I figured since I wasn't going to the Chicago car show, and I am off till next Wed... I would get the new center console in and wired... CORRECTLY this time! So here is progress pictures....
I have already taken the old console out... pulled back the carpet, since this one is going to be wired differently... and this is what I found.... I don't remember all these wires from the first time! All of the wires wer tucked into the radio cable conduent, (The black square plastic peice running along the rocker panel) This is in all Ford police cars to run wires in...
MOST of these will be gone, but I have to figure out what I need to keep!
Only wires from the new console will be the two power wires, two for the Horn / siren switch, the back light power from the dash lights circuit, Two speaker wires going out to the grille area for the siren, and one wire going to the headlight flasher.
The new "Troy Products" console, all wired and ready to go in the car....
I bought this on e-bay, sandblasted it, primed it, then shot it with bedliner spray.
gives it a powder coat finish, without the cost... and is pretty tuff stuff... I sprayed my laptop stand with it about 5 years ago... still looks new. I also had to get one of the mounts sort of cut out to fit my radio.. $20.00 at the welding shop... cheaper than what Troy wanted for the radio mount... $60.00!
Cup holders I installed on the front of the console... since my car has no cupholders... one is folded up...
The two fuse blocks inside the console. This flips down for access to the fuses... That is actually two fuse blocks, the right side is "hot" all the time, the one on the left is "switched" to come on with the key... Both sides are supplied with a 6 gauge wire, direct from the battery. The "switched" one comes from the starter relay, so it is only on with the key. Both circuits will go thru two 80 amp resetable circuit breakers. (One for each circuit)
The second 6 gauge wire you see on the right side is going to the redlights switch panel... wanted to make sure I had plenty of juice for the lightbar... I just used that terminal for the connection... it does not go thru the fuse panel...
I had to make a removable mount for my armrest, so the armrest will fit over the bolts under the flip down, and then secure with lock washers and wingnuts, so if I blow a fuse, I don't need tools to get to the fuses.
The six gauge supply wire.. I got a roll of 50 feet of this stuff when "Boaters World" went out of business... It is marine grade, with a silicone outside jacket to protect it from moisture... altho it is a bitch to strip the insulation when making connections! I also used marine grade heat shrink for all connections... (Also from Boaters World) including the connections inside the console. The marine grade has a glue coating inside that melts when you heat it... and seals the connection completely.
The large plugs, (laying on top of the console "feet" red, black, and one you can't see in the picture, grey) are going to the lightbar... There is three matching plugs on the lightbar cable... and they only will plug into the same color plug, so they are "indexed" to only fit a certain way.
For once, ALL of the lightbar circuits will work when the lightbar is on the car.... Takedowns, alleys, rear flash, and the rotators... Before I only had the back flashers and the rotators hooked up for shows. This wire will be routed to under the drivers seat, then hooked up for shows... by running the lightbar cable in by the back door, and plugging it in to these plugs...
More to come....
I have already taken the old console out... pulled back the carpet, since this one is going to be wired differently... and this is what I found.... I don't remember all these wires from the first time! All of the wires wer tucked into the radio cable conduent, (The black square plastic peice running along the rocker panel) This is in all Ford police cars to run wires in...
MOST of these will be gone, but I have to figure out what I need to keep!
Only wires from the new console will be the two power wires, two for the Horn / siren switch, the back light power from the dash lights circuit, Two speaker wires going out to the grille area for the siren, and one wire going to the headlight flasher.
The new "Troy Products" console, all wired and ready to go in the car....
I bought this on e-bay, sandblasted it, primed it, then shot it with bedliner spray.
gives it a powder coat finish, without the cost... and is pretty tuff stuff... I sprayed my laptop stand with it about 5 years ago... still looks new. I also had to get one of the mounts sort of cut out to fit my radio.. $20.00 at the welding shop... cheaper than what Troy wanted for the radio mount... $60.00!
Cup holders I installed on the front of the console... since my car has no cupholders... one is folded up...
The two fuse blocks inside the console. This flips down for access to the fuses... That is actually two fuse blocks, the right side is "hot" all the time, the one on the left is "switched" to come on with the key... Both sides are supplied with a 6 gauge wire, direct from the battery. The "switched" one comes from the starter relay, so it is only on with the key. Both circuits will go thru two 80 amp resetable circuit breakers. (One for each circuit)
The second 6 gauge wire you see on the right side is going to the redlights switch panel... wanted to make sure I had plenty of juice for the lightbar... I just used that terminal for the connection... it does not go thru the fuse panel...
I had to make a removable mount for my armrest, so the armrest will fit over the bolts under the flip down, and then secure with lock washers and wingnuts, so if I blow a fuse, I don't need tools to get to the fuses.
The six gauge supply wire.. I got a roll of 50 feet of this stuff when "Boaters World" went out of business... It is marine grade, with a silicone outside jacket to protect it from moisture... altho it is a bitch to strip the insulation when making connections! I also used marine grade heat shrink for all connections... (Also from Boaters World) including the connections inside the console. The marine grade has a glue coating inside that melts when you heat it... and seals the connection completely.
The large plugs, (laying on top of the console "feet" red, black, and one you can't see in the picture, grey) are going to the lightbar... There is three matching plugs on the lightbar cable... and they only will plug into the same color plug, so they are "indexed" to only fit a certain way.
For once, ALL of the lightbar circuits will work when the lightbar is on the car.... Takedowns, alleys, rear flash, and the rotators... Before I only had the back flashers and the rotators hooked up for shows. This wire will be routed to under the drivers seat, then hooked up for shows... by running the lightbar cable in by the back door, and plugging it in to these plugs...
More to come....
Comment