infernosg's S5 N/A Build

[infernosg]

Engine shot with the revised fuel line:



I'm now working on mounting the AEM/Mercury Marine/IGN-1A coils. I think I'm going to mount them in a 2x2 arrangement as shown below:



I'' probably align the terminals versus staggering them as shown above as it makes accessing the connectors a little easier. They're got to go somewhere in this area:



My original plan was to mount them on the strut tower but with the alternator relocated that area's getting pretty crowded. I'm thinking about mounting them behind the headlight where the stock leading coils were mounted. This makes for longer spark plugs leads and I'd need to extend some wires but over all I think it's a cleaner location. I just need to make sure the leads stay away from the CAS wires!

[infernosg]

Just about done mounting the IGN-1A coils in the car. Here's some in-process shots while the bracket is being painted. Test fitting the bracket in the car:



A little closer:



It's pretty simple really; just two pieces of 1/8" flat stock formed to shaped and drilled a couple times. My welds still suck but it'll hold.





Pretty simple again. Six 1-1/2", four 1" spacers, and some 10-1/2" sections of all-thread and the coils are mounted. I plan to run the spark plug wires together up by the main fuse box and then down to the spark plugs. Once I have everything finished and mounted I'm going to take some measurements and give a call to Magnecor for some custom length 10.5 mm wire.

[GySgtFrank]

Looking good. That should keep the fires lit.

[lokirx706]

I am truly jealous, that engine bay is becoming a work of art! I wish I hadnt bought a car with all the factory nasty undercoating now... Oh well! Too late now!!

[infernosg]

Originally Posted by GySgtFrank

Looking good. That should keep the fires lit.

Originally Posted by lokirx706

I am truly jealous, that engine bay is becoming a work of art!

Thanks guys; it's coming along slowly but surely. It's not going to be the prettiest, most organized engine bay but I'd like to think I'm doing the best I can with what I've got.

I've finished the bracket and started wiring the coils (switched 12V and trigger done so far):



I've decided to arrange the coils as L2, T2, L1, T1 from left to right. This should result in the shortest possible leads. Ignore the wire tied to the T1 post; I was using it to determine the lengths needed for the leads. Once the coils are done the only wiring that remains is the IAT, starter and alternator, and then I can wrap everything up.

Two tasks I've yet to start that I'm not looking forward to are depowering the steering rack and ducting the radiator and fan.

[C. Ludwig]

The way you have the trigger wires routed right across the alternator and, presumably, right under or over where the ignition leads will lay is asking for noise issues. No reason not to run those right down the middle of the engine to avoid extra length and noise from the alternator and ignition.

[infernosg]

Originally Posted by C. Ludwig

The way you have the trigger wires routed right across the alternator and, presumably, right under or over where the ignition leads will lay is asking for noise issues. No reason not to run those right down the middle of the engine to avoid extra length and noise from the alternator and ignition.

This is definitely something that has been bugging me. I had that wire placement from before I relocated the alternator and I was going to mount the coils to the strut tower. The trigger wires enter the engine bay on the driver's side so I'm going to try to run them up over the engine from the oil filter side. I'm not sure if that'll be shorter or not but it'll keep the wires away from the alternator and spark plug leads. If I do need to extend the trigger wires is there a "best way" to do it? I've never dealt with shielded wire before.

[RETed]

Agreed with C. Ludwig here about the alternator...
The alternator actually runs AC - alternating current - internally and then runs through a rectifier to produce the DC that the vehicle can use.
It's the AC that causes all the headaches in terms of RFI.

In terms of dealing with the shielded wiring...
Cheap way is to use aluminum foil (on the junctions).
You can then tape over it with electrical tape so it doesn't look as bad.
They do make metallized (shielding) tape for a step up from aluminum foil.


-Ted

[infernosg]

I moved the trigger wires last night. Fortunately there was no wire extending required and it looks like I'll be able to take some length out. Thanks for the tip!

Still working on the coils. Just trying to figure out how to run the grounds. C. Ludwig, is the preferred grounding method of the AEM coils still to gang them all together and ground them to the block versus what the wiring guide says? I seem to recall having this conversation with you but I can't find the correspondance.

[C. Ludwig]

I always send them all to the rotor housing or head. It's convenient and works. Basically, two of the grounds are kind of along for the ride and won't influence performance. The high current (Pin D) is the one you need to have well sorted. If the block ground is marginal, (which it should not be!) then go to the battery. Better yet, ensure you have good grounding of the block to the battery negative post and then ground all 3 pins of the coil to the block.

[infernosg]

Originally Posted by C. Ludwig

I always send them all to the rotor housing or head. It's convenient and works. Basically, two of the grounds are kind of along for the ride and won't influence performance. The high current (Pin D) is the one you need to have well sorted. If the block ground is marginal, (which it should not be!) then go to the battery. Better yet, ensure you have good grounding of the block to the battery negative post and then ground all 3 pins of the coil to the block.

Grounding the block to the battery would be difficult (but not impossible) considering the battery is inside the car in the passenger's bin (grounded to the body). I have one engine ground on the rear iron that goes to the firewall that I was planning on using for the coils. Both ground points have the paint stripped and covered in dielectric grease. The battery ground is 2 AWG cable and the engine ground is 4 AWG. Would this be considered a "marginal" ground system? I could run the battery ground into the engine bay but I thought those were supposed to be kept <18", but I guess I could piggyback onto the body ground point. In the stock configuration the battery is grounded to the engine via the starter body, right?

[C. Ludwig]

IMO you need a minimum of 4 ga running from the battery negative post directly to the engine. This is the way I setup all relocated batteries.

[TitaniumTT]

Could not agree more. I can't tell you how many electrical headaches are caused by poor grounds.

[infernosg]

Originally Posted by TitaniumTT

Could not agree more. I can't tell you how many electrical headaches are caused by poor grounds.

I've got it all worked out now. I had a good ~15 minute call with Chris yesterday and got everything straigtened out. I redid my engine ground and now I have a 2 AWG cable running from the battery negative terminal to the top of the rear rotor housing. The same point serves as the grounding location for the coils and a 4 AWG wire connects it to the firewall for the chassis ground. With this better engine ground hopefully I can avoid having to run dedicated ground wires to the alternator and starter bodies. I'm still debating if I should add an additional 4 AWG ground from the battery negative terminal straight to the chassis.

[tweiss3]

I could never hurt, and will take only 5 minutes to do.