Today I decided it was time to get the wiring sorted out on the Cougar. The goal was to install the Delphi distribution blocks and run 5, 10 gauge leads under the dash. So having recently moved, I had to go through some boxes to find my wire, but I managed to dig up the 10 gauge primary wire that I bought from Waytek. I figured out how long each lead needed to be and I cut five pieces...

http://www.pro-touring.com/~andrewb/cougar/717.jpg

The up side to working in the hot Alabama sun is that the wire gets nice and soft and easy to work with. Drink lots of water kids, when working outside in 95 degree heat!

I made sure to make the wires long enough that I could reach all the way to the other side of the dash so that if I need to add anything in the future, there will be enough length. I also added some electrical tape to keep the wires together.

http://www.pro-touring.com/~andrewb/cougar/718.jpg

The wires were fed through an existing grommet in the firewall, on the driver's side by the master cylinder. In order to protect the wires and hold them together, I used some fabric style heat shrink for the portion that passes through the grommet and into the engine bay.

http://www.pro-touring.com/~andrewb/cougar/719.jpg

I wish I had more of that stuff, but I only had a small piece that was left over from my previous wiring jobs. I did however have some other loom that I used for the rest of the run along the firewall. This is woven polyester split loom that is easy to work with and looks a million times better than the split corrugated loom that you get at the local parts store.

http://www.pro-touring.com/~andrewb/cougar/720.jpg

I ran the loom along the firewall, around the shock tower, and to the power distribution block.

http://www.pro-touring.com/~andrewb/cougar/721.jpg

To terminate the wires, I used Metri-Pack 800 terminals and a crimping tool from Waytek PN 560 with dies PN 567. Here is a video I made of the process (sorry about the wind noise...):



The block on the right is the one with the bus bar, while the block on the left is there to hold spare fuses. I can always replace it with another block that also has a bus bar if I need more leads inside the engine back.

http://www.pro-touring.com/~andrewb/cougar/722.jpg

Here is the finished product.

http://www.pro-touring.com/~andrewb/cougar/723.jpg

You can see the cable at the bottom of the box which attaches to the battery. I wish I would have done this when I first built the car, but lesson learned!

Andrew

Looks great! I use heat shrink on the ends of that split loom. It gives it a nice finished look.

Thanks! I thought about doing that, but I wanted to just tape it, just in case I need to fiddle with it some more.

Andrew

Nice work, Andrew!

Love this thread. Andrew, what did you tie the new under dash wires into? Perhaps a AAW or similar new setup with accessories?

Scott,

The factory fuse panel and glass fuses are still intact on my Cougar. The factory fuse block and harness runs just the lighting systems and basically nothing else. The headlights have been upgraded to use relays with power directly from the battery, so there really isn't much load going through the original fuse block or headlight switch.

Originally I ran a single 10 gauge wire from the battery. This lead used to run through the crappy inline fuse and was energized through a 75 amp relay by an ignition switch lead that was hot in the RUN and CRANK position (basically the old coil lead). This relay, in turn powered my fuel pump (triggered by a lead from my Holley EFI system) and also powered the Holley digital dash. All this worked great until I installed the little stereo amps, which also got power from the 75 amp relay. This is what lead to the failure of the inline MaxiFuse holder as I have shown previously.

The way it works now is that the original feed that went to the relay is strictly there for the stereo. One of the five new leads goes to the 75 amp relay and still powers the fuel pump and the Holley digital dash. The other 4 leads there there strictly for future use and are not currently being used.

Andrew

I have some of these for sale...

http://www.pro-touring.com/threads/1...ibution-blocks

Andrew

I think we should make a list of OEM fuse block part numbers for those that are DIY and want the OEM look.

All the parts I'm using are in the Delphi catalog and it contains all the part numbers. Download it and have at it.

Andrew

I have had a tough time finding the master catalog. Delphi new website seems to just have brochures on their systems.
master catalog I found here
https://www.reynoldsonline.com/ASSET...4580L_Broc.pdf

Both mouser electronics and reynolds sell these parts.