hooking up gauges and electronics

[Diederick/DVK]

i am in need of some good advice on how to connect my electronic upgrades. as opposed to a stock configuration, i will be adding:
- holley fuel pump
- joe hunt magneto tach signal converter
- 911S tachometer
- 914 speedometer
- VDO cockpit gauges; fuel, volt, oil pressure, oil temperature

there will most likely also be at least a kill switch for the mag and possible a switch for the fuel pump IF i can find some nice ones (see my wanted ad  )

the mag converter needs a a few connections which i understand, but e.g. there is NO + on a magneto... perhaps this is too specific.

BUT, there will be a hell of a lot new wires to a "switched 12v", in other words the ignition (key)
AND a lot of new wires that need "Ground" as well as, lighting for the gauges...

are there any tricks to perhaps loop wires gauge per gauge for light or ground, perhaps?
and do i need an extra fuse box with all of this new stuff?

please let me know as it's still gonna be a major operation to get everything to operate.

[BeetleBug]

Use a relè and keep all the non original stuff on their own circuit. This way you have only one ignition triggered wire from the original fuse box which job is only to trigger the relè. Kill switch is nice..killing either the new circuit or the whole car.

[Diederick/DVK]

thanks for the quick reply kalle!
i seriously need someone with "Paint" skills to draw a diagram, because i don't understand much from electronics.

and where should the relais go? at the pump or something else?

[BeetleBug]

thanks for the quick reply kalle!
i seriously need someone with "Paint" skills to draw a diagram, because i don't understand much from electronics.

and where should the relais go? at the pump or something else?

You have several types of relè`s. Normally open, normally shut etc... They all need a plus wire from your battery (size according to max amp used) a good earth and one trigger wire. You can then hook your "extra" stuff + wires to the relè and ground them locally. So when you turn the key you also switch on the relè  = power to all your extra stuff.

Kill switch - Why not kill earth? Heavy earth wire from your battery to your kill switch and then back to the original earth connection behind your battery. In case of a accident you then kill your whole car... or in case you have you car parked and you`re not so sure about the surrounding.. you take the kill key with you and the car will be impossible to start without earth.

It is easy.

[Diederick/DVK]

thanks for explanations. but seriously, i need a drawing haha. i'm an idiot when it comes to electrics. 
do you mean a real second key? or one of those plastic red ones?

edit: how about hooking up an "8 gang ATC" fuse block like this:



i was probably also gonna use a fuse box like that in the engine bay, but only to make it all look neat.

[BeetleBug]

thanks for explanations. but seriously, i need a drawing haha. i'm an idiot when it comes to electrics. 
do you mean a real second key? or one of those plastic red ones?

It does not need to be a plastic, red one. I`m sure you can find some nostalgia stuff on ebay. Regarding drawing, a lot of guys here are a whole lot better than me. Take a look at the relè, they all have a wire schedule on them. 86/86/87/30 etc etc.. looks strange but easy to understand as soon as you understand how a relè work.

[Lanny Hussey]

For #15 (key on power), I use a Cole Hersee common input fuse panel with a relay on the supply. Turn the ignition key, the relay flips power to the common input and you have safe #15 power for 6 components. http://smartcat.colehersee.com/htm/hold.htm?vid=0,0,0,0 (the panel in the center image,  part#463776). You can also use a relay for the magneto kill. When you switch off the ignition key, the relay flips ground to the mag, shutting down the engine. Check this relay chart.http://www.installdr.com/TechDocs/999404.pdf   For a master kill, Hella makes a nice battery cut off switch that I usually mount under the rear seat cross bar. To call this mod handy is an understatement, especially when the car is being built.

[Zach Gomulka]

I avoid auto electrics like the plauge. Never had much luck in that department.
Lets see that tach of yours. Did you convert it to 4cyl yet?

[Diederick/DVK]

thanks for the elaborate reply lanny! i really gotta look into this, and i will be calling out for help at a later stage.
i had a quick look at the electrics of the ex-clyde berg race car and that made me decide to, like you said, install an extra (seperate) fuse block.



zach, i didn't convert it yet. i did enquire about this somewhere and i was told it will need a new internal circuitry plate (i hope you get what i mean), costing me 125 euro. pretty weird. but i was told to test it first, and my brother did this for me but he didn't get it to work yet.

he got the + from the rear lights, ground elsewhere and signal from the coil. he tested everything with multimeter and like his own tachometer this one didn't work either...

[tikimadness]

You cannot use the + from the rear lights as that one only gets live whem the lights are on

Michael

[CHR!S/DVK]

lights were on, of course 
every voltage has been measured with the multimeter.

[Shubee2 (DSK)]

Send your Car Over Diederick I will Wire it for you I like doing Wireing

[Diederick/DVK]

that look clean, dude!
could you help me out with some diagrams perhaps?

[Shubee2 (DSK)]

that look clean, dude!
could you help me out with some diagrams perhaps?

Sure let me know when you are ready I will need some pictures of the Back Of the Gauges When installed where you want them in the Grills So I can Show you the Cleanest way to Route the Wires and Connections

[Diederick/DVK]

thanks very much, just beware that it is a MESS right now.