Wiring / Wire Harness / Vintage Gauges

[racephotoman]

Engine installed....now for what I dreaded-figuring out the wiring.
Installing the fuse box/wiring harness, some of the groups of wiring was self-explanatory, and ran the wires to the lights, horn and fan areas...but the dash and engine hookups are becoming confusing.
I temporary installed the vintage gauges and basically used their wire setup that can with the kit from FFR first, and not the wire harness so far---so my proble, is it the idea to instead of running the particular gauge supplied wires to the coil, oil/water pressure/temp sensors, alternators etc, I should cut those wires and splice them to the harness wires that lead to the particular areas in the dash area? It seems I have two (in some cases) possible ways of hooking up the gauges.
I also see where the tranny wiring plug goes on the TKO600, but can't figure what/where the wire/plug at the rear of tranny is for or goes.

Any help to get me further will help as I think I'll be spending many hours at the computer getting info.

Walter

[Jeff Kleiner]

Here is a reply I made to a similar question a couple of days ago which might help:


The Speedhut/FFR Classic gauges use 2 wire senders while the RF harness is set up for one wire. You can use some of the redundant or unused wires in the harness for the second conductor but I recommend doing kind of a hybrid incorporating the long Speedhut pigtails. You'll need to power up all of the gauges on their red wire by connecting them to the brown "gauge feed" wire in the harness. Also connect the black "ground" wire in the dash harness to each of the gauges' black wires. You will carry the tachometer signal from the coil on the purple "coil-tach" wire that runs all the way through in the sending units subharness. The speedo signal comes through the green and gray wires which will join the yellow/red and yellow/black wires on the gauge. Polarity is not important as it is only counting pulses. For the coolant temperature and oil pressure gauges run the pigtail with the yellow/red and yellow/black wires to their respective senders. Once again polarity is not an issue because these are simply reading resistance. The voltmeter has no sender, the gauge power and ground give it all it needs. Fuel gauge connects to the light green "gas sender" wire. I recommend powering the clock from the red "radio memory" wire. That will get everything working!

Next move on to gauge lighting and their daisy chain. The white wire from all of the gauges connects to the RF harness white "dash lights" wire. If you have the seperate dimmer module the white harness "dash lights" wire connects to the input of the dimmer; the dimmer's black ground connects to the black harness ground. From there the dimmers output snaps into the connectors for the lighter gauge wire. It seems redundant but is this way because the needles are lighted independently from the gauge face and are not dimmed. If you do not have the dimmer module then the small white wire at the end of the snap together chain also connects to the harness white "dash lights" wire. By the way, before you drive yourself crazy thinking something is wrong... the hands on the clock are not lighted.

As for the ignition, I believe all of the ring connectors should be labled but if not:

---Red "headlight switch feed" and red "ignition switch/solenoid" wires go to the switch's "BAT" terminal
---Brown "accessory feed" and brown "alternator ignition" wires go to the "ACC" terminal
---Orange "ignition feed" wire goes to the "IGNITION" terminal
---Light blue pair "EFI crank" & "ignition switch/neutral start switch" goes to "START" terminal

Hope that helps get you moving and good luck!

Jeff

RE: "...can't figure what/where the wire/plug at the rear of tranny is for or goes." A photo or better description would go a long way in helping determine exactly what plug you are talking about. You will have a reverse light switch and possibly a neutral switch on the trans in addition to the speedo pickup.

Good luck,
Jeff

[racephotoman]

Jeff,

I think I'm on the way....did get most of the gauges hooked up except for the following:

1-Clock - should go to "Radio Power" or Radio Memory" wire - or doesn't matter?
2-Voltmeter - yellow wire to power source - not another "dash panel" wire, but somewhere in the engine compartment?
3-Speedometer - has black/white from gauge and green/gray wired plug at the tranny - again, does it matter which connects to which?
4-Non used wires - should you just lay them in behind the dash / tape the ends?

Next stop - figuring the alternator/solenoid and battery lines - I had two plugs leading to the alternator, but no plug on the alternator, the what to to with the solenoid wire harness in the engine comparment since the Engine Factory says to not to use it.

Also, I'm still confused about wiring the fan w/thermostat.

Again, the last set of instructions were great to get me going.

Walter

[Jeff Kleiner]

1-Clock - should go to "Radio Power" or Radio Memory" wire - or doesn't matter?

Use the "radio memory" wire. It has battery voltage all the time so your clock will run 24/7. "Radio power" is only hot with the key on---you'd have to reset the clock every time you turned the car on or off ;)



2-Voltmeter - yellow wire to power source - not another "dash panel" wire, but somewhere in the engine compartment?

Use the brown "gauge feed" wire, same as you should be using to power up the other gauges.


3-Speedometer - has black/white from gauge and green/gray wired plug at the tranny - again, does it matter which connects to which?

No, as I mentioned above, it is not polarity sensitive.


4-Non used wires - should you just lay them in behind the dash / tape the ends?

