Chris' Coupe Build #566 - Rear Camera. EPBs. Hatch floor.

[Papa]

Chris,

I know you didn't want to make a mistake, but I wanted to thank you for making it and being humble enough to post about it before I had the chance to make the same mistake myself. I've now marked up my dash with a Sharpie to remind me of where not to cut/drill for things.

Dave

[460.465USMC]

I am happy to help with the 3D printing solution.

Wow! Thanks, sir! That's a generous offer, but I believe I'm in good hands. I'll post some details once we get to the solution.

[460.465USMC]

Chris,

I know you didn't want to make a mistake, but I wanted to thank you for making it and being humble enough to post about it before I had the chance to make the same mistake myself. I've now marked up my dash with a Sharpie to remind me of where not to cut/drill for things.

Dave

You're welcome. I'm a firm believer most can make some sort of contribution to the forum. I know what mine is. I find my learning curve sees an upward step function after a big WHOOPS!

[460.465USMC]

After I mocked up the extension panel, decided it was time to see if I could fit all of the electronics behind it. Good news: it all fits. Barely. The clearance at the top is 1 7/8", sloping down to 3/16" at the bottom (gap for carpet). So, it's not deep enough for a few of my controls I was planning to mount to it. Especially with all of the electronic control boxes I mounted there. Not a huge deal. I was able to find a spot for everything on the dash. But it's busy.

Electronics: Starting at the upper left.

• Digital Guard Dog (PBS-I): keyless start. Standard relay directly beneath. More on that in a minute.
• T-56 Reverse Lock-out
• Idit headlight relay: toggles low/high beam and flash-to-pass
• Dakota Digital Cruise (VCM-105)
• Wilwood electric parking brake controller

Everything is mounted using 8-32 or 10-32 rivet nuts.




Dash mock-up: next up was to find a place for all the controls on the dash. I had envisioned a tidy, uncluttered dash (a la 8SecDuster), but that's not where I ended up. All my fault of course. Guess I'm too attached to these add-ons that will enhance the driving experience.

• Indicator lights left to right: Left turn (green), High Beam (blue), MIL (Red) [Malfunction Indicator Lamp], Right turn (green), and Cruise (“On”). Will be routed through the Speed Hut Zero/Dimmer control (missed that detail on my last build).
• Clock: just gotta have one. Hard to see my phone while driving. As I mentioned before, this one has illuminated hands. A nice improvement over the one that came with my Roadster build.
• Windshield wiper knob: this one is directly from Edward’s playbook. It’s a Cole-Hersee with washer control, variable delay, low speed, and high speed. I didn’t want it on the dash, but it was too deep to mount to the dash extension.
• HVAC controls: used the included bracket (stainless) on the back side. Figured it can’t but help with dash rigidity. Plus, the mounting holes may come in useful for wire management behind the dash.
• Start/Stop button: this is an upgrade option from DGD (green backlight). Unfortunately, I bought my control module so early, this button isn’t plug-n-play compatible. D’oh! After a number of back-and-forths with their tech support, I now have instructions to interface the two. Just need to have a standard relay (installed below the controller) to translate the logic state.
• Wilwood E-Brake: momentary dial switch. Rotate left is Off. Right is On.
• Headlight switch. laughed at myself, because I forgot how to remove the shaft/knob. It must be pulled out in order to install it. Then I remembered there is a release on the bottom of the switch housing. Easy peasy…until I forget again. Not sure what the set screw on the knob does?
• Toggle panel: this idea really grew on me after I started my build. These are just plain cool IMHO. It requires a large opening cutout 7”x2”. Dremel with cutoff wheel was the best tool for the job (within my arsenal). When I put the labels on, it will be (left to right): (1) Horn (momentary toggle), (2) Fog lights, (3) Driving Lights [DRL] (on with ignition, but can shut off here when needed), (4) Camera (rear view mirror), and (5) Fuel Pump (emergency shut off). Some builders incorporate Start/Stop, a cool idea.
• Battery Charging panel: Just discovered Blue Sea Systems are on the left side of my home state. Cool. Good quality stuff. The round 12V port will primarily be used for battery charging, tied directly to the 12V bus bar on the firewall (always hot). This panel also has dual USB ports. I can also turn off these ports via the included rocker switch to avoid parasitic battery draw. Handy.
• Cruise Control: the Dakota Digital HND-2 cruise button panel is mounted to the dash extension panel (not shown). The quality is less than optimal. Speaking with them, it’s made by Roster (as are their turn stalk controllers). But they’re working on designing their own (no ETA). The HND-2 gives virtually no feedback (no click) when pushing the buttons. Hopefully, it will work okay.

