Cleaning up engine bay wiring/hoses

Here's a shot of my AC hoses exiting the engine bay. Once through the opening, I ran them up and above the structural channel securing with adel clamps and ran them foward to the drier that I relocated.

That same channel ends at the passenger side tail light housing, and that's where I cut an opening to route the wiring behind the tail lights. I ran the wiring forward through that channel and exited at an opening that already exists. took a while to get the wires through. Make sense?

Ron

Hoses entering wheel well and clamped to channel.

No holes are necessary for the wiring harness. Run the harness on the wheel well side. I used some thick heat shrink to protect it. The rest feeds behind/around the tail light housings. Really quite easy to do.

I did a lot of metal work to clean up the engine bay:

http://www.rc-tech.net/pantera1/paint2/paint.htm

http://www.rc-tech.net/pantera1/index.htm

Thanks for the help so far. Just finished pulling the harness and unhooking the A/C stuff. I can not believe the amount of dirt that came out of the wiring harnesses rubber cover for the rear marker lights.

I see that I'll need to cut a hole for the A/C hoses at the back of the car where they will come back into the engine bay. But how about at the front of the engine bay near the coolant tanks? Do I need to cut holes for the A/C hoses to enter wheel well side in this area?

Okay, just pulled the passenger rear wheel and inner fender well. I see now where I can run the wiring harness and A/C hoses right into the wheel well on top of the frame without having to cut a hole. I set one of the A/C hoses on the rail to see how it fits and it looks like I'll have to trim the inner wheel well liner where the hoses and wiring harness run past it.

Hey Comp2 no fair! Using yours as an example is like comparing a 1st graders finger painting to a Rembrandt.

quote:

looks like I'll have to trim the inner wheel well liner where the hoses and wiring harness run past it.

If you mean the splash shield, you are correct, it will need some trimming.

Larry

quote:

Originally posted by Husker:
Hey Comp2 no fair! Using yours as an example is like comparing a 1st graders finger painting to a Rembrandt.

There is an advantage when you can tear it completely down.

Quella secured the lines like this on 2511.

Larry

quote:

Originally posted by comp2:

quote:

Originally posted by Husker:
Hey Comp2 no fair! Using yours as an example is like comparing a 1st graders finger painting to a Rembrandt.

There is an advantage when you can tear it completely down.

True enough.

And you can tidy up the engine bay by locating the drier here.

This photo also show where the wiring enters the rear tail light section.

Larry

Thanks for the shot of the splash shield. That is exactly what I was thinking needed to be done to it. Sorry if my terminology is slightly off but I'll eventually get there.

I am heading down see what else I can get done on the car today. Thanks for everyone's advice.

By the way, I think my finger painting is a least as good as a second graders.

I rerouted my air con stuff to the front of the car.
That way i had no hoses out the back.
that plus hid the wires makes for an ultra clean / empty look.
don't know if you can see it here or not.

Thanks, they are actually 570 avengers.
i went them so it had driveability yet still looked very bulky.
I figured if i was going to do it, do it big !
the people behind the car can see the linkages all working and all.

Thanks for all the help so far. My mess keeps getting bigger, but it will be worth it in the end.

I am smoothing out some of the dents and spot welds in my engine compartment with my wiring reroute and A/C line reroute.

I was wonder what most owners do with the seam on the fender well (pictured below). Do most people weld the seam from top to bottom and then blend it in or do they just leave it?

Any suggestions are much appreciated. Thanks.

I cut off all the brackets that held the wiring and electrical. This should really help clean up the engine bay. I also have started to sand down the inner fenders of engine compartment.

I can’t believe how many spot welds were used to put these cars together. It is going to take some time to smooth these out.

I am going to hopefully finish running the reroute on the wires and relocating the A/C lines this weekend.

quote:

Originally posted by Garvino:
Thanks for all the help so far. My mess keeps getting bigger, but it will be worth it in the end.

I am smoothing out some of the dents and spot welds in my engine compartment with my wiring reroute and A/C line reroute.

I was wonder what most owners do with the seam on the fender well (pictured below). Do most people weld the seam from top to bottom and then blend it in or do they just leave it?

Any suggestions are much appreciated. Thanks.

I think most people leave that seam as-is. It is hard to smooth it out over such a short distance and not have it look odd. It's also a great transition line if you are doing a glossy or body-color engine bay, leaving that point forward as satin or matte.

Mark

Garvino, if you do seam-weld that area, you'll find that the rear end of your car is now consideably stiffer than it was before. That panel overlap continues clear into the weatherstrip channel (covered with 'factory' bondo), and I believe the whole panel is a major contributor to the "standard" paint cracking we usually get only inches away near the gills. The welding will be cheaper and lighter than adding a complete rear-chassis stiffener kit and quite possibly as effective. A good welder can do the job neatly; don't pay much attention to making the engine bay look like it is seamless extruded plastic. As a motorhead, I find well-done welds to be attractive, pointing out that these are real-steel machines.

I welded mine and ground it down. I seriously doubt it will change stiffness. There is too much overlap and welding done anyway.

If there was much flex it would be a filler problem for those who just fill it with filler; that I don't see. Not in that spot.

I don’t know if I am just really slow at doing body work or if there was just a ton of work to do in my engine compartment. I cannot believe how many spot welds I had to take care of. I bet I have almost 50 hours in cleaning up and smoothing out my engine compartment.

Here is a picture from last night after I put the last coat of paint on. It probably looks better in the photo than in person. I have a few areas with some dust in them, but they can be fixed with a little wet sanding and buffing. I’ll have to see if I have enough energy to do that or if I’ll just let it be.

Thanks for everyone’s help with this portion of my project. I still have to finish up the reroute of my wiring. I have also decided to move my A/C condenser up front so I still have a lot of work ahead of me.

Thanks again.

Looks great! Worth the effort!
Will

Very nice, I will be doing the same shortly

Looks great! If you only took 50 hours that supports my belief that removing the engine really speeds up the process overall. Next time I'll do it your way instead!

Mark