Other Projects:
Vortex 3-wheel Vehicle
17' Wind Turbine
Bradly GT II Kit Car
1966 Ford Fairlane GT
Spinning Wheels
Search this site: |
Electrical Wiring Harness
This page will show detailed information concerning how I performed any electrical wiring of the main harness.
In thinking about what type of circuits that I would be installing/connecting to I came up with a preliminary list of electrical circuits:
EXTERIOR LIGHTS headlight poo-up motors |
INTERIOR
|
ENGINE starter (needs relay) |
ELECTRICAL GAUGES
|
OTHER horn |
|
I have been researching purchasing an aftermarket wiring harness and found 3 companies that seem to put out a pretty good product: Painless Performance, American Autowire and Kwik-Wire. In checking out the prices the Painless product cost was a good bit more than the Kwik-Wire was ($315 vs $220) and was able to find a couple of distributors that sold a 22 circuit harness for just over $200 on eBay (plus 4 more circuits - Painless is 18 circuits).
POST NOTE: See 10/16/06 for why I would NOT RECOMMEND Kwik-Wire
I have the existing wiring harness from the Honda VFR750 that I will be using but the fuse block is pretty limited from a motorcycle, not to mention that I expect that I will be adding quite a few other circuits to the Vortex that would not be on a motorcycle.
So I made the decision that I will be installing an automotive style wiring
harness rather than extending and splicing and patching onto the current motorcycle
harness. I feel that down the road that I will ensure that I should not have
any electrical headaches by proceeding down this path.
I feel so strongly about installing an aftermarket harness that I created this page in which I will describe the installation of the harness into the vehicle, separated it from wiring individual components.
I purchased the 22 circuit harness from Kwik-Wire and would have to say that their installation instructions are next to unusable! See 10/16/06 for why I would NOT RECOMMEND Kwik-Wire! Do yourself a favor and purchase the Painless Performance product!
22 Prewired and Fused Circuits
50 amp fused circuit for
|
50 AMP Main Fuse (instead of fusible link) |
You just can't get all of this from a motorcycle wiring harness!!
I ordered up the following wiring stuff from Summit Racing, this should round out most of the stuff that I will be needing to run the wiring harness:
The heavy battery cable is needed because the battery will be located in the front of the vehicle and power will have to be ran to the fuse box as well as all the way back to the starter in the engine compartment, ground wire is slightly lighter but should do. These cables will be ran through the side formers of the chassis so that they are hidden and make the installation as clean as possible.
The fiberglass body ground wire kit (left below) is a pretty good deal, it includes 10' of 10 gauge wire, 4 - 6 position terminal blocks and crimp ends (basically made for fiberglass bodies where there is no common ground). The main ground cable (#2 gauge) will be ran directly from the battery back to the engine subframe, then I will use the ground kit to supply common connection points in engine compartment, passenger compartment and front trunk areas, then the 16 gauge wire is ran to the individual components.
The wire wrap (right below) is slit laterally and design closes around wire bundle without the need for additional taping or fasteners and will be used to contain the bundled wires for a neat looking installation. |
 |
The Autocraft battery that I got has dual posts, meaning that it has the top posts and on the face it also has screw posts. It was about the biggest battery that I could fit the space allocated and has 1000 amps cranking power. Lots of power, I have always heard that since motorcycle engine based 3-wheelers do not have nearly as much alternator/generator power as do automobiles and as such extra reserve power is preferred. One other neat feature is that the battery came with a removable top cover (possibly for shipping) that I discovered could be flipped over and used as a battery tray!
As well as using a couple of screws to hold the cover/battery tray, I used a web strap to retain it in the front trunk area so it can't move around as shown below. It's starting to get a little tight in the front trunk area:
First item was to mount the fuse box, I ended up locating it under the passenger side of the dash so that it was as far out of the way of feet as possible.
Next I had to drill a couple of holes to pass wiring up into the front trunk area and up into the dashboard cavity. When I constructed the chassis I had put some holes through the side formers on both sides, but only on the drivers side did I remember to pass through some twine from front to back. So on the passenger side I taped up my shop vacuum to the rear access hole and tried to suck a line from the front of the vehicle.