Remaining dash items include: holes for all the small Speedhut buttons (along the bottom), the DGD emergency bypass start-up button. And, of course relocating the two HVAC vent holes and filling in the two 7/16" indicator holes. Then off to powder coat. A dash designer I'm not, but I think it will function for me.

Oh, I also installed the clutch switch and F5 supplied stop bracket. Should have done this before installing the MC and running all the MC hoses right over the top of it. But it's in there now.

[460.465USMC]

Anyone know what this 5-way harness is used for? I'm not seeing it in the manual, and I don't recall this harness with my MK4 build. It's in Box 4 under the misc. electrical parts section, and labeled as 5-WAY 48" M/F CONNECTOR (60619). None of the harness connectors match. No results searching for 5-Way in the electrical manual.

[PNWTim]

Those are sitting on my bench with the lonely pile of other misfit toys. Those strike me as trailer wiring harnesses and I sort of assumed they were for the tail lights even though our rear harness is already there. Considering I have run all my harnesses to each corner I'm not sure they actually have a use. I wish I could shed more light but I'm as mystified as you.

[Sharris2]

I belive the harness is to use on the front of the coupe harness to provide a way to disconnect and allow you to remove the front clip of the car

[460.465USMC]

Agreed, they do remind me of a trailer wiring harness. Though I don't think I'll be pulling a trailer. I'll drop a line to F5 tech, and see if they confirm their purpose is for nose removal as Sharris2 suggests.

[Sharris2]

Look at pg 564, 565 of the build manual. You will see them there.

Scott

[PNWTim]

Pretty good eye there. I guess I don't feel so bad missing one typed sentence in a 600+ page manual.

[460.465USMC]

Look at pg 564, 565 of the build manual. You will see them there.

Scott

Nice find, Scott! Only problem is in my electronic version of the manual (Rev 4Z) page 564 discusses rear splash guards, and 565 is about carpet. What is the section header in your manual? If I can get that, I'll be able to find it. Thanks in advance!

[Sharris2]

There's a newer manual, May 2025 5a online

[460.465USMC]

Thanks for the nudge, Scott. I just downloaded Rev 5B, Dec. 2025.

[460.465USMC]

Well, I think I'm done back-stepping. At least for now. There was a valiant effort to 3D print a solution for the HVAC vent holes I misplaced, but I eventually waved the white flag of surrender. A huge thanks to forum member Barwickad for his time and effort in design/modeling a 3D print option.

In the end, I made a couple cover plates. Actually, I'm calling them escutcheons, because that has a more sophisticated ring to it.

Rear view of right side with escutcheon covering upper portion of the misplaced hole.




View of the left side with escutcheon in place. As recommended by JimStone, I ordered some 3/32" countersink rivets and installed two per side. Thankfully, my rivet gun has a 3/32" nose piece. Applied a little JB Weld between the layers as well. Interestingly, I had already decided to put the gauge panel on the outside of the dash. That should blend the left side escutcheon even more. Especially after everything is powder coated. My build is not at risk of becoming a show car, so I think these will blend in just fine for my purposes.




Then it was on to filling in the two misplaced LED indicator holes (7/16"). Made a couple 0.08" plugs from scrap aluminum. I undersized them in order to leave plenty of room for JB Weld around the perimeter.




