I can count the number of holes I've drilled into this shell on one hand, actually, one finger. This is something that had a rocky start that ended quite nicely, but being the one and only hole that had to be simply enlarged, and actually none that had to be made from scratch, I feel pretty good about it.
In the 28o z installation, I ran the main wire looms from the passenger to drivers side inside the engine bay to go through a hole in the firewall to the ecu near the drivers left foot. The hole was barely big enough to fit the relays and various ecu plugs through, but it worked. The engine was also further forward so there was slightly more room behind the engine to run the wires, but this was not ideal. the wires still came pretty close to the downpipe and exhaust manifold, not to mention warm parts of the block and head themselves. I put an un-mounted heatshield, really just a thin bent piece of aluminum, between the downpipe and the wires.
In the 24o the plan was to run the wires properly, directly into the car from the source, avoiding unwanted risks and shotty protection.
The holes on the passenger side of the 24o were not big enough, and I didn't want to just go drilling holes. Back to not wanting to modify the body at all costs, I decided the lesser of two evils, to enlarge the closest, or most hidden hole. There was another hole below the battery tray that I was considering, but I did not think that there was enough room to enlarge it as big as I needed, and it would require more routing in the engine bay, as well as a less than ideal entry location into the passenger cabin. The wires would have come in RIGHT in front of the passenger, in the middle of the firewall with no easy way to conceal them.
The main looms came to a head at the lower part of the intake plenum, so I used the lower of the two closest holes, which just happens to enter the passenger cabin just above the passenger side of the transmission tunnel instead of the middle of no-man's land. The loom routes under the fuel line which lined up with the lower hole better, as well as being more out of the way on both sides of the firewall. It will be relatively easy to run the wires along the edge of the transmission tunnel to where they need to go.
Since I was using a hole saw to enlarge an existing hole there was no metal to start a pilot drill, which made drilling extremely difficult. I tried to use a piece of wood to center the drill and only succeeded in getting saw dust all over the inside of the car. Before catching several times, the hole saw did manage to mark the surface though, so I used this and several cutters on my dremel in order to open up the hole to the desired size.
If I was going to drill a hole larger, it was going to be large enough to easily install all the clips, wires, plugs, and relays. The previously used hole in the 28o was probably in the 1.75o" range. This hole is 2.5oo". I was looking for grommets in the parts store but could not find anything suitable, but upon my return home as it turns out, the OEM rb25 grommet that's already attached to the wiring harness worked perfectly, at exactly 2.5oo". Great minds think alike.
In the 28o z installation, I ran the main wire looms from the passenger to drivers side inside the engine bay to go through a hole in the firewall to the ecu near the drivers left foot. The hole was barely big enough to fit the relays and various ecu plugs through, but it worked. The engine was also further forward so there was slightly more room behind the engine to run the wires, but this was not ideal. the wires still came pretty close to the downpipe and exhaust manifold, not to mention warm parts of the block and head themselves. I put an un-mounted heatshield, really just a thin bent piece of aluminum, between the downpipe and the wires.
In the 24o the plan was to run the wires properly, directly into the car from the source, avoiding unwanted risks and shotty protection.
The holes on the passenger side of the 24o were not big enough, and I didn't want to just go drilling holes. Back to not wanting to modify the body at all costs, I decided the lesser of two evils, to enlarge the closest, or most hidden hole. There was another hole below the battery tray that I was considering, but I did not think that there was enough room to enlarge it as big as I needed, and it would require more routing in the engine bay, as well as a less than ideal entry location into the passenger cabin. The wires would have come in RIGHT in front of the passenger, in the middle of the firewall with no easy way to conceal them.
The main looms came to a head at the lower part of the intake plenum, so I used the lower of the two closest holes, which just happens to enter the passenger cabin just above the passenger side of the transmission tunnel instead of the middle of no-man's land. The loom routes under the fuel line which lined up with the lower hole better, as well as being more out of the way on both sides of the firewall. It will be relatively easy to run the wires along the edge of the transmission tunnel to where they need to go.
Since I was using a hole saw to enlarge an existing hole there was no metal to start a pilot drill, which made drilling extremely difficult. I tried to use a piece of wood to center the drill and only succeeded in getting saw dust all over the inside of the car. Before catching several times, the hole saw did manage to mark the surface though, so I used this and several cutters on my dremel in order to open up the hole to the desired size.
If I was going to drill a hole larger, it was going to be large enough to easily install all the clips, wires, plugs, and relays. The previously used hole in the 28o was probably in the 1.75o" range. This hole is 2.5oo". I was looking for grommets in the parts store but could not find anything suitable, but upon my return home as it turns out, the OEM rb25 grommet that's already attached to the wiring harness worked perfectly, at exactly 2.5oo". Great minds think alike.
No comments:
Post a Comment