198 were leak free, so I decided to get the heater re-assembled and prep the wiring for tie-in behind the dash. I covered the ugly copper tubes with some cloth wire loom for cosmetics and then mounted the fan assembly to the heater core box. The metal insert that I added to the core box (post 222) made a HUGE difference in how secure the mounting screws are. I used longer 3/4 #8 screws in the top three holes but stayed with the original short screws in the bottom. This is important because the bottom header of the heater core is very close to the inside wall of the box so longer screws could potentially contact the core header.

Loom covering the heater core tubes. This is F6 loom. Personally don't care for the look of this material but it fit the tubes and fittings better than the ribbed plastic or Holley EFI loom.
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Heater Fan Mounted
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Loomed heater wiring. This is Holley EFI Loom. My personal favorite from an appearance perspective. I'm using this in other areas of the engine compartment as well.
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[PMD24]

Holley S2 EFI Harness Clean-Up - Firewall Ext Hole

After first start a couple of weeks ago I disconnected all of the temporary dash and EFI interconnections and started working through a cleanup, running wires in their final routes, removing unused wires, changing locations where wires exit the bundle, adding loom, etc. Initial focus was on the EFI harness. It took way more time than anticipated; being certain on wires being removed, deciding where to position the primary connector, where to locate the fuel pump relay and fuse, wire/loom bundling, and where to route the battery feeds.

Back when I had the loom off the rear harness, I had added the wire from the Holley fuel pump relay through the rear harness, to the fuel pump, and routed it through the firewall extension hole. I knew that later on I'd have to deal with getting that wire into the grommet in the extension hole cover, and "later on" was now here. I had a left-over FFR firewall grommet (drilled only one of the two 1 1/4" firewall holes the manual called for), so I used that for the hole through the firewall extension. Screwed the firewall extension hole cover to a piece of wood and drilled the 1 1/4" grommet hole. Added a slot in the hole cover and slit the grommet to get the fuel pump wire into the hole. Applied a thin layer of silicone to the mating surface on the back of the hole cover and allowed it to dry overnight. I'll fasten it with sheet metal screws instead of rivets, in case I want to use that wire slot in the future.

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[gbranham]

You sure that rubber grommet is big enough for that single blue wire? :)

Greg

[PMD24]

Holley S2 EFI Harness Clean-Up

The Holley EFI 16 pin main harness connector will be mounted on top of the PS footbox. The fuel pump relay and fuse were mounted off the 3/4 tube, forward of the wiper motor, leaving enough room to reach in and access the windshield mount. The fuse and relay are accessible there and it's also a good location for routing the EFI power wires to the battery. O2 sensor wiring was straightforward with no need to deal with extra length. Removed several wires and a couple of connectors coming out of the 16-pin main EFI harness, sealed the wire ends with adhesive heat shrink, and loomed using Holley EFI loom. Fed the remaining wires that tie to the RF harness, along with the fuel pump and relay trigger wires, through the firewall extension for tie-ins behind the dash. The relay trigger wires will be spliced into the inertia switch leads, once a location for the switch is decided. For now, they are jumpered. The inertia switch has been removed from the DS location and the RF harness ground leads that previously went to the inertia switch are now also jumpered. That results in the unused RF fuel pump relay being powered when the key is on, so I will probably remove the jumper and just seal the wire ends. Not sure at this point if I'll be using that relay for something else. Maybe the seat heaters

Wires removed from the 16-pin harness. Also removed the 6-pin I/O connector, and the other unused 3-pin connector. I've left the unused CAN2 connector (black sheath with 4 wires) for now, but will probably remove that as well.
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EFI Fuel Pump Relay and Fuse
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EFI Wiring Cleaned Up
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EFI Power Wiring to Battery. Alternator wire as well.
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[PMD24]

Wiper Wiring

Wired the wiper motor as detailed in the supplemental instructions and tested it using a jump pack. Everything seemed to work as it should. Also, I chose to supply the 12V power to the switch (white wire) rather than at the motor since the motor connections were pretty busy in that small connection block. A couple of things to be aware of. First, the female spade connectors supplied with the kit are nearly impossible to get on. Even after opening them up a bit with a jeweler's screwdriver I was concerned about damaging the plastic connection housing. Second, the supplied switch is much nicer quality than the other FFR switches, but the threads aren't deep enough for the standard vinyl dash. Plan on using a die grinder or dremel to thin the dash around the switch hole in order to engage the bezel nut. Or, plan on buying a different switch.

Wiring wrapped in loom and fed through the firewall extension along with EFI and heater wires.

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[PMD24]

Wiring Update and Glovebox Changes

Almost all car time over the past three weeks has been spent on wiring, transitioning from all of the temporary runs and connections for first start, to proper connections, final routing, removing unused wire, shortening others, changing bundling and exits, re-looming, etc. A relay was added for the neutral safety switch, tied-in and tested the new wiring for a reverse light and trunk light, and moved the inertia switch to the passenger side and tied it into the trigger wire of the Holley EFI fuel pump relay. The dash was removed after first start to complete this work and once I had most of the new routing and connections for the dash and engine in place, the dash was re-installed to do another start before continuing with the remaining wiring. Car started as it should.