Front view of a plug installed with JB Weld.




The rear view shows the ring of JB Weld around the perimeter of the plug. Should be pretty solid, me thinks.




Not related, but I doubled my gauge panel using the kit supplied Auto Meter panel as the backer. So, it's 0.08" thick. Removes a bit of the flex. Just had to open up the gauge holes to match the larger vintage gauges. Applied some JB Weld between them, so no chance of rattling. You can see the finished plugs centered over the Tach and Speedo openings.




Not that I "needed" a new tool, but armed with a Christmas gift card, I added a few shekels and picked up this Ridgid oscillating spindle sander. It also has a belt sander attachment. Used it on the escutcheons. Wow. So nice. It's immediately becoming my go-to for various sanding needs.

[PNWTim]

Glad to see you are putting this slight misstep behind you. I think it will probably work out fine but please know my personal experience is the JB weld will shrink in the PC oven. I filled some holes that some bonehead put in the wrong spot and did more or less exactly what you did. Where the JB was nice and smooth and perfectly flat prior to PCing, afterwards it was perfectly smooth and flat but slightly recessed.

I bought a used oscillating spindle sander with cabinet from a guy off FB Marketplace about a year ago. I love it and I too used it to shape the inside of some of my round holes to fit perfectly. It's pretty handy for both inside and outside curves. My neighbor has yours with the belt sander fixture and he loves it.

[460.465USMC]

Thanks for passing along your JB Weld experience with powder coating. I used the original formula, supposedly good up to 550 deg. per the packaging. I used the same on my MK4 dash to hide eight 8 countersink screws. I thought it weathered the oven pretty well. I'm using a textured powder coat, which helps a little to hide small flaws like texture on a sheetrock wall. If I'm wrong, I may need to find a Plan B depending upon how noticeable it is. I tell myself these little flaws of mine make it a "custom" build.

[JimStone]

"Escutcheon"

I had to look that word up. Still can't pronounce it.

Nice work on the repairs. Should look just fine with the textured powder coat

[PNWTim]

Sounds good - I think it'll look perfect.

Jim - be careful. He's throwing around fancy French words to lull us into thinking we should send him free car parts!

[460.465USMC]

For a guy with a limited vocabulary, I somehow managed to pick up escutcheon from Crutchfield as a young teenager. Swapping in a sweet stereo system in my clunker meant I needed an escutcheon to pretty-up the surround around the receiver. A necessity after removing the AM radio, having hacked up the dash in the process. Guess I didn't make much progress in the following four decades! Still hacking up dashes. Yikes!

And, yes, I accept free car parts. Whatever it takes.

[460.465USMC]

Why make a job harder than necessary, right? So, before sealing up the FBs, I installed carpet on the sides and front. Definitely easier with the outside panel removable. I should have done the same on the PS FB, but guess I was got ahead of myself months ago when I closed it. It's certainly possible to carpet both FBs after they're closed up. Just not as much fun.

I also wanted to seal up the FBs before I installed carpet. I mentioned before I'm a little surprised at the number and sizes of the gaps in the FBs. What to do to seal them? For the two largest (PS), I made a couple covers to minimize the gap, then sealed with GE black silicone.

Here are the two PS FB gaps I felt were just too large for silicone. This one is in the upper right hand corner:




Then, directly below it was this one. I attached 0.040 aluminum covers with JB Weld. Then insulated them with Thermo Tec. Then silicone.




I also sealed up all of the smaller gaps with black silicone. No more daylight. I'll address the large gaps on the sides around the latch u-bolts and all that area later on.

To my surprise, I found a couple irregularly shaped carpet pieces I think were supposed to go on the outside FB panels. But I just couldn't figure out how they were supposed to fit. They weren't even close. I’ve found F5 does an excellent job pre-cutting the carpet pieces, with only minor adjustments are usually required. Anyway, I made templates, and then cut out these pieces from the extra carpet I have on-hand. The DS inside piece is especially fun to install. Trying to keep glue off of all those obstacles up there is challenging.