This was not working so well so I put a small piece of foam onto the end of the line and tried again. This partially worked however the foam ended up getting stuck in one of the holes in the side formers and blocked it. Frustrated I gave up on it, possibly later I will try reversing the vacuum and blow it out.
Then I divided up the wiring and pulled the taillight group through the drivers side and at the same time pulled a couple of other lines of twine through - for future pulls. Next I tried to pull the thicker battery cables through, got one through successfully, but the 2nd kept getting hung up at some point. After numerous attempts I decided that what I needed to do was to 'un-pull' the taillight wires and bring both battery cables through first, then pull all ancillary wires. By this time it was late afternoon so I decided to quit for the day.
I choose not to grease up the wires as is commonly done because I did not want to deal with the cleanup. The wires in the wiring harness have circuit id's printed on them every foot and I was afraid that the printing might come off.
After I 'un-pulled' the taillight wiring group and re-pulled the battery cables to the back. This worked well as initially I think that trying to pull the battery cable caused too much friction between the bundle of taillight wiring. I also had to make additional holes to route the battery cables into the front trunk compartment.
After the battery cables were done, I then re-pulled the taillight wiring group with a successful outcome.
In hindsight I should have made the holes in the formers a bit larger, I think that I made them about 1-1/2" diameter, and probably should be more like 2" - 2-1/2" to help ease pulling all the wires through. In addition a #2 gauge wire would probably have been sufficient (instead of 1/0) for the + battery lead.
Ordered a bunch of interconnects from Jameco so that I could make the wiring modular. I ordered up some 3, 4 and 5 single row interconnects as well as some 6 and 8 double row interconnects as well as a bunch of pins, cable tie mounts, cable ties and a pin extraction tool. Too numerous to mention but I am using the Molex Mini-Fit Jr connectors which use .165" pins. The reason that I went with these connectors/pins is that each pin is capable of carring 12amps. The connectors are priced pretty reasonably, it is the pins that start getting expensive. After I ordered these connectors I happened to notice that Painless and Kwik-wire also sells complete connectors, so you should be able to order everything from one source.
Tonight I spent some time sorting through the wires of the new wiring harness. I split them up into groups of which ones need to be pulled to the back of the vehicle and those that either stay in the passenger compartment or the front trunk area. The taillight group was already pulled and was pretty obvious. Since the engine is in the rear of the vehicle instead of in the front I will have to extend a number of wires in the harness so that they can go to the back.
In addition I went through the old motorcycle harness and got all of the wires untangled and sorted out. Eventially I have to merge these two harnesses as I am using the original Honda VFR750 instrument cluster so I will have to study the original circuit diagram carefully to see how to do this.I previously only had a pull line installed into the drivers side of the side formers that went from the front to the back of the vehicle. I tried to fish a line through the passenger side using TWO 5hp shop vacumes and no such luck, tried everything from very light string to twine and lightweight plastic caution tape. Everything seemed to hang up in the 2nd side chamber. At this time if I had to pull anything through this side I would have to cut a hole!!!
The holes in the side formers are about 1-1/4" to 1-1/2" in diameter and I lucked out with pulling all the wires to the rear of the vehicle on the drivers side only! I pulled about 5 extra 16gauge wires through for things that I knew that I would need such as electric speedometer, neutral switch, etc. so hopefully I will not have to pull any more. I left twine string in the chassis so that if need be in the future I could pull them.
Here is a list of the wires that were pulled to the rear of the vehicle, as you can see there is quite a few wires:
I decided that I wanted to put some speakers on the inside of the 'torque box' structure, a quick measurement and I determined that I could just squeak in some 5-1/4" round speakers. I had to cut a 4-5/8" hole to place the speakers in so I put down some masking tape through the area and marked out where the hole was to be cut out. You have to be VERY careful in this placement as there is not much room for error, you can see that I just missed the leading edge of the torque box:
I put in the holes on both sides this helped pulling wires through from the front to the back so I highly advise doing it before you pull the wires. The above picture on the right shows the installed speaker and grill.
