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You
may recall that I had an electrical fire in the trunk of
the Dodge last season. My alternator developed
a dead short and it overheated the wire running back to
the battery. Then, VOILA!... smoke and fire. It was at that
time that I realized the wiring in the Dodge had to go.
Not just some of it, but ALL of it. I spoke with my friend
and fellow Englishtown bracket racer Steve Russell,
who's a bit of a Mr. Wizard when it comes to wiring and
electrical. He took my thought a step further and suggested
not just replacing the wiring but upping the size, making
a new fuse block, adding relays, and installing a nice switch
panel.
Racers,
we documented the before and after here. Not only is the
Dodge safer, but it also starts easier and the fuel pump,
water pump and fan work better. It also looks great under
the hood. If you race a vehicle that still has the original
wiring, trust me. Replace it. It's a great investment. If
you're in the NJ/PA/DE area of the country and are interested
in having Steve do the job on your car, his contact info
is at the end of the article. |
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This
is what the Dodge looked like under the hood: a mess. This
was the factory wiring to which I kept adding as needed
over the years. |
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You
can see the blue switch panel with toggles on the underside
of the dash, between the water temp and trans temp gauges.
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There's
Steve assessing the situation and then getting to work starting
to remove all of the under hood wires.
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One
of the first items Steve added is this little junction box
for the starter wires. We'll see more about this later... |
Guard
dog Brenna keeps an eye on things in the shop. |
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| Pull
it, cut it out and toss it! |
The
wires that were on the driver's-side inner fender have been
removed. It already looks cleaner. |
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Likewise
on the passenger-side inner fender. |
Steve
has a fully-equipped shop where he constantly maintains
his dragster and wife Arlene's 9-second Vega, as well as
works on customer's cars. |
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| Wow!
It's really coming along under the hood! Look at how clean
the passenger-side inner fender is now! Next look at the
overhead shot; you can see where Steve repositioned the
ballast resistor to the inner fender right next to the coil.
He also went the extra mile and cleaned up the engine compartment
with satin-black paint. |
This
is Page 1
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Photos:
The Dragtime News & Arlene Russell
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