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My engine came with a 200amp alternator, 250 amp buss fuse. It requires a big heavy gauge wire. I bought 2/0 copper welding wire to make up the cable. Could have got away with #2, but it's all depends on how it's routed.
A lot of the wires included in the Painless kit I do no longer need. The engine computer controls the alt, 1 cooling fan and all the start functions. So mainly lights, doors (windows, locks), some heat cool since I'm going Restomod. Since I'm updating the head lights I have to add relays to control them. With the wiring in a enclosed area I need to be aware of heat on high current long runs. So I've upped the gauge wire 1 size. I have also been adding protection to the wires inside the frame since there are metal shavings I can't get out. The last thing I want is wire to short out inside the frame. It's already a pita to pull with all the frame elevation changes.
A update of work being done. Been drawing up a schematic on how I'm going to do my chassis wiring. Still debating on adding a bulkhead connection to the firewall, so the cab can be separated. I will be adding a few things that was never on this truck. 7 pin trailer brake/controller with isolation to my main harness. This is requiring me to add relays to control the trailer lights as well as adding some #8 ga wire for the electric trailer brakes. Needed to add a selector switch to select which fuel pump I want to run with a option to run both when required. Adding relays for HID head lights or LED's. I've been going through the Painless 18 circuit harness kit that I ordered 25 yrs ago. Separating wires out that are no longer needed, mainly engine related, ones going to a different area. Started pulling wires through my frame for my air ride, height sensors ran, still have controls to pull to cab. Having wires being pulled from 2 different directions and trying not to get them in a knot.
routing wires inside frame about 5 lbs of wiring for the cab separating out circuits
It's turned bitter cold here for us Texans, 21F yesterday morning, 26F today. My shop has been in the low 30's with high in the 40's which is too cold for this old man to work in. Ordering the mockup ac unit this week so I can fab the needed mounts it it's not too big.
Finally got the trans cooler mounted and lines run. Still finishing up on brackets and mounts to secure the lines.
I decided to put the fans in front to work as some protection to the cooler. I don't expect these to run unless in stop and go traffic.
Trans cooler with fans mounted.
AN8 PTFE lined, thermal control switch on return line. Clamps not shown but installed cooler hose connections. Line connections to trans cooler.
These are the only angled trans line connection that are available that I found. It took me months to find these. Most all exit straight out, away the trans right into the exhaust.
Line connections at trans. These are just in place not connected yet.
Should finish up the mounts and brackets tomorrow and get them in installed. Brackets shown were to support the lines for mock up.
Will move the cab back to give easy access so I can do the line hook up. Hopefully I want leak much fluid out.
What brand is the trans line connector? I agree, the ones I've seen stick out a little farther than I would like.
Thanks!
I found them here after months of hunting for something that did not kick the lines out. A lot of the line connections are AN6 these are the larger AN8.
A update of work being done. Been drawing up a schematic on how I'm going to do my chassis wiring. Still debating on adding a bulkhead connection to the firewall, so the cab can be separated. I will be adding a few things that was never on this truck. 7 pin trailer brake/controller with isolation to my main harness. This is requiring me to add relays to control the trailer lights as well as adding some #8 ga wire for the electric trailer brakes. Needed to add a selector switch to select which fuel pump I want to run with a option to run both when required. Adding relays for HID head lights or LED's. I've been going through the Painless 18 circuit harness kit that I ordered 25 yrs ago. Separating wires out that are no longer needed, mainly engine related, ones going to a different area. Started pulling wires through my frame for my air ride, height sensors ran, still have controls to pull to cab. Having wires being pulled from 2 different directions and trying not to get them in a knot.
routing wires inside frame about 5 lbs of wiring for the cab separating out circuits
It's turned bitter cold here for us Texans, 21F yesterday morning, 26F today. My shop has been in the low 30's with high in the 40's which is too cold for this old man to work in. Ordering the mockup ac unit this week so I can fab the needed mounts it it's not too big.