There were a number of wires that had to be extended, I went out and purchased locally as many colors of 16 gauge that they had (about 6 spools of 20') as well as 10' of both 10 and 12 gauge. I did not simply splice the wire onto the end, but instead spliced it in the middle of the wire where it went through the side formers. This way the wires were still had the label markings on them at the other end and saved me from remarking them. All spices were fully soldered, shrink wrapped and taped to ensure that I would not get any shorts, etc. a lot of work but worth it in the long run.
I will be installing a circuit box/enclosure above the drivers side pontoon the wires will be brought from the pontoon, through some conduit to keep them from being exposed from weather, I will have to locate and install the box before I get too much farther. Here are a couple of other pictures:
It quickly became apparent that the instructions provided with the Kwik Wire kit was minimal at best. It seems that their assumption is that you are wiring a GM based car and not a motorcycle. Not to mention that they do not provide a complete electrical diagram, and very basic installation instructions. Far inferior for a ground-up electrical wiring job, it is not even clear on how to hook up the 50amp Maxi-fuse! Had I to do it over I would probably go with the Painless Performance line... I will contact Kwik Wire and see if they can send me additonal information to help clarify.
I did not have wiring diagram for the Isuzu Trooper steering column, so it took a while to trace back all of the connections that I had to make for starting/ignition/turn signals.
There is too much going on in the complete diagram and it is hard to focus in on the one section that I really need to see clearly, so I spent some time tonight taking the full blown electrical diagram that I have for my Honda VFR750 and breaking it down so that I could see the starting/charging system and the ignition system by themselves.
Below is a thumbnail of the starting/charging circuit as well as one of the ignition circuit, click on them if you want to see a larger image:
For other bikes it might be close, but compare it to what you have to be sure.
I will be using an external starter solenoid from a 1966 Ford Fairlane (or equivalent) instead of the original one. An automotive solenoid is easier to mount and has no extraneous terminals. I will be wiring up a neutral safety switch on the clutch pedal, this way either the transmission has to be in neutral or the clutch pedal needs to be depressed for the starter solenoid to 'kick in' when the ignition is turned on.
Spent some time tonight and modified the original VFR750 starting/charging circuit.
Here is modified schematic, click on it to see larger image:
I made a quick drawing of how I think that I would like to lay out the components in the circuit box so that I could get a rough estimate of the size. The goal of the box is to contain some components and keep water from getting into the 'pontoon' below. The material should be either an ABS plastic or figerglass and not metal, the reason is that I want to use some studs for the battery cable connections.
I figured that I wanted to put the following components in it:
|
 |
The battery cables ran into the box will each have a stud for easy wire connections. All other cable will be ran through a short length of conduit (sealed at both ends), most of these wires will pass out the box through the grommet on the bottom edge, while the wires for the taillights and latches will exit out the top left grommet. The Ignition Control Module and Regulator/Rectifier will be mounted external to the circuit box onto the chassis so that they have ventilation.
I did some seraching on the Internet and did not find exactly what I was looking for, so decided that this weekend I will make one up out of fiberglass myself. It will have a hinged lid and probably lockable.See 10/16/06 for why I would NOT RECOMMEND Kwik-Wire
I made up the fiberglass circuit box and got it mounted into place, I made it a little larger than I thought I would need with the finished dimensions of about 8" x 8-1/2" x 3" deep, along with a cover for it. This was about as large as I could make it to fit into the space while allowing clearance on the left side for the locator button and on the right for mounting the ignition control module. One of the other reasons for making it a bit larger is that the starter solenoid is a fairly hefty unit and about 2x the size of the original one from the motorcycle wiring harness.
Once cleaned up a bit I painted it with some of the satin black aerosol spray paint that I had, and finally made the holes for cables, conduit and a 1-1/4" hole for a grommet. I sealed up the holes in the pontoon using some black silicon caulk.
I pulled the wires through the conduit and separated them into common groupings. Initially I had pulled wire #16 (system power) to the back but unpulled it, this wire is the main feed from the battery into the fuse panel and I thought that it would be better to have it as short as possible. This wire will connect to the maxi-fuse which will connect directly to the battery up in the front of the vehicle.
