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I had created a simple particle board, covered in cheap fuzzy “carpet” as an amp rack.  As lame as that was the real issue was the way I mounted it was a simple piece of sheet metal, bent into a wide L bracket, screwed into the back of the board and riveted to the trunk.  Super lame.  It flexed badly and I was sure it would eventually just tear the bracket.  So, I fabbed a proper mount from some flat bar stock.  this is MUCH better, really solid and you can’t even see it.  looks like the amp is just floating.  now, my welds aren’t the prettiest but no one will ever now.  done and done…

so I put together a little video blog entry on the dash/gauge cluster I modified for the Javelin.  I’m planning to do a few track days this year and bought a GoPro HD camera to do some in-car video with.  I also got a new point and shoot camera that does HD video so I thought I’d start getting familiar with using it and doing a little video editing.  I was also inspired by Kevin, Kelle and the rest of the crew at V8TVshow.com.  I enjoy watching their project update videos and thought I’d try to make a few of my own.  hopefully it’s not too painful to watch…

doh… ok that was lame.  for some reason when I was wiring up the dash I only put power to the speedo and tach?!  once I realized my mistake it was a simple matter of  getting the rest of the gauges switched 12v.  now the oil pressure and gas gauges work.  I’m sure the temp gauge will work too but I haven’t run the car long enough for the temp to come up.

been working on tying up some loose ends so I can start driving the car again. I actually started it today and let it run for a few minutes. the brakes need to be bled and the tires aired up but other than that it should be driveable. as for the loose ends, I got the door jamb switches installed and wired up the dome light and the rest of the headlight switch. everything works with the head lights and courtesy circuit now including the cool turn signal button to toggle the hi-lo beams. however, the fuel gauge and oil pressure gauge aren’t working. I’ll need to figure out what the problem is… here’s a pic of the gauges lit up. looks good. other random items are I painted the bottom dash piece black and installed the trunk popper switch. more to come…

picked up some molex connectors at my local electronics store. haven’t used them before but they looked like they’d be perfect for the main dash connector. I used a 12 connector for all the gauges and indicator lights. the headlight switch and wiper switch has they’re own separate connectors. the molex connect was really easy to wire up. just crimp the ends on all your wires and the “click” right into the plastic connector housing. get some!

ok, I made some more progress with my re-wire project this past weekend. as I posted previously, the battery is going in the trunk. the battery tray is being secured with a 3/8″ bolt in each corner. next up was where to route the pos battery cable; inside the car or under the car? I decided on a hybrid. I’m running the pos cable through the trunk and behind the rear seat. then I drilled a hole to feed it under the car. neg cable goes through a hole I drilled right next to the battery tray and will bolt to the frame rail. I also decided to move the MSD box to the spot vacated by the battery. I have had the box mounted vertically on the drivers side for a number of years but was never really happy with where it was. got all the holes drilled for the rubber isolation mounts. I know I’m crazy but I actually like wiring…

fishtape is cool… if you don’t know what it is, it’s a tool that helps you run wires through conduit or walls, etc. I used it to run the trunk wires through the rocker just like the stock harness does. I had already pulled the old harness out. If I had thought about it I could have used the old harness as a fishtape. but I didn’t. So, I ran the fishtape from the back of the rocker to the front of the car. luckily I was able to reach into the front rocker hole and grab the fishtape with my fingers. then it was just a matter of taping the wire harness that I had already wrapped onto the fishtape and then pulling the tape back out. ta da…

continuing progress on the re-wire project…. before I finish routing all the wires and terminating all the ends I needed to make sure I know exactly what all the wires I’ll need are. part of that equation was figuring out the audio system. I’m going to run an amp (which I’ve never done before). no sub woofer though. so I ordered a Boss amp and head unit online and it arrived yesterday. The head unit is a “digital media receiver” which means there is no CD deck. it takes a USB input, an SD card or an ipod. I’m going to get an 8gig SD card and put a bunch of music on that. I spent today figuring out where and how to mount the amp and building a panel to mount the amp to. I also made the decision to relocate the battery in the trunk. I have wanted to do this for a while (for weight distribution) but decided not to when I shifted gears to trying to get the car running in time for the AMC show in Pomona at the end of the month. But, with the decision to run a power amp I’m going to need to run a heavy gauge power wire to the trunk anyway. So, I’m putting the batter in the trunk and that will make the amp power wiring short and clean. I’ll still have to run the battery + cable back up to the engine bay, but that’s alright. anyway, here are pics of the audio gear and the panel. I covered the amp panel is some fuzzy “carpet” substitute you can buy at your local auto parts store. it’s the same stuff I used to cover my package shelf years ago. Oh, I also finished dynamating the firewall today.

I’ve mentioned before that I’ve deleted the old-school foot dimmer switch. I thought for a while that I was just going to use a rocker switch mounted somewhere on the lower dash. I asked around for options on the lateral-g and pro-touring forums and that led me to this piece from Watson’s Streetworks. It’s a turn signal lever with a switch built into the end of it. It’s a bit pricey but it solves a problem and looks good. Got it installed today but it’s not wired up yet. It comes with a relay. I hate to admit that I spent a WHILE thinking about how all the wiring should work (because I had previously rewired my headlights with two relays at the front of the car). I finally realized that the dimmer relay simply replaces the dimmer switch and the turn signal lever switch is the trigger for the relay. So I think I’ve got it figured out.

Other odds and ends today… got the Autometer oil pressure sending unit installed and ordered a receiver and amp from amazon. I’ll post the details of the audio gear seperately.

ok, I’m getting deep into the re-wiring. I’m using a GEM Streetrods universal 18 circuit kit. I’m fairly comfortable with electronics/wiring but ripping out EVERY stock wire and starting from absolute ground zero is definitely a bit of a challenge. I’d say 75% of it’s a no brainer but there are a few head scratchers…

anyway, I’m doing pretty good using process of elimination and the TSM wiring diagrams. I got the steering column wiring sorted out and the ignition switch connectors were pre-terminated with the correct plugs and went right in. The engine bay and trunk wiring is very straitforward but the dash wiring is a little trickier… especially due to things like changing the floor dimmer switch out for a turn signal mounted switch/relay combo (and the power door locks and trunk popper I installed a few years ago). I’ll post about the turn signal dimmer when I install it.

one annoying thing on the trunk wiring is that I can’t find the 1156 bulb SOCKETS I need. The ones I have do work but they are really old and oxidized… I found the 1157 sockets I need at Kragen, but not the 1156. I think American Parts Depot has them so I have to put in another order.

what else… I need to order a radio. I’m going with a “digital media receiver”; meaning no cd player. I’m going to get one that takes an SD card. I think I’m going to order a Boss model 765 DBI. I also want to order an amp but I’ve never used an amp before and am not sure what I need. of course the radio is not going in the stock dash location and I’m not sure WHERE I’m going to mount it. restoring is a lot easier than customizing… more to come.