LOL, yes I know Texans are freezing, I have a project east of Corsicana and it is frozen mud. Here it got all the way up to 5 degrees today!
Run the PTFE lines and you will not have a hose failure. The only place I have the std (auto trans) hose is the 2 short connections to the cooler. Std trans cooler line runs around $10/ft if you get the better hoses. The AN PTFE hose is actually cheaper, the hose connections is where the coast is at.
Blue,
What an amazing build! Your documentation is wonderful. The skills you have are incredible. Your doing great work and a inspiration to Ford truck owners,. You will have a one of a kind custom truck. Looking forward to following as you complete this VERY detailed build. The weather is cold here too, just above zero the last few days.
Regards,
Chris and Cheryl
The weather has turned nice and I'm back in the shop checking if this Restomod Vapir 2-S AC mock-up unit is going to to fit. Does not look like a good fit. This unit has all the discharge ducts on top. It is one of there thinnest units but it's a tight fit between the dash and trans tunnel. Actually it hits, have to set low and to the right in order to have a chance. Due to the shape and low clearance of the cowl this unit is not going to work for me. Ducts below wiper arm but really close to the dash, hitting firewall/trans tunnel Shows how low it sets to get duct clearance. Restomod recommends 6-8", I have 3" Inside dash view
Only have 2" for ducts to clear firewall. If I go up with the unit I loose all my rear duct connections. Sure glad Restomod has the returnable mock-up units to allow you to try before you buy.
I've installed the trailer wiring isolation relays and fuel pumps relay. The way this is wired, any trailer connected, is isolated from my main harness. The relays are triggered by my main harness, power to the trailer is on a separate fuse, with turn signals, tail, backup also fused. The power for this is fed from the battery with a #6 which also feeds my fuel pumps. The main feeder is protected with a 60amp breaker, hot when the key is on. Talking with Aeromotive tech they tell me my pumps will pull just over 17 amps at 65psi, fuse at 30amps. I will have a switch in the cab to select which pump I want to run on. The Ford PCM will control the fuel pump on and off.
Trailer relays on the left, Fuel pump relays on right. Relay boxes cover removed. Waterproof boxes.
I had ordered a Curt Wiring harness and had to return it. The specs showed proper gauge wiring but not what I received, (made in china). It had under sized wiring, 14ga wire for electric trailer brakes, where all mfg call for 10 ga. So I ended up ordering a different one. I will run the wire from the brake controller when I pull all of my wiring through the frame. All connectors are waterproof and open crimp connectors are soldered, after crimp. So I want have any high resistance connections. Once every thing is done for the final time I will seal the power distribution block.
Looking good. I like your idea for isolating the trailer connection.
Just an FYI, I suggest not soldering your connections. I did that on a car a long time ago and it gave me fits. When I talked to an old mechanic, he said the solder makes a rigid connection that can crack when vibration happens over a period of time.
That problem happens when you apply too much heat and the solder travels down the wire. If done right where it's only on the connector it's not a problem. If the wire is stiff behind the connector you applied too much solder/heat and solder went down the wire. Trying to find and locate a high resistance bad connection is more time consuming than locating a broken wire. I also use eutectic solder (63/37), where it's solid/liquid temp is the same. So movement during the setting up process does not produce a bad solder joint. 60/40 solder is bad about producing brittle bad connections if not soldered correctly. A good solder joint will have a nice shinny appearance and be smooth. If yours are dull and has spikes/points it was not soldered correctly. Don't use lead free on wiring, it's brittle.
My original trailer isolation box I used was done using transistors, left/right/brake and tail lights. It was more compact but can't carry the higher amperage of a big trailer. I used it on the this truck for decades, but it was only controlling a small fishing trailer with minimal lights. It would probably work just fine with all the LED's lights out now but would have to expand it for backup lights.