I also decided that since I did not need to use wire #14 (alternator exciter) that I will be using this for the neutral/clutch switch connection to the negative side of the starter solenoid. This is a heave #14 gauge wire and would be plenty heavy enough for the job as well as not having me to pull another wire to the back.
Side Note: Automotive wiring is often times different than say household electrical wiring in that a lot of times the positive (+) side is connected directly to the destination and the negative (-) is switched. Typically in household wiring the ground wire is ran to the destination and the hot wire is usually switched.
When I pulled the wires into the fiberglass circuit box there ended up being a bit of a birds nest below so I ended up trying to straighten up the mess a bit by pulling the wires back into the pontoon area and one at a time bringing them into the circuit box again. Had I to do this over again I would have mounted the circuit box first and then pull the wires from the front to the back brought them directly into the circuit box, this would have made for a cleaner installation.
I used some 1/4" diameter studs put in for the battery cables to connect to, I think that the hardware store called them hanger bolts, one end has a wood screw while the other end has a machine thread able to accept nuts/washers. The copper eyelet terminals for the heavy cables worked out great they use a tapered nut to cinch the cable in the end of the lugs.
Next I mounted the starter solenoid and pop-riveted some wire tie saddles to the inside edges of the circuit box, these will help keep the internal wiring orderly and neat in appearance. Then I mounted one of the terminal strips ran some ground wires, and terminated a number of wires.
I used some small shutter hinges to attach the door onto the box and used 3/16" pop rivets to attach it. I backed up all pop rivets that went through the fiberglass with some small #10 washers, this way the pop rivet will not crush the fiberglass. All of the wires that exit out the top left either to the tail/brake lights, the 3rd brake light, dome light or electric solenoids for the rear latches. These wires will probably have one or two connectors near the hinge portion of the rear canopy so that the canopy can be easily removed.
Once the radiator comes in I may need to move the location of the ignition control module, hopefully I left enough room under it to mount the radiator. Until all of the wiring is completed I will not tighten the wire ties, I am trying to take a lot of care in the appearance to keep it neat and orderly in addition to using shrink wrap wherever possible.
Finally I got out the original wiring harness that was from the VFR750, and made the connections to all engine components. It took a while to sort them out and ensure that they were connected properly. Now that all connections are positioned I can route the wires and make the final connections. I was able to mount the fuel pump relay right at the fuel pump instead of locating it in the circuit box so this will save a little bit of room inside the circuit box.
Here is how it looks so far:
Continued on wiring up the tail section of the vehicle, I ended up splitting up the wires that came out of the top left side of the circuit box as they were pretty tight in the grommet and put a 2nd hole/grommet for ancillary wiring such as dome, latches and backup while keeping the top bundle tail light section only.
I used some flexible 1/2" wire wrap from the circuit box to the rear canopy, terminated the wires with a connector, the used the 1/2" wrap all the way to the farthest tail light. About every foot I used a wire tie and saddle to hold the bundle.
For the latch wiring as well as wiring for the license light, latch release button and backup buzzer I used some 1/4" wire wrap. Where ever possible I used some shrink wrap at the ends of the wire wrap, and then used black electrical tape on both ends to keep the shrink wrap in place otherwise it could come off the wire wrap. Anyplace that you branch the wiring use some electrical tape around the wire wrap and it will give it a nice appearance:
I ended up removing the factory connectors on the tail lights and replacing them using a 4-wire connector that I purchased from Jameco, it was easier than trying to locate and purchase the original one. Every component will have some sort of removable connector so that it can be removed/replaced relatively easily.
When wiring you have to remember that all components need to have a ground wire ran to it for proper operation. This is typically not supplied with aftermarket wiring harness, you will have to provide this wire. I used some #16 gauge black wire for just this purpose and will use it for grounding everything but the front headlights, there I will be using some #14 gauge wire as the headlights consume a larger current than most everything else.