Yeah, always a good idea to insulate the raw ends and bundle them up neatly.


Next stop - figuring the alternator/solenoid and battery lines - I had two plugs leading to the alternator, but no plug on the alternator, the what to to with the solenoid wire harness in the engine comparment since the Engine Factory says to not to use it.

The Francis harness is configured to be "plug and play" for a Ford G2 alternator. If you're using something else we'll need more info. Same with the starter; it's set up for a remote solenoid Ford starter. We need to know what you have. Did EF supply a starter? If so, what type?


Also, I'm still confused about wiring the fan w/thermostat.

Here's what I like to do for the fan which differs from the components included with a complete kit. Wire it with the manual dash switch using the brown "fan switch feed" wire for power in and the orange "cooling fan" wire that feeds a switch signal to the relay. You'll find both of these wires are in the dash harness. If you want an indicator light (I like to use an amber one to show when it is on) tap one side of the lamp into the orange and take the other side to ground. Now, for automatic operation pick up a Painless thermostat switch. It is a true, normally open thermostatic switch with two female spade contacts, not a grounding switch. Wire it in parallel with the manual dashboard toggle; i.e. one side to the brown feed wire the other to the orange load wire. Screw it into a coolant port in the intake or thermostat housing and you're done; no reconfiguring of the relay as would be necessary with a grounding switch and the entire circuit is still protected by the 30 amp "cooling fan" fuse. You will now have automatic as well as manual fan control and an indicator light to let you know anytime the fan is running whether by manual or automatic activation. Painless switch #30111 turns on at 185* and off at 170* (perfect for a 180* stat) but there are others available with different on/off setpoints.


Again, the last set of instructions were great to get me going.

Happy to help! :cool:

Jeff

[racephotoman]

Getting really close...I'm attaching a few photos of the remaining questionable area still needed to be addressed. I still confused as to the fan thermostat set up versus an "on/off" on the dash (rather go with the automatic way)

Photo 1 just show a FFR package (10760) of fan accessories (relay) that may or not be used.

Photo 2 shows two wires with no home?:
One Light Blue wire marked "EFI Crank"-I'm using a carburetor so I think this isn't used.
One Orange wire marked "Coil" - I already have a wire from the tach to the negative of the coil, do I also attach this to the coil (positive side) as well?

Photo 3/4 show an unknown connector from the wire harness??? no clue where it goes or connect too?

Photo 5 is just a green wire reading "Fan Thermostat Switch" My water temp sensor has two wires (vintage gauge setup)...Do I splice it to the two wire setup going to the water temp gauge (white wire?), or just disregard (my guess)?. Photo 6/7 show the vintage gauge's water temp setup plug aleady installed.

Photo 8 shows my remaining unused or questionable wires to possibly hook up???:
2 white double wires marked "Dash Lights"

1 brown double wire marked "Switch Feed"
1 orange wire marked "Cooling Fan"
(I'm thinking these two go to an ON/OFF SWITCH BOTH LEGS - ???? - so I can control ther fan??? Also, I can run two separate wires off of these to the PAINLESS SENSOR (as recommended) so the fan can also be control automatically the Painless Thermostat???
If this is correct, what roll does the green (photo 5) wire play/do - none?

1 pink wire marked "Hazard Light" - do I attached to one leg on the ON/OFF ,and simply splice into the front and rear left and right lights for the other leg of the switch?

and
2 ON/OFF switches - thinking one would be for the fan and hazard as mentioned above
1 6 "small" prong switch - it's an ON/ON????

I do also have Heater, Radio, wiper and courtesy light wires which are self-explanatory (I hope)


The other group of photos shows the alternator and Solenoid/starter hookup.
On the top image (alternator) am I correct to eliminate the smaller plug and cut the bigger plug off, adding connectors to both of the large red wires and attaching them to the alternator's large bolt/stud?
As for the solenoid - I do have the solenoid on the starter but decided to use the FFR solenoid since the supplied wire harness wiring was too short (using it as a terminal block)...looking at the image, I'm going to attach the battery +cable to the bottom large terminal (the one with all the wire attached to it already), and connect a cable from the large top solenoid terminal to the large "starter" terminal? I have the light blue wire as shown attached to the "I" terminal on the solenoid, and will attach a wire from the other smaller solenoid terminal marked "S" to the smaller terminal on the starter??????

The last images are the tranny hookups. I already have one of the tranny connectors attached to the speedometer.....do I connect anything (don't know what) to the "geared" speedometer plug (top two images)? I also see another connector plug at the tail of the tranny, but was told since I'm mid shifting, don't worry about this connector)??? TKO600 (carburetor)

Again, any help is appreciated

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Merry Christmas!

Walter

[Jeff Kleiner]

Walter,

Merry Christmas back to you! Might not be much help right now 'cause I don't have the RF schematics available and your pics are too small to make out any details but I've got a few minutes while no one else is up so let's address what we can for now.

