Wiring

General Gauges, Wiring, Ignition..

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Bruce69Camaro
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Wiring

#1 Post by Bruce69Camaro » Mon Feb 11, 2013 9:50 am

What items do you have come on, when you turn on the ignition switch?
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ytnova
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Re: Wiring

#2 Post by ytnova » Tue Feb 12, 2013 9:31 am

Kind of personal preference. My car is set up with a "master" switch which turns on only the the msd and a separate fuse panel via a "constant on" selenoid. Call it fuse panel #1, the items on it are the MSD, fuel pumps, gauges, transbrake, any nitrous stuff, and any remaining igniton components. This gives me a single switch to hit in a emergency. The items not on that fuse panel , but on a second one not controlled by the selenoid are the fans, water pump, fuel pump prime, starter button, basically items that I might want to use without turning on the "master/ignition" switch. Of course the rear manual master switch controls the feed to everything and the alternator output wire is run to the battery side of that. I am currently redoing everything now that the nova will be efi and the msd and nitous stuff is all going away. One of the things I am going to do is cable actuate the manual switch in the rear, it never fails, I strap in, helmet on, all ready to go and the damn switch is off.

If you are wiring it yourself, I would recommend that you write down everything that you want to control with the switch panel and when do you want any of those items to work and then work from there. If you have the money, there are some really nice systems out there, spaghetti menders, speedwire, isis power systems, k&r, race wire solutions, etc.
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Bruce69Camaro
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Re: Wiring

#3 Post by Bruce69Camaro » Tue Feb 12, 2013 9:59 am

What I'm trying to eliminate is forgetting to turn something on and we all know what happens when we do that.

Currently I have the starter, fuel pump, fan, water pump, lights and ignition swich all on seperate toggles switches.

I have the MSD box and a few other items working off of the igntion switch.

I'm planning to wire the fan and water pump on to the ignition switch circuit, so that they get powered up when the motor starts. I'm also hooking the fan up with a sensor.

I guess my next issue is, do I now want to hook the fan and water pump up to a toggle switch so that I can operate them when the ignition switch is off or just be simple and have everything shut down when the ignition switch is off.
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ytnova
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Re: Wiring

#4 Post by ytnova » Tue Feb 12, 2013 4:26 pm

That shouldn't be too difficult and there are a couple of ways to do it. One is to run the msd off the ignition switch, then run a seperate wire from the igniton switch to terminal 85 of a standard bosch style relay and terminal 86 to ground. Terminal 30 would be from a fused 12 volt source and terminal 87 to all of you componets, fan, water pump, etc. Next run a separte toggle with 12 volts on one side and the other side connected to terminal 87a on the same relay. Now both switches can control the fan and water pump, but the ignition switch also adds the MSD. The second toggle can run just the fan and water pump to cool down between rounds without having the MSD on.

This is a very basic way of doing it. Keep in mind that most bosch relays are limited to 30-40 amps, so terminal 87 should be used to power up additional relays instead of the component themselves. (((EX. terminal 87 would then feed terminal 85 on additional relays, 86 to ground, 30 to fused 12 volts, and 87 to each component.))) A helpful hint, always use the same relays through out the car and always carry spares with you in the trailer. Wish I had a way to draw a diagram for ya, would make it a little easier.
I am not really sure what the question is, but I am pretty sure the answer is Big Block.

Noxqus
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Re: Wiring

#5 Post by Noxqus » Thu Aug 07, 2014 11:52 pm

Best thing to know about any rewire is to make it so any problem can be readily diagnosed at a glance. Point, your in the final round at the track, there is a 10 minute turn around to show at the line for the money. The fuel pump doesn't work, what do you have in place to fix it right away? Here is what you should have 1. A lighted switch. 2. a indicator light on your dash. 3. Another indicator in the middle of the dash. With this setup at a glance you will know 1. if the switch passed power. 2. the fuse passed power. 3. power actually reach the pump. So if the problem is electrical 3 simple lights will tell you. If you do this with the 3 important circuits ( Ign, Fuel, Cooling ) you will at a glance determine if it is electrical or a part failure.

Batteries: What should I use? If it is a race car that launches off the line, jel filled is the ticket. If you use a acid filled battery you must make sure the plates are vertical to the movement of the car just like a normal car battery sits in the front. If you have them horizontal the launch will try and push the plates together which will cause a short. Cold cranking amps is only important if you have a hard starting engine. Yes you need sufficient amperage to start the car but with todays starters not as much as you would think. Problem number 2, your sitting in staging waiting for the call to pull out for the final run, the call comes you hit the ignition and push the starter button, nothing happens. It's in park, nothing, you put it in neutral, nothing. It's not a stick what do you do? You have no time. This is what you should have in place. Your neutral safety switch has failed. You should have an external start button out side between the windshield wipers. This button is direct, hot and start solenoid, when the button is pushed. You can instruct anyone to push it to start the car, other wise your out.

Alternators: Big subject but very simple if done right for a race car. Everybody knows when you start that engine the alternator must replace that lose from the battery. Here is the problem at the race track how long does the car actually run after the engine is started, 20 seconds to a minute to get from trailer to staging then shut off. Your turn to go, you once again start the car pull into the water spin the tires move to the line rev it up to launch, launch the car and run 1/8 mile say in 9 seconds you have a slow car. You let off the gas at the end and drive back to the trailer, another 2 minutes go by you shut it off. The battery hardly got tickled. Plus your engine had to pull that horse power sucker all the way down the track. Here is what I did to mine. I opened the alternator GM a externally regulated one and insulated the ground brush. I put on a electronic adjustable regulator, ran the field wire to the positive brush Terminal and ran a ground wire to the ground brush terminal which in turn goes to a micro switch located on my Holley on the secondary side. Ok here is how it works, as long as the secondary's are closed the alternator is free to charge the battery. Once the secondary's open it removes the ground from the ground brush in the alternator. It stops charging. You make the run as soon as you let off the carb it comes back on and charges. Now to get the most out of it you set the external regulator to 14.8 volts on your hundred amp alternator, it begins to slam the battery all the way back to the trailer. Has my battery ever gone dead? No. Do I use a battery maintainer after race day? Yes.

Relays: Small relays are ok but not for the three main circuits in a race car. Straight wires with breakers be careful with gauges. Big loads, continuous duty solenoids for fans and water pump combination.

Last note don't forget your indicator lights.

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Re: Wiring

#6 Post by John_Heard » Fri Aug 08, 2014 4:03 pm

^^^ Somebody has done this before 8-)

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Carolina Kid
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Re: Wiring

#7 Post by Carolina Kid » Fri Aug 08, 2014 7:17 pm

John_Heard wrote:^^^ Somebody has done this before 8-)
and he's good at it :thumb:

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