Next I moved my attention to the 3rd brake light. I had previously purchased a strip of quad-mounted led's and wanted to mount this strip on the rear canopy above the window - for me it is a visibility thing - I want to be seen. I figured the best way to mount it was to recess the ends of the strip into the body and use some 1/2" acrylic attachment tape along the length.
First thing I did is to use some masking tape and draw out the area to be recessed. Then using a drill bit remove most of the material, finally using a die grinder I finished out the pockets. I had to shorten up the strip a bit and cut off about 3" from the total length, each end is recessed about 3/4" into the canopy.
I moved my attention to getting the latch solenoids mounted today. I used some 1/8" steel to make some backing plates, put holes in it for #8 x 1-1/2" long screws as well as holes for #12 mounting screws. I also got the wiring to them all completed. As it turns out one solenoid pushes the latch mechanism and the other pulls it, I will have to fiddle with the push one as it jambs every once in a while, probably a geometry thing but will work out the details later.
I did not receive the radiator yet so can't finish the tail section as I may need to relocate where the ignition control module is so I changed my attention and for the rest of the day started sorting out the wiring at the front of the vehicle. I need to get some more 1/2" wire wrap but have a pretty good start.
Received the 5-LED lights last night and did some quick testing and two of them will illuminate the engine compartment just fine (tested in the dark). I decided that rather than use some sort of mercury switch to turn them on when the rear canopy opened that I would install a manual switch so that I could turn them on only when needed.
As the LED lights needed to be installed parallel to the deck I decided to use some 1-1/2" aluminum angle to form as a light bracket. This bracket is installed along the width of the rear canopy deck with each LED light mounted on each side about 27" from the front of the deck lid.
Here is a picture of the installed push button switch on the drivers side:
Here is a picture of the installed light bar and one with the LED lights on:
Ok so why 27" you ask? This is the dimension from the front of the trunk area to the area just before the intermediate shaft. I figure that if I need to put up some sort of 'curtain' to keep splash from the rear tire into the engine area that I could hang it from this aluminum bar as well. So this bar is positioned for this possibility as well.
In addition I basically completed wiring up the front trunk area today. I was careful to use 1/2" and 1/4" flex wire wrap and tuck all the wiring up under the trunk lid so that it is almost out of sight. I ended up putting in a terminal block which connects to the battery negative cable, all trunk ground connections go to it. Also got the 50amp maxi fuse installed on the battery positive cable and wired into the fuse block. There is no real good way to mount it so it will simply sit on top of the battery. Both connections use #10 gauge wire.
I got the dome lights installed into the front trunk area with them mounted along the the top trunk lip, in addition they are also turned on manually with an installed push-button switch on the drivers side. I connected the lights to the interior dome light circuit for power.
I purchased a couple of 6v lantern batteries, figuring that I could hook them in series to obtain 12v to do some system testing with, but on a number of occasions they just could not put out the amperage required for turn signals or headlights, so I cautiously connected the 12v auto battery. First in order was to put on some battery terminals that I purchased, in addition I needed to pull off some leads for the ground terminal block as well as the system power for the fuse block. I used #10 gauge wires for each of these leads and connected the (+) lead and installed the 50amp maxi fuse between the battery and the fuse block.
The (-) lead I directed to a terminal block so that I could connect other ground leads to it in the trunk area. I also installed another terminal block near the fuse block in the passenger compartment and connected them also with a #10 gauge wire. Since the body is not metal *everything* needs to have ground wires ran to each electrical component. After wiring up the headlight switch I cautiously connected the big battery and started to do some quick preliminary circuit tests, running/parking lights, turn signals, headlights, front trunk dome lights and rear canopy LED lights.
Things checked out pretty well however I did see something unusual with both the turn signal indicators and high beam lights in the instrument cluster on all the time and will need to check this out further. Pretty good initial testing, it is better to be a bit cautious to keep future problems to a minimum.
I remembered that I did not run a ground wire to the instrument cluster, so I put another terminal block just above the fuse block on the underside of the dash - and out of the way of feet. I ran a #10 gauge wire from the front trunk ground terminal block to connect to this block and will be running all dash/interior ground wires to it.