All the new tucks produced today have trailer isolation to protect the main harness. Most have a single fuse for the trailer but I think the canbus is monitoring the load and protecting the wiring too.
Decided to mount the fuse block and see how long my wires are I have to work with. Looks like Painless Wiring back in the 2000 gave you plenty of extra on there universal kit. My rear tail section has a extra 5-6' for me to work with. Now the front looks like I may have enough to route the passenger side head lights through the cab, down to frame and back up. The only problem is where they have the splice adding the extra wires going to both sides, will need to move it. As far as engine connections I only have oil pressure, water temp, volt, tach, AC compressor, horn. I've ordered a Deutsch 29 circuit bulkhead connection for all the wires going into the engine compartment.
The control pack has all the wiring and full control of engine and transmission function. I only have like 8 wires I need to hook up for it after I wire in the gear shift, brake and ignition switch.
Looks like the best location for the PCM is next to the battery box with connectors pointing down. The relay/fuse block to be mounted to the cowl or bracket. This will allow good air movement for cooling.
PCM for Coyote Gen 4x and 10R80 trans. The green tape is where the washer sprayer mounts.
I did not realize how large these hood hinges were and how much space they take. It leaves around 2" clearance from the inner finder and only 6" from the battery box. May need to look for a aftermarket.
Need to decide how to handle the extra 3' of wire at fuse block and a extra 5-6' used air temp, MAF, alt + unused plugs (reserved for turbo). The harness will pass into the cab through the 1 1/4" hole in the cab corner. Mounting it this way I have about 4" under it to mount other devices.
In dealing with all the extra length wire that came with the control pac I've moved the PCM to the front of the inner finder. Made a Al bracket that mounts to the inner finder and set the PCM vertical with connectors up.
PCM mount
This seams to be the best location for dealing with all the extra wire length. I partially unwrapped the trans cable to move the O2 sensors connections down to the back of the engine. Since I moved the location of the PCM I will need to extend the O2 sensors wiring to reach, via 12-18" extenders. In doing so I found found out why the wiring harness is so stiff and does not want to twist/bend. They spiral wrapped the loose wires with tape before putting the split sleeve on. I think they used a whole roll of tape on this one cable, maybe a case on the Control Pack cable. Talking with Ford Performance and they said no problem in adding a bulkhead connector for going through the firewall. The factory holes are 1 1/4" I need to enlarge these to 1.7" (43mm) for the bulkhead connectors. With the Deutsch's 29 pin bulkhead connectors I'm limited to a max of 4 10 ga wires. Which presents a small problem since I have 2 -10ga for the fuse block power (ok) + 2 8 ga wires that need to go through the firewall for air compressor and electric brakes. Now the air compressor power is just passing through the cab so I can hide it. I could run it directly to the alternator to supply the power. The other problem is I do not have enough pins to cover all of the PCM wires into the cab without eliminating some. Which there are a few wires not needed since I have an unlocked PCM so I don't need the PACT wires. Which oddly enough is only 3 wires + the can-buss (2). Right now I'm leaning toward adding a 12vdc bulkhead lug through the firewall to supply the needed power to everything. Which solves the lack of pins to handle the heavy gauge wire. Going that route I can move up to a 33 pin connector and have a few spares. The drivers side bulkhead I have enough pins to cover the everything with a few extras (5). I have limited space to go through on the passenger side since the AC unit fills up that area. Waiting for VintageAir to deliver the kit so I can see how much space I have between the evap unit and kick panel to work with. According to their install video I should have enough space for what I want to do.
Looking at the needed repairs to the bed I will need some flooring (where bolts penetrated) and wheel tubs. Mine are rusted out on the corners and down the bed seam. The front bed support is rusted away in the right front. The other side is rusted but not bad. Will just repair it vs replacing the whole channel.
Have any of you replaced the wheel tubs? All I see is 100+ spot welds holding them in. May be easier to replace the small panels front/back at the same time.
