Project Slow and Steady - turbo 98 cobra

04DeadShort

SVT Addict
Established Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2008
Messages
1,491
Location
Carrollton, GA
Yea I'm gonna do as you did and start a build thread. Probably here and at modularfords. Right now it's just a pile of parts and a bare Teksid block. Your thread has lots of info, I'm sure I'm gonna have some questions.
 

98cobra#1222

that's just my game
Established Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2011
Messages
613
Location
Greensburg, Indiana, United States
Yea I'm gonna do as you did and start a build thread. Probably here and at modularfords. Right now it's just a pile of parts and a bare Teksid block. Your thread has lots of info, I'm sure I'm gonna have some questions.

Sounds good. I know there's tons I left out but if there's anything you have questions on I'll answer if I know. If not I'm sure someone on here will know and chime in.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

98cobra#1222

that's just my game
Established Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2011
Messages
613
Location
Greensburg, Indiana, United States
After a couple of years I finally broke down and tackled the wiring.

I ended up using my factory tail light harnesses with an added bulb that I pulled out of a junk yard harness. Goal was to not modify the interior body harness or plug at all, except to tap into the third brake light, so all my modifications were done to the actual tail light harness. Below is my crude wiring diagram I used, wire color in the diagram are arbitrary and do not reflect actual harness color.



So step 1 was to remove the tail lights and pull the harnesses off. I then added one two wire bulb that will become the turn signal bulb. I simply spliced into the ground wire located on the tail light bulb above it then ran the signal wire down the harness and to the factory plug.

Step 2 was to remove the brake light pin (happens to on a '98 be the only pin with two wires going into it). I then removed the pin from the two wires with a pick after a lot of stuck fingers and patience.

Step 3 was to run the signal wire from the newly added turn signal bulb to the pin that use to contain the brake light wires, I re-crimped the pin onto the turn signal bulb signal wire and re-installed that pin into the factory 4 pin plug.

Step 4 involved adding a single weather proof plug that will now supply the brake lights with their signal from the third brake light. I purchased two single 14 gauge weather pack connectors from McMaster Carr. So I now moved the two brake light wires that were originally going to the factory 4 pin plug and crimped them into the new single pin plug.

Step 5 was adding the brake light signal wire. This involved tapping into the third brake light, in my case the wire is located in a plug that goes to the trunk harness and is red in color. I then ran the tapped wire to the tail lights and plugged it into the added single pin weather pack plug.

Step 6 you need to de-pin or cut the brake light signal wire located at the main distribution block behind the driver's kick panel. Photos of where this block is located and what wire to cut can be found here: http://www.chythar.net/mustang/mustang_94-95_export_taillight_installation.html

Step 7 just involves replacing the factory flasher with a Tridon EP-27 "trailering" electronic flasher. Reason here is the flasher works by operating with a known resistance across the turn signal bulbs, when one bulb goes bad the resistance changes since current can no longer flow across that bulb. When this happens the flasher speeds up to alert the driver a bulb is bad. Well in the factory case there are two turn signal bulbs in the tail lights, with the exports there is only a single bulb. So the factory flasher is operating under the same conditions as a factory car with one bad turn signal bulb, hence the fast flashing turn signal. Replacing with the trailering flasher which is made to operate under a different resistance valve slows the flasher back down since it is for a single tail light turn signal bulb.

It was late and dark out so I didn't take any pictures of the harnesses but if people are interested I can take some this weekend when it's light out.

Results:


 

Users who are viewing this thread



Top