Once I ran the ground wire all the turn signals and high beam indicators worked properly. Tested all tail lights, turn signals along with headlight and high-beam operation and all tested out ok. I had to run a ground wire from the steering column as well as the horn button on the wheel uses this to power the horn relay. The horn is installed way up inside the front drivers wheel well and should be pretty protected from throw-off from the tire. Tested it and it works properly.
I decided to relocate the ignition control module as I'm pretty sure that the radiator mount would conflict with where it currently was. I made up a simple mount for it out of some sheet metal bent to the shape of the module, I then welded on the ends of a circular hose clamp to pull the open ends together to clamp the module. Got it installed and it works great, nice and simple!
I connected up the electrical relay for the fan assembly and got it all wired up. The relay uses a 20amp fuse and connects directly to the positive terminal, this way if I turn off the vehicle the fans will continue to operate and cool down the radiator.
While doing some other checking out of the electrical system I noticed that the starter relay did not seem to want to kick in, further investigation I discovered that the frame wanted to be grounded so I connected a short wire from the frame to the terminals and it worked just fine. More testing and I found that I reversed the rear running lights and stop lights, a simple pin switch in the connectors took care of that.
I located and wired up the rear license frame I am using some screws on the lower 2 holes to attach the frame for now, the upper 2 holes will be used to retain the license plate if that turns out to be insufficient then bolts will be used all the way through all 4 holes. Here is a picture of the frame and inside wiring:
Crawled into the passenger compartment and routed and connected up all of the necessary wiring laying on my back - not a pleasant position but unfortunately necessary! Got all of the wires connected, bundled and used some wire ties to retain it. Another quick system check and all worked well - so I put in a CD and played some music.
Believe me inside the dash area is a LOT of wiring and it is important to leave some extra length in case I reposition controls later on! I wish that I had been a bit more careful in routing the wires in an orderly manner from the fuse box into the dash area I ended up with a bit of a 'monkey fist' and it is a bit unsightly but also pretty well hidden...
Put a 2-prong connector onto the radiator fan wires and routing them from the electrical box. I cut the wires on the radiator a little shorter than I would have liked to so be careful not to repeat but they are still workable.
Consider this a lesson learned and leave extra length on wires, they can always be cut again...
I got the radiator mounted into position as well as finishing up the electrical connections to it. Note routed wires across top of radiator and used a couple of wire ties to hold in place:
I have been researching replacement of the front turn/running light sockets that I have. I got the turn signal housings out of a late model Dodge Colt wagon (approx 1984ish) and recently found out that one of the sockets was too corroded to work properly. I will modify the dousings and replace the bad sockets with these new ones.
I found some sockets that are made by Motormite and below shows two variations. I found a good article on the internet that lead me to these parts called 1157 Turn Signal Mod and it is worthwhile reading.
Here is pictures of the Motormite parts:#85860 |
#84809 |
 |
 |
First thing was to cut off the old socket from the back of the assemblies, quick work on the bandsaw. Next thing was to drill a 1" hole through the back for the socket to get inserted into, and finally a couple of small slots for the tangs on the socket and done!
Left is a picture of the unaltered turn signal assembly, next the 1" hole put in, I used my pocket knife to cut the slots out for the tangs:
Here is the finished assembly with the socket put in, and also a shot showing the inside:
I ended up changing my mind on which turn signal sockets that I will be using, I went back to the #85860 ones as they recessed the bulb a little deeper inside the turn signal assembly. They also fit into the existing 1" hole that I previously drilled into the back side. Once inserted I bent all of the prongs back a bit to ensure that they stay put. I installed some 3-prong plugs and sockets on the wiring, and got them both put in as well, here are pictures:
Electrical - Done
If you find this site useful and would like to support it, you can do so simply by clicking the button below and donating whatever you like.
To donate you can either use your PayPal account or a credit card (using secure authorization). Donations can be for as little as $1.00
| © 2005 Briery Mountain Enterprises, Creative Commons "Some Rights Reserved" |  |
Except where otherwise noted, this site is licensed under a Creative Commons License |