Carpet install: from the lessons learned on my last build, here's my approach. Other ways to do it, but this works for me.

• Roberts 6700 indoor/outdoor glue applied to the back of the carpet.
• 1/8” v-notch trowel. A small plastic one works good for corners and the smaller carpet pieces.
• Give it 15 minutes after laying down the glue, especially for vertical pieces. When the glue starts to look a little dull, it’s ready to stick well. Yet can still be wiggled into place for best fit. Not instant adhesion. I like that. Then I back butter the next piece while waiting.
• I don't black out under the seams with paint, tape, etc. I’ve found the seams come together nicely, and are pretty forgiving. As long as I test fit each piece beforehand, this hasn’t been an issue. No shiny foil peaking at me.

Here's a view of the driver's side. I installed a vinyl heel pad next to the accelerator pedal to protect the carpet from wear. Used duckbill carpet napping shears to trim the carpet to a very low pile for better glue adhesion. Trimming also allows the pad to nestle down into the carpet. Like it’s supposed to be there. Nice. Also visible is the fuel inertia switch and OBDII port (similar to Edwardb). Accessible, but out of the way.







Then on to the PS FB. As noted above, I made my own outside panel piece, but the other four pieces fit perfectly. Minimal trimming required. I remembered to cut out the holes for the HVAC bulkhead connectors. Phew.




Since most of the above is prepping for front harness install, I figured I better place my horn as well. I chose the Wolo Bad Boy horn this time around. Located it inside the forward left “triangle” area of the engine bay. That seems to be unoccupied space. I think it’s better sounding than the 1990 Crown Vic horns that come in the kit. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that” (any Seinfeld show fans out there?).

Of course, I just had to test it. Here's a four second video: https://youtube.com/shorts/J5PCR8zRJrw?feature=share.

[Papa]

Nice progress, Chris.

[PNWTim]

Chris - I really appreciate your updates. For a first time builder such as myself, your pragmatic approach provides a lot of insight to all aspects of the build. So thank you for that. I personally am sticking with the Crown Vic horns so I can channel the wanna be CHP in me by their blare.

[460.465USMC]

Nice progress, Chris.

Thanks, Dave. Bit by bit. Piece by piece... For some reason, carpet in the FBs really feels like progress even though I've only scratched the surface on electrical. I don't know about you, but I might be having more fun my second time around. Trying to enjoy the process as much as possible.

Chris - I really appreciate your updates. For a first time builder such as myself, your pragmatic approach provides a lot of insight to all aspects of the build. So thank you for that. I personally am sticking with the Crown Vic horns so I can channel the wanna be CHP in me by their blare.

I have to admit the kit supplied horns are loud! You can be the Erik Estrada of the OSP.

[460.465USMC]

I'm chipping away at the front and rear RF harnesses. Pretty minimal changes to the front harness, except for trimming to length, and adding wires for DRLs and fog lights.

A bit more going on with the rear harness: add rear camera cable, wires for courtesy light(s) for rear hatch, wires for backup lights (2), reverse lockout wiring for T-56, and incorporate the Wilwood electric parking brake harness. My plan is to have one large split loom carrying all of the above along the upper right of the transmission tunnel (opposite the fuel and brake lines). With breakouts for each function at the appropriate locations. Will see how it works out.

For the Wilwood harness, as has been widely reported, it's way too long. So, I'm shortening at the head end, leaving the rear portion and individual legs to the EPBs factory wrapped. I like this idea better than cutting into the harness at both ends.

The rear harness will enter the left side of the trans tunnel in the upper left corner, just below the 1.5" square chassis tube, directly beneath the rear brake line.

