New 87 GN (Topic merged with "It's On!" post)

[Pyro6]

Mice? ? Charlie??? Mark, your kid's gotta sit back and watch the snail's progress of GN work? That's just brutal I might be in the middle of a brain fart, isn't he in the Air Force?

[SuperSix]

Heehee.. He loves it. If he is smart about it, he's watch and learn. Like I said in another post - I learn something new about these cars every time I work on them, to this day.

Yes - he's in the Air Force - currently at Davis-Monthan AFB outside of Tucson AZ. He said a few guys on base have GN's, that makes it even harder for him. Although - I AM wrenching on the car that will be his, maybe that's his plan?

[Scoobum]

You've had all day to get the brakes done...so what's next?

[SuperSix]

You've had all day to get the brakes done...so what's next?

Meh - just goofed off today - napped..

[SuperSix]

Same jack I've got Mark. One other mice thing about it is you can use it as an adjustable seat and move around on it to do things like the brakes you're going to do. Much better than squatting or resting on your knees.

One bad thing about that jack..

If you are using an impact to raise/lower it (Yeah, I know, it says NOT to use an impact. Whatevs.) be VERY careful lowering it with one if there's a trans on the jack. it will come down in a millisecond (or so it seems). I only used a 1/2 ratchet and wobble extension to lower it after that.

[Charlief1]

Had the same issue when I let it down.   Stripped out the set screw and had to modify the shaft (no I'm not Aaron) to fix it. Used it today to take the tank out of an 07 F-150 and it worked just fine.

[SuperSix]

My positive battery cable sucks - all beat up, red cover is ripped, etc. I looked at some vendor replacements, but I thought since I had relocated the fuse links and installed the + terminal box - I could come up with something better, for much less money.

I measured the old OEM cable, and the battery > starter cable is ~32", the alternator feed wire is ~67". I'm not sure what gauge the OEM cables are.

I spent much too much time cruising Amazon's ACDelco cable replacement selection. I figured out how to roughly decode ACDelco's replacement battery part number system, on MOST of them, the first number is the wire gauge, and the length is in their too.

I ended up with the cable pictured below. The starter ring terminal that came on it was too small to fit on the TR starter, so I pulled the old OEM lug off of the old cable (desoldered, wire cleaned, etc) and put it on the end of the new cable. One issue is the new cable is 2GA, seems the OEM is 4GA? The lug wasn't quite big enough for the 2GA wire, but a LOT of solder, a propane torch, and some heat shrink tubing fixed that.
My alternator feed will be a 4GA or 6GA cable, routed from the + terminal block, around the back of the engine to the alternator.

I also found really cheap ground posts. I bought on, and will use it on the firewall for all of the grounds, including ~2 more home made braided ground straps. One pictured below, I installed that on the 87T though.

$4.84 Bussmann BP/JB3816-2 Junction Block http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001PYN6QK/

Cable


Cable end:


Ground strap:


Here's a repost of the + relocation terminal pics.

[Steve Wood]

Nice Job!

You really don't need groundstraps that are wider than a half inch and I think that is over kill.  A quarter inch to 3/8" should be fine.  Sometimes hard to find the smaller copper ones.

[SuperSix]

I,know the wiring may be overkill - but I love doing custom wiring, building them, etc, and I figure you can't have too many grounds.

[SuperSix]

I will be extending the battery wiring on the Racetronix fan harness too, to use the terminal block for +, and hid the ground wire behind the large ground strap I will be running from the battery to the body. I really dislike having multiple taps on a sidepost batter terminal.

[Charlief1]

I've got a positive cable off a combine I worked on years ago and I think it's 2/0 cable. It's at least 6' long and I'll be adapting it for my positive cable. The stock wiring on most cars is minimal for cost and weight so going with a larger one will usually solve some of the electrical issues that happen over time. You've got some good ideas Mark and I may just be incorporating some of them myself.

[SuperSix]

The cable above was $30.00, I love that it's covered in that heat-resistant wrap. PM me of you want the P/N, I am toying with the idea of making a few custom cable assemblies to sell, at a bit more reasonable pricing.

I also found a source for name brand braided ground straps - but MUCH less than others charge.

[deathraider6996]

TickTock!

[daveismissing]

TickTock!

Need to kick your Dad's ass!
 

[SuperSix]