wiring or engine

[LuckyWinner]

Should I do the wiring or install the engine first????

[michael everson]

Engine first.
Mike

[LuckyWinner]

Thanks Mike.

[Jeff Kleiner]

I do wiring first. Guess you're going to need a tie breaker (Ron E., how about you?) :)

Jeff

PS: Dave---haven't heard any more from you; shall we assume you don't want the Kevco oil pan after all?

[mkrt1970]

I did my wiring and brake lines first and it worked out well.


Mike

[CapeCoralCobra]

I installed the engine first, made it easier to plan the route for engine related harnesses/wires. Using a donor harness, it reduced the amount of extra/loose wiring in the engine bay.

[Lynnhowlyn]

Agree - engine 1st and then use engine (and sending units - oil pressure, water temp and etc) as a guide for placement of engine bay wiring.

[MPTech]

I'd wire your battery, cut-off, and starter first, then install the engine.
(I installed the engine first, and it made these a challange, do yourself a favor.)

Where's your battery? front or back?

[Mustang Man]

Installed the full drivetrain, suspension, and brakes, then I did all wiring and brake/fuel lines. This way you don't drop your engine in and find out your harness hits something or is too close to the headers, etc.

HTH...
Mark

[efnfast]

I think it's 50/50 - I did my wiring first, then engine at the end. It was very easy to do and route stuff and sit inside the engine bay doing it.

the downside, however, is that I look at what I did and think 'how the @#$#@ am I going to reach that connection with the engine in if I ever had to open up the harness'.

It could go either way, but for my 917 I'll be putting engine in first, then wiring, so I can better map stuff out.

[Rootbeer Roadster]

I wired most of the chassis with the engine out. It made it easy to wire and locate the starter relay and get the wires routed through the small hole in the driver foot box. I also did all of the wiring behind the dash and rear of the car. I did about half of the front harness wiring with the engine out. After I put the engine in I finished the front harness and what little wiring that is need for a carburetor car. so I guess my answer is both.

Jeff

[Gumball]

Engine first, then wiring. You can hot-wire the engine when it's in the car do to first start and go-kart (ask me how I know), but you can't start or drive a car with just wiring!!! Hearing that engine fire-up will be a great motivator to do the wiring.

Really, I'm just afraid of wiring... saving it for as late in the project as I can... sigh.

[Mesa Mike]

wiring

[CraigS]

Here is another thought since I think I remember you are going carb which means few wires to the engine. Get a multi-pin connector and make a small harness on the engine connecting everything except the battery cable to one side of the connector. Put the other side of the connector on the car side harness. That way, to pull the engine, all you need to disconnect is one battery cable and one multi connector.

[SCFFR]

Since the delivery time on my engine got extended, I went ahead and routed all of the harness sections and loosely tied them in place. Really the main wiring bundle to be concerned with was the alternator and the one with all of the sending units. Of course, you can't do any cutting of the wires until the engine is in place but you can pretty much do everything else.

Ron