The rear portion of the Wilwood loom is only four wires, positive and negative pairs to the left and right EPBs. The loom is 1/2" OD, and will poke through the forward trans cover near the 1.5" chassis tube. Of course, I don't have a 1/2" grommet on hand. The special trips to Ace for this kind of stuff really add up in terms of time, and adds another stopping point to progress for the day.

After scratching my head, I looked through my hardware bins and found my bag of push-in panel plugs (McMaster: 9600K521). I used one on my last build to route the MC rubber hoses through the FB panel (great idea from JohnK). I sent a couple to another builder who did the same. These are blank plugs (no hole). I still have the HF hollow punch set I used, so grabbed the 1/2" hollow punch and...voila! A homemade grommet.

No, these panel plugs aren't universal grommets. But, it's really nice (and rare!) when I can use bits/pieces on-hand to create a solid solution. Saving yet another special trip to the fastener aisle, or ordering a bag of 10 from McMaster (but only use one!) is even better. The downside? A 1.25" hole is required. But these are good quality, and will work great in my application.

Here's the 1/2" hollow punch, my homemade grommet, and a solid plug for comparison.



Speaking of 1.25" holes in panels, am I the last builder to try Rotabroach [hole] cutters? I recently made a command decision to shelf my hole saws (except for wood). Why? They oversize the holes, and leave very rough edges. Good for wood. Not good for metal panels IMHO.

A couple years back, I read a comment about these Rotabroach cutters by forum builder Mike Bray. He said something to the effect every garage should have a set. But, like any quality tool, they ain’t cheap, so I put them on the back burner. Since then, I’ve tried adjustable circle cutters (cheap; relatively clean holes; awkward to use), and bi-metal hole saws as mentioned above.

These cutters by Blair Equipment are truly a game changer. (No, I don't own their stock. ) This is not the first tool I would recommend to a new builder who needs basic tools. But it's a good one to have on the radar after the basics are covered. These are worth every penny. They're sold in various arrangements, from singles to kits. The only down side is the largest size I found is 1.5", so can't be used for gauges.




Here's a short video (1:50):

[Papa]

Nice work, Chris. I'm thinking of trying to run the mirror stuff inside the roll cage and mounting the rear camera on the roof. Another option is to mount it in the rear spoiler.

Dave

[PNWTim]

I guess I am the other guy that has never heard of these. Looks pretty useful, and like any specialty tool, a little spendy but worth it. I have drilled every hole in my car with either a drill bit, a step bit, or a hole saw, but there are definitely cleaner ways to do it. For the larger holes you can use hole slugs but they get stratospherically expensive above 2" or so.

[JimStone]

Dang it, I wish I had known about these things years ago!

I also really like the blank grommet idea. I was struggling to figure out how to make grommets for some oddly shaped hoses and harnesses, so those would work nicely

Thanks Chris

[460.465USMC]

Nice work, Chris. I'm thinking of trying to run the mirror stuff inside the roll cage and mounting the rear camera on the roof. Another option is to mount it in the rear spoiler.

Dave

Thanks, Dave. I traded PMs with JimStone on the camera location, and have now decided to mount mine below the spoiler like Lewma. It pretty much disappears on his build. I will run the cable through the rollbar, and exit down low on the PS. Then over to the rear harness to send it to the back. A roof mount would be interesting...don't think I've seen that approach yet.

I guess I am the other guy that has never heard of these. Looks pretty useful, and like any specialty tool, a little spendy but worth it. I have drilled every hole in my car with either a drill bit, a step bit, or a hole saw, but there are definitely cleaner ways to do it. For the larger holes you can use hole slugs but they get stratospherically expensive above 2" or so.

I'll have to research hole slugs, as I'm not familiar. Only had to drill one gauge size opening on this dash for the clock (thankfully!). But last time drilled all of them. Oof!

Dang it, I wish I had known about these things years ago!

I also really like the blank grommet idea. I was struggling to figure out how to make grommets for some oddly shaped hoses and harnesses, so those would work nicely

Thanks Chris

Yeah, those Rotabroach cutters will cut up to 1/2" thick metal! Pretty impressive.