---The FFR fan relay and assorted odds & ends will not be needed if you set it up using a manual override toggle and Painless thermostatic switch as I detailed in the previous post. Doing this should answer your question regarding the brown "switch feed" and orange "cooling fan" wires.

---"EFI crank" will not be used in your application. Terminate and insulate.

---Orange "Coil" wire to the + terminal on the coil.

---The white "dash lights" wire is just that. Again refer to one of my earlier posts discussing gauge hookup.

---I can't see the unknown connector; try to match up the wire colors in the plug with a corresponding one in another subharness or track them through the schematic in the RF manual.

---"Fan thermostat switch"??? Sorry, don't remember one identified as such but again refer to my instructions to use a Painless switch.

---Alternator; check your RF manual. I THINK they have some detail regarding using a one wire alternator (assuming that is what EF supplied) which involves removing the plugs and joining the two larger red wires at the alternator but can't say with absolute certainty.

---Solenoid; again I'm assuming that the EF supplied starter you have has an integral solenoid. If this is correct I think the RF manual might address this as well. If memory serves (no guarantees on that...it's getting weaker by the day!) you'll take the + battery cable to the hot side of the remote solenoid then add another branch from the same lug to the hot terminal of the integral solenoid. The other large lug of the remote gets wired to the small activation terminal on the starter's solenoid. The remote solenoid is activated by the light blue clutch safety switch wire which gets connected to the "S" terminal on the remote. In your application the "I" terminal will not be used.

---Tranny wires; not real familiar with switch locations on the TKO so I can't tell you which is which but you already know that you'll have a speed signal to connect to your speedo. I assume there is also a reverse light switch and a neutral switch. The RF harness does not have provisions for either however you can add a reverse light circuit if you wish and could also connect the neutral switch in parallel with the clutch switch if you want the option to start the car while in neutral with the clutch engaged.

---Switches; you should have a 3 terminal ON/OFF/ON switch for turn signals. Without the schematic I can't tell you wire colors but turn signal feed will go to the center terminal. Connect the left front and left rear together at the terminal on one end along with a jumper that will go to the the dash indicator light plus yet another which will go to the flasher switch (we'll get to those in just a minute). Do the same with RF & RR on the opposite end. For the flashers you should have an ON/OFF switch with 4 terminals. The pink flasher feed goes to BOTH terminals on one end of the switch. Now connect one of the jumpers from the left side signals to the terminal on one side and the one from the right side to theother. Each of the remaining jumpers go to one side of a dash indicator lamp. Ground the other side of the lamps and you'll be good to go.

I think that's about as far as I can go with you for now but hope it helps keep you moving forward. Good luck!

Jeff

[Mustang Man]

It sounds like Jeff has been a real help for you, but I wanted to jump in on the TKO questions...

The TKO-600 has a speed sensor built in on the passenger side towards the back of the case. Most people will use this with an electronic speedo and not use the older Ford mechanical gear driven speed sensor (shown in your photos). The plug is the same. Forte sells a billet aluminum plug for the mechanical speedo hole to block it off (what we did on our build). The back up light switch, if you're using it, is on the driver's side of the main trans case (two terminal switch) and the small pigtail at the very rear of the trans is not used (just tie wrap the connector to the tailshaft so it isn't loose).

Plug:
http://image.mustangandfords.com/f/9190074+w750+st0/mufp_061017_02_z+factory_five_roadster+.jpg

Speed sensor switch (two short white wires on passenger side) and the tailshaft connector tie wrapped:
http://image.mustangandfords.com/f/9189933+w750+st0/mufp_061109_webdiary_02_z+factory_five_roadster+ba ttery_cable_routing.jpg


HTH...
Mark

[racephotoman]

Thanks everyone so far (especially Jeff).

I think I have most of the lights, gauges working. My only question(s) would be the rear lights. I have them wired where the top one will be the running lights, and the bottom for the turn signals - brake both sides go bright (all four). Correct config.??? Is there a way of hooking up where all four are on...wondering about the extra unused weather proof plug since I'm only using three of the four contacts.

Walter

To Mark: could you send me an image of your car - to see the color scheme.

[Mustang Man]

Walter, our Mk 3 is painted in OE Ford colors. It is the '05 Ford GT and '07 Shelby Mustang GT500 colors of Tungsten Gray and Satin Silver:

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g299/MustangFan66/Factory%20Five%20Florida%20Cruise%20In/Sharon2.jpg

Codes are T8 and TL

HTH...
Mark

[racephotoman]

Mark,

This is off topic, but have you ever gone to the Lakeland Concours de Elegant? The one that Bill Warner runs. My photo buddy, Art Eastman did the artwork (posters) for many years before passing away. If you do indeed know Bill, please mentioned you talked to one of the Vintage Motorsport magazine photographers - he'll wonder who, just mention the one the gave Art E. the Triple Bock!!! Sorry for detouring subjects.

Walter