ELECTRICAL (Last update: 07/30/2005)

OPTIMA 75/25 "Red Top" Battery - 910 cranking amps, 720 cold crank amps.

 

The picture on the right shows the stock position of the battery (the old battery, tray, and angle brace were already removed). In this position the battery hangs over the edge of the coolant reservoir box and obstucts a large portion of open space between the body and the engine. In order to accomodate adding the custom designed CAI, I decided to open up this space by moving the battery. I did not want to move it to the trunk, so instead the extra space was gained by turning the battery 90 degrees and sliding it outward against the radiator coolant resevoir filler tube. Moving the battery to this position required that the battery have slightly smaller dimensions to remain clear of the headlight and hood, and the OPTIMA "Red Top" battery fit the need. A new battery tray (custom fit for the OPTIMA battery) was fabricated from scratch. This was done with using a stainless steel plate with a few simple cuts, bends, and welds. The holes and steel straps on the bottom allow the tray to sit level over the shaped body panel underneath it and recess the bolt heads below the battery. A small sheet of rubber matting was added for protection. This small and fairly easy modification opened up access to a huge amount of space next to the engine (which can be seen in the picture below right).

 

Fabrication time: A couple of hours to design the tray and test fit a cardboard template. And then, the better part a day with all the right tools (hydraulic cutters, benders, and punches... made available courtesy of AWR) to make the new tray. AWR was also kind enough to send the tray out for powder coating with some other parts.

Installation time: 30 minutes, max. First, I had to unclip and move all the wiring for the driver side headlight, marker light, and horn outward of the coolant resevoir filler tube. The tray was drilled so I would be able to use the existing factory 10mm bonnet-head bolts and pre-threaded holes on the body for this modification. I was also able to use the existing length of starter cable to reach the positive terminal, but I had to cut the original ground cable off and extend it to reach the negative terminal in the new position. The picture shows a 15" standard battery cable from AutoZone... that was a quick and satisfactory fix. I've since replaced it with a 25" side terminal cable. I've also replaced the entire starter cable using a 36" side terminal connection, keeping the positive lead for the electronics on the top post.

Magnecor KV-85 Competition Spark Plug Cables - 8.5mm

$156 from Apex Performance. I didn't expect to gain any performance so much as REGAIN what I slowly lost over the 85,000 miles I put on the last pair of stock NGK 7mm wires.

Installation time: 30 minutes. The cables are not marked for matching to each cylinder like the originals, and they are a little odd fitting (some are slightly short, other are slightly long), but a bit of patient adjustment will put them somewhat neatly into place. It may help to purchase a small pack of looms to help hold the wires if you already have any broken ones.

NGK Iridium IXtreme Spark Plugs

$7 each from Sparkplugs.com. Even though they are not "top of the line" platinum plugs, I decided to go with iridiums because (and I quote the salesman) "... they burn better and last longer than platinums." (me) "But they're only half the price?" (salesman) "Uhhh... Yep, I guess they are.".... Go figure. Like the wires above, all I expected was to regain any performance lost as the old plugs slowly fouled.

Installation time: 15 minutes. I could see just a wee little bit of oil blow-by on the #1 and #5 cylinder, but a new head gasket will likely be put in when I get around to any major engine mods in the future.

Ignition

Well, I was gonna hold off on doing the following three ignition mods until I finished a few other things, especially the CAI... but as fate would have it... on one sunny, hot, humid, and generally miserable and oppressive Maryland afternoon in mid-July, my $%&^ing ignitor failed and left me on the side of the highway. But the bright side was that this "moment" just motivated me to focus some more on my wish list of modifications, and adjusted my priorities a bit.

Complete and detailed write-ups (with pictures) and discussion of the following three ignition mods can be found here (add link), here (add link), here (add link), and here (add link).

HEI Module (a.k.a. the "Joe Bialy $20 Ignitor Fix")

I had the option of buying a rebuilt distributor from Mazda for $224.00... but why be that stupid?

The heart of the "$20 Ignitor Fix" is a rather common HEI module (Part #s: GM 10482820, Niehoff DR400, Wells DR100, or GP Sorenson EL102) that, with some simple re-wiring, bypasses the ignitor inside the distributor. I bought the GP Sorenson HEI module from Advanced Auto Parts for $18.00, and everything I needed to install it (wire, connectors, taps, nuts/bolts/washers, sheet metal, etc...) cost about $25.00 more (and left me with plenty of extra parts for wiring other stuff later). The original Joe Bialy wiring diagram is below left, and the HEI wiring harness I made is below right.

 

The HEI was mounted on a piece of sheet metal, and the sheet metal was bolted at a temporary location on the frame just below the battery, using the existing 10mm bolt holes where the stock battery tray support used to be (and where my future CAI filter box will be mounted).

 

Fabrication time: 2-3 hours patiently re-reading the on-line instructions, studying the wiring diagram and cutting, stripping, and crimping the HEI harness connections. 1 hour to size, cut, drill, bend, and smooth down the edges of the sheet metal mounting plate.

Installation time: 30 minutes to mount the HEI (along with the coil... see below) and another 45 minutes or so to route, size, cut, crimp, and shroud the wires going from the HEI harness to the distributor housing. About 1 hour to cut the required wires (see the instructions!) on the 3 and 6 pin connectors on top of the distributor, crimp, and connect the wires from the HEI.

The blue tape on top of the distributor casing is covering a hole where the 3 pin connector used to be. The connector (as well as the internal coil) is no longer needed as a result of these ignition mods. The hole will be filled with RTV sealant.

MSD Blaster 2 External Coil

In addition to the HEI module, I decided to add an MSD Blaster 2 External Coil... $70.00 including the high voltage lead and coil mounting bracket... from E. L. D. Performance in Crofton, Maryland. In bypassing the internal coil, I also had to insert a 1/2 watt, 1000 ohm resistor in the tachometer output line. I bought a 5 pack from Radio Shack with a 5% tolerance (brown-black-red-gold striping). Rather than attempt to solder this resistor into the line, I used a bayonet style in-line fuse folder and inserted the resistor leads (folded and twisted) into the bayonet slots.

 

 

Yes, I could have saved myself about $40.00 had I thoroughly searched online for cheaper prices.... but I didn't have the luxury of shipping time. I needed my car running.

Note that there are several different ways to "physically" wire the HEI and coil harness that are "electrically" identical to the diagram above. The best approach depends on where you place these parts in the car. In order to finish the custom CAI design I have in mind, I will have to move the HEI and coil from its temporary location below the battery to a custom made mounting bracket under the VAF sensor, where the stock air box currently sits.

PRD Distributor Cap

In order to use the external coil, I also had to have a modified distributor cap, which I bought from PRD Online for $48.00. I could have modified the stock distributor cap with an MSD Power Tower myself, but urgency drove me to buy one already pre-configured. This pre-modified cap includes a center tower for the high voltage lead from the coil, and already has the internal coil bridge cut and re-sealed on the inside.

 

And, after all is said and done....

My car runs again!!!