Bought an 86 SVO to road race - gutting car and need help

[Keyser Soze]

Hello everyone.

I just was given an 86 SVO Mustang from a client. Had I not saved it, it was heading for the junkyard or crusher. Over 10 years ago, I had a 1987 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe, which was a fun car, and it is good to have a little turbo back in the garage again.

This car is rough – body, interior, etc. Accordingly, I have decided to make it into a dedicated race car and I plan to race it in the NASA American Iron series where it will go head to head with 302 powered Mustangs and 305 and 350 powered Camaros. In later posts I will doubtless seek opinions on how to get the power where it needs to be, but for now, I have a question on gutting the car, and more specifically, removing unnecessary wiring.

I have already removed the entire interior, including the dashboard, so now I have a wiring mess on my hands. To even make an attempt at running competitively in American Iron, the car needs to be as light as possible, so I need to remove every wire on this car that is not needed to operate either the brake lights or to run the engine. In this configuration I should accomplish two goals. The car will be lighter and easier to repair, as there will be fewer wires to chase around.

When I removed the interior, I did reinstall the gauge cluster as the car would not charge without the plug to the gauge cluster in, and because I wanted to be able to see the boost pressure and tach. In the near future, there will be Autometer gauges installed and as long as I can get the charging issue solved, the gauge cluster will leave also.

The question I have is simple and not so simple. I need to know what wires must stay in this car, and which can go. I am not against removing the fuse panel and the fusible links and any other items that are not related to the engine running well at WOT. I have to assume that over 90% or more of these wires can go away forever. There are so many harnesses that go so many different places, I do not want to just start hacking away and wind up with a car that does not start or does not run. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[MacGyver]

i have to agree with Mike's post. plus if you need one more reason, you are dealing with 20 year old wire and there is mostlikly brittle wiring and overloaded connections (probably, the alt connector and the fan realy are pretty toasty).

if you go with a megasquirt you can get a new harness for less than $100 all you would need to do is solder the plugs on.

[Keyser Soze]

This car will run the stock EEC (either SVO or Turbo Coupe). I will not run headlights, turn signals, lights, anything except brake lights and whatever is needed for the engine. I hate to be ignorant, but what is a megasquirt?

[SVOeric]

an aftermarket engine managment system.....
to get real power from the 2.3 turbo, you'll need some type of aftermarket engine managment.
The stock EEC runs out of 'umph' at about 300 hp, or a little less.

[CP86SVO]

He'll probably do fine with the stock EEC since American Iron has a power/torque to weight restriction...

My take...

-use new wiring wherever possible as per Mike Fleming's suggestions
-relocate the battery to the center of the car to lessen the polar moment of interia
-make sure your power cut-off switches and on-baord fire systems are within easy reach while belted into your seat, helmet and driving suit and gloves on;then blindfold yourself and practice getting out of the car many times until it's instinctive
-make the car as light as possible...IIRC there is no lower weight limit for 4 cylinder AI cars, just the power and torque to weight ratios.

most of all Safety, reliability and speed, in that order!

have lotsa fun! WS

[kyle shaw]

Cool. Another NASA racer.

NASA has changed the rules for AI this year letting 4 cyl and 6 cyls compete.
If you are running a 4/6 cyl in AI there is NO minimum weight while the V8 boys still need to play by the power to weight ratio.

I would bet that a honest 300 RWHP in a 2400lb SVO (is that possible) car would be competitive.

Just a FYI but the AI guys in my region are making right around the 350 RWHP mark.

I am racing a CMC car and wasnt brave enough to step right into AI.

kyle

[kyle shaw]

http://www.nasaforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=9741&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

http://www.nasaforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=6163

kyle

[chalkys_explorer]

no weight limit eh???? Carbon Fiber anyone??? Front and rear bumper covers, bumpers, sail panels, rear wings.......you name it!!!! Paint em and no-onw will know the difference

[NY eric]

No weight restrictions then get rid of the boat anchor (front bumper) and find a fiberglass one. I never new how heavy the front bumper was (until I droped one on my foot)

[Keyser Soze]

My other race car is a NASA FFC (Factory Five Challenge Racer) which we compete successfully. For now, however, I need wiring help, and my original question still 'looms'. What wires can go and what must stay? I suppose more specifically, what I need to know is what is absoutely necessary at WOT, and where do those sensors tie in to the computer. I'll cut the wires pin by pin if needed and reroute new wires to the sensors, but I do not know where the pins are on the computer and what they go to. Additionally, I need to know how to get the car to charge without the dash cluster in it, as without the factory gauge cluster, the car does not charge. I have to imagine that most of the wires can go away forever. I also need to get rid of the garbage fusible links under the hood, and get the vaccumn lines properly accounted for. A lot of those can go away, also.

[johnbasler]

this has been a good site for wiring diagrams for these cars, but seems to be down now.

http://gt350r.stangnet.com/index.html

you can try it later, or PM GT350R on www.turboford.net

[Keyser Soze]

The Lloyds website shows no listing for a wiring diagram. Does anyone have one they want to sell, or does anyone know where I can get one? Thanks.

[NavySVO]

I will not run headlights, turn signals, lights, anything except brake lights and whatever is needed for the engine.

If you won't need it, I will take the passenger side outer marker off of your hands. PM me with a price (shipping included, zip 23456) and I will get you the funds.
thanks

[NavySVO]

I will not run headlights, turn signals, lights, anything except brake lights and whatever is needed for the engine.

If you won't need it, I will take the passenger side outer marker off of your hands. PM me with a price (shipping included, zip 23456) and I will gladly get you the funds.
thanks

[Gator]

This could help ya. They arent labled all that well, but if you go through them you should be able to find out what ya need / dont.

http://rothfam.com/svo/reference/volumeH/