I was tongue-in-cheek labelling the plugs as a "universal grommet" solution. But pretty handy option for one-off scenarios we encounter in these builds.

[rhk118]

Chris, fantastic build so far! I think we are in very similar places with our builds. I’ve picked up a few things!

[460.465USMC]

Thanks, Hank. I'm neck deep in electrical....will be here for a while. One of my favorite parts of the build.

[460.465USMC]

Chipping away at electrical. I'm including more options on this build. It's a bit overwhelming at the moment. Doing my best to break it down into manageable chunks. Nothing major to report, but finished a couple items.

Auto Vox (XG-T9) rear view mirror/camera: quite some time back I picked up a rear view camera/mirror. I like JimStone’s mounting, so following his lead. The camera will power on with ignition. But I will be able to shut it off manually via the dash mounted toggle panel. It's supposed to function as a standard mirror as well, so wanted the flexibility to manually shut it off. We’ll see which is best while driving.

One potential issue I found with the roll bar position is it puts it about 4” closer to my head than the rear view in my daily driver. I have to turn my head quite a ways to see it. Won’t know for sure just how far until my seats are installed. I’m open to attaching it to the windshield to decrease the view angle. Plenty of slack in the cable to accommodate.

I found a couple spacing washers left over from my Wilwood brake kit that fit perfectly over the post. Also in the picture is the part of the mirror bracket that's removed in order to slide the rollbar bracket mount on. If I end up moving it forward to the windshield, that part will be reinstalled.




One issue I found with the setup is the mirror could spin on the post. So, I tapped a 6-32 hole for a flat head screw (set screw). Spin eliminated.




Courtesy lights: Running the camera cable inside the rollbar is so much fun, figured I better run the overhead courtesy light wires at the same time. It was a bear to squeeze the camera cable plus courtesy light wires through the 7/16” holes I drilled. Larger holes would have saved me A LOT of time and frustration.

I attached the lights (one above the driver, one above the passenger) to the 1" diagonal braces. I'll have a total of four courtesy lights; the other two will be in the dash corners. I made a couple brackets from ⅛” thick steel bar stock, and sprayed them with POR-15.




Overhead view of the camera/mirror and courtesy lights. Each bracket has a latching switch, so they can be controlled individually (always hot). If a light (or switch) fails, I can disconnect the push-on terminals without too much fuss to replace.




Camera cable and courtesy light wires exit the rollbar on the right side, below the dash. I used a #10 awg wire as a fish tape inside the rollbar, pulling a string through the top and exiting at the bottom. Then tape the camera and courtesy wires to the string and pull them through (separately, one at a time).




Driver's side courtesy light, looking up. The black latching switch is hard to see, but it's mounted just to the left of the light. The lights are 3/4" white LEDs from Watson Streetworks. I tested them last night, and they lit up the cockpit well.




Plenty of work to do yet...

[460.465USMC]

Fixed another Whoops! My front left brake line was interfering with the forward splash panel. Not excited about replacing that brake line, so notched the panel instead. The silver lining is it shouldn't be very visible. Two steps forward, one step back.

[460.465USMC]

YouTube must be paying attention, because it suggested this: Rob Wants a Fast Car. Every build needs a theme song, right? Other than a few tweaks, it fits me. Minus the yacht. Minus the R model. Oh, and minus hiring a pro to finish it...haven't done that yet either.

I'm just shy of two years into my build, and First Start won't be anytime soon. Yep, I'm adopting it as my theme song...it's gonna be a four year build [like Rob's].

In the meantime, I'll keep chipping away at electrical.

[JTG]

I must confess that video has been played more than once in my household as well...

Our goal was 2-1/2 years so I could drive my son to his HS graduation in the Coupe. At our current pace that is looking dubious. Your 4 year timeline is probably more realistic!

[460.465USMC]

I must confess that video has been played more than once in my household as well...