While the dash was in place I got a few measurements on distance from the dash face to the top and bottom of the heater. Armed with this, the dash was removed once again to shorten the glovebox to clear the heater. Top and bottom sides of the box were marked for the new depths needed and a diagonal line on each end connected to the top and bottom lines created a cut line around the entire perimeter of the box.
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The box was cut with an 18 TPI jig saw blade running at a very slow speed. Once cut, an orbital sander was used to get the cut lines straight and on the same plane.
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The plan was to position the shortened box butted against the dash opening lip and plastic weld it in place. But the box has a slight taper from front to rear so after the cut, when placed against the dash opening, the top and bottom sides line up fine but the ends fall just inside the radius of the dash opening. I considered heating those areas and attempting to expand them but was concerned with the thinness of the material resulting in waviness. Ultimately decided to weld it in place as is and use the plastic weld to close in the small void.

Tip of plastic welding iron and plastic weld rod
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Photo uploads have stopped working mid post. Will try to post what's here and continue in another post.

[PMD24]

Glovebox continued...

Tack welds on seam made with tip of iron.
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Welding started on bottom seam. Not pretty but very effective. Note that these welds can be sanded, retouched with weld, and sanded very smooth for paint or other finishes. Plastic compatible body fillers can also be used to make the weld seam completely unnoticeable.
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Final product. The slight mismatch at the ends would likely not be noticed unless pointed out.
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[Waterman]

Lots of work but it will look nice and will be functional for paperwork. Looking back I wish I had added one, since my passenger side of dash looks empty. At the time it looked too difficult to add a thin glove box with the heater behind. Next winter project maybe....and use as place to hold/store the sniper 2 display....

[PMD24]

Dash and Behind the Dash Wiring

Almost all of my car time since early March has been dedicated to wiring, some in the engine bay but primarily the dash and behind the dash. For first start I wired everything, including the dash temporarily. For the last several weeks I've been doing cleanup, removing wires, connectors, and loom, shortening wires, changing routing and harness exit points, adding circuits, etc. I've had the dash in and out a few times, doing periodic restarts after completing groups of circuits, just to be sure final wiring was correct and functional. It's really challenging to get things to look decent behind the dash. So much going on there. But, I'm calling it complete except for a few things like the seat heaters, heater control, and courtesy lights.

Next up is testing the taillights so I can permanently install the trunk sheetmetal.

The wiring schematics have been marked up to reflect all changes made. My sister is an electrical designer, so she's going to bang out a new schematic for me.

A few photos are posted below. In a follow-up post I'll provide some notes on the changes made. May be helpful to others in the future.

Removed wiring, loom, and connectors. Almost all of this is from behind the dash.
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Dash and harnesses
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Engine side
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[egchewy79]

I'm always in awe of those of you who make the wiring look so nice. Really shows attention to detail.

[Waterman]

Looks great Pat. Mine was not so clean. One mistake I made was not sending the seat heater hot thru a relay so heaters go dead with ignition. For the summer I am pulling the fuse so I do not accidentally turn them on and drain the battery.

[PMD24]

Looks great Pat. Mine was not so clean. One mistake I made was not sending the seat heater hot thru a relay so heaters go dead with ignition. For the summer I am pulling the fuse so I do not accidentally turn them on and drain the battery.

Yeah, I control my fuel pump through the EFI's relay, so that freed up the fuel pump circuit which will be used for the seat heaters and a couple of other small loads.

[gbranham]

Looks great! One thing to consider...where the large loom rests on the steering shaft. Find a way to either elevate it, or insulate it from the rotation of the shaft. I was worried it would wear through over time. I solved it with a piece of 2" PVC sliced in half lengthwise (a 6 or 8 inch length), then attached with an insulated clamp to the steering shaft mount. It sits over the steering shaft, and the loom now rests on the PVC. I primed and painted the PVC black to fit in the with rest of the frame. Zero cost solution that looks good, and works well.

Greg

[PMD24]

Looks great! One thing to consider...where the large loom rests on the steering shaft. Find a way to either elevate it, or insulate it from the rotation of the shaft. I was worried it would wear through over time. I solved it with a piece of 2" PVC sliced in half lengthwise (a 6 or 8 inch length), then attached with an insulated clamp to the steering shaft mount. It sits over the steering shaft, and the loom now rests on the PVC. I primed and painted the PVC black to fit in the with rest of the frame. Zero cost solution that looks good, and works well.

Greg

Thanks Greg. The loom is held above the shaft with a tubing clamp fastened to the sheet metal above it. Lots of clearance, but appreciate you flagging a possible issue.

Pat