The Brew City Cobra - 427W / IRS - Windshield, Gas Vent, and Exhaust

[BrewCityCobra]

The push for the engine install is on! The next milestone is set – do whatever is needed to get the engine in and running, basically get the electrical locked down and get the dashboard mocked up. With that said, my most recent projects included building a pair of electrical “modules” to control the brake light and head light operation.

BRAKE MODULE

The first module is an insert to accommodate the brake-light device provided by FFR to accommodate the transition to square taillights. I know a few people placed this device in the rear of the car, but I decided it would be best to install the device behind the dash as a removable part of the main harness for a few reasons. 1 – it can be completely removed from the car and rebuilt should something fail, and 2 – I can now utilize the un-used wires in the rear harness (e.g., the purple brake lights wire) for other purposes.

Generally speaking, the finished brake module is intended to be positioned between the main harness and the rear harness with (as seen in the picture) the left end attached to the main harness and the right end attached to the two connectors of the rear harness. You will also notice a third connector as well (a two-port at the top) that provides a connection point for the two circuits I added to the rear 1 – the trunk charging port and 2 – the trunk courtesy lights. The extra connector will ultimately be wired to the secondary fuse box once I get that installed.

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As you can see, the module is setup so that all the wires influenced by the brake device are directed through the brake device while any wires not influenced by the brake device are just carried through.

HEADLIGHT MODULE

The second module is a panel configured to accommodate the headlight operations and to act as a primary buss for the entire car. I decided early on that I didn’t want to run the pull-style headlight switch but rather wanted to replace the pull switch with three Lucas switches – 1) an “on/running/headlights” switch, 2) a high/low beam switch, and 3) a courtesy light switch. This panel will accommodate the operation of all three.

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Below is a schematic of the entire headlight circuit using relays and toggle switches (a Lucas 35927 and Lucas 34889 to be exact) to replicate the headlight pull switch:

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One of the more difficult aspects of the headlight module was how to mount it. I knew I wanted to keep the firewall clean of any bolts or fasteners so a separately mounted panel was needed. In the end, I decided to mount the panel to the square cross-member using a series of brackets. The brackets, in turn, serve two roles – to support the headlight panel and to act as a mounting location for the under-dash panel. I plan on using hidden fasteners for the dash so it was important that I be able to remove the under-dash panel without needing to remove the dash or body-shell first. I believe this design should accomodate that and be aesthetically pleasing. Time will tell once I get the dash finalized.

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You’ll notice I used two bolts to connect the bracket and the under-dash panel together. That was a small trick to allow me to remove the under-dash panel without having to disassemble the entire assembly. Basically, if I remove the left (driver) bolts, the panel will come off but the rest of the assembly stays connected. If I remove both bolts, the electrical panel can also be removed and maintained if needed.

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With the Headlight module in place, next step is to start wiring it in and running the front harness. More updates to follow.