Our goal was 2-1/2 years so I could drive my son to his HS graduation in the Coupe. At our current pace that is looking dubious. Your 4 year timeline is probably more realistic!

I know many knock these out in that time frame and less. I don't know how they do it, unless they eliminate sleep. It would be neat if I could drive our youngest (daughter) to school on a special occasion before she graduates. She's a sophomore. I need to pick up the pace a bit.

[Blitzboy54]

As someone that builds a little too fast I will say nothing wrong with taking your time. Doing great Chris

[burchfieldb]

I'm in the same boat. I've got one going to college in the fall and a sophomore in high school. Maybe I can get it completed before the second one is done with high school.

[PNWTim]

I'm in the same boat. I've got one going to college in the fall and a sophomore in high school. Maybe I can get it completed before the second one is done with high school.

Yeah, but Brent, you started when they were in grade school...

[burchfieldb]

Yeah, but Brent, you started when they were in grade school...

Ah, one was a freshman at the time. Now I get pulled away to help with his car. I am shooting for go cart this year.

[460.465USMC]

Electrical work continues, although it doesn’t feel like it. I’m working my way through the fixed items circuits, routing them into the cockpit, e.g. wiper motor, HVAC, Wilwood EPBs, etc.

Wiper motor: so, I thought a bit about where to place the wiper motor. Most builders I've seen attach them to the firewall above the right FB. But that area is quite busy already. I have the Specialty Wiper WWK-2 system, and they confirmed no issue if I put it on the left side. I added 1/4" length pieces from a small hose between the mounting plate and the firewall to limit vibration transfer from the motor. Those also provided clearance from the bulb seal along the top of the firewall. Here you can see I assembled the connector and routed the harness through the firewall.




HVAC - drain hose: next up was to install the drain hose. Pretty straight forward here. I simply followed F5's instructions. I'm using spring clamps for these hose connections.




HVAC - heater and AC hose connections: I previously mocked up the evaporator and siliconed all the gaps (per forum wisdom). So, it was time to finalize the hose connections inside the FB. Based upon positive forum reviews (and F5's recommend) I picked up the Mastercool 71550 AC hose crimper. These are a first for me, but the tool makes it pretty easy. Hopefully, they'll be leak free.




A slight bend in the lower (#6) AC hose is noticeable in the picture above. That's on purpose. Unfortunately, my placement of the bulkhead holes interfered with the nose side latch mount. So, the slight bend in the fitting gives the needed clearance. I noticed F5 has a couple sets of holes in the instruction manual. So, I guess they had a little trial-and-error before settling on the sweet spot. That makes me feel a little better.

For the in-board heater hose connections inside the FB, I used T-Bolt clamps. I try to stay away from worm drive clamps in my build. I wasn't too excited about the thought of removing Gates thermoplastic clamps in a very tight space like this if future maintenance is required. So, I opted for the more maintenance friendly clamp.




HVAC - drier: I liked Edwardb's placement, so followed his lead. The harness connection routes underneath the 1.5" chassis tubes--visible below--than along the outside of the FB. There are a number of obstacles in the area along the route. Hopefully, I've anticipated all of them.




The harness then bends inward, sneaks behind the Coyote PDB and then through the firewall. This provides plenty of harness inside the cockpit to reach the evaporator connections, as well as the controls, etc.




Sending harness: Like I said above, all this doesn't feel like I'm making any progress with electrical, but it all directly impacts where/how I will tie it all together. I punched the sending harness through the firewall next to the Coyote harness. I’m not using the RF sending harness, because my sending harness consists of (1) the Speedhut sensor cables (oil pressure and H2O temp). (2) Plus, the #6 AWG alternator feed via the 12V busbar. Then through a 150A fuse. (3) Lastly, the tach wire routes through here as well. For now, the harness is just stubbed through the firewall and coiled up. I’ll terminate and dress these in after the drivetrain is installed.