S197 Mustang Wiring Help???
 

I posted this on one of the Mustang boards, with no answer yet. I'll try here because there's a big knowledge base with class racers: I’m contemplating a simple carbureted big block swap in a 2005-2009 Mustang (S197). The idea here is to build a street-strip car that sort of looks like a Cobra Jet. What I’d like to do though is to strip out all of the factory wiring and install something like this from Racewire Solutions (great folks by the way):

http://i942.photobucket.com/albums/a...0solutions.jpg

The wiring panel is easy enough (Racewire Solutions will build what I want) but at the same time, I’d really like to retain some of the original Mustang switches to turn various circuits on and off.

• Ignition/start switch
• Headlamps & high-low beam switch
• Turn signals & hazard
• Foglamps
• Brake light
• Power windows
• Windshield wiper
• Horn

So the question is, can anyone tell me (positively) if the switches on my list will function normally without being hooked to various chassis/body control modules in the car (I'm pretty sure stuff like the horn and some of the lights won't be too problematic...but with today's technology, who knows...L-O-L)?

Thanks!

Re: S197 Mustang Wiring Help???
 

My 68 coupe is a street/strip car and I can tell you that trying to maintain separate street and race wiring is a true headache. All of the street wiring wants a fuse box of some sort that is capable of recognizing factory wiring harnesses and connectors and a race circuit box isn't designed for hazards and blinkers and the like. I scrapped all the stock wiring and went with a 16 circuit universal Muscle Car setup from Painless Wiring. By now I have added enough extra stuff that it's a mix of my wiring and Painless stuff. It's no where as neat at what you have right now, but everything works. With my aftermarket gauges and switch panels, it resembles the cockpit of a fighter jet.

My advice is to lay everything out on paper. Decide what you want and what you need, then make a list. Design your wiring ahead of time and avoid the headaches I have given myself by making it up as I go along.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Dale

Re: S197 Mustang Wiring Help???
 

Hi Dale...

Thank you for the response, but that's not what I'm asking. I perhaps didn't word this correctly and I'll try and explain:

I'm planning to use a panel from Racewire Solutions to wire the complete car (I'm good with that along with the wiring part -- done it many times). However, I want to use several OEM switches (the list I made in the first post). And I'm not sure if the OEM Ford switches simply work "on" and "off" or if they're routed to a body control module of some sort and it "makes the decision" to turn the circuit "on" and "off". I suspect the switches will be happy simply doing their respective jobs, but I'm not 100% certain.

Thanks again...

Wayne

Re: S197 Mustang Wiring Help???
 

I think you are going to have to get your hands on the Ford Service manual that includes the electrical wiring diagrams in order to answer your question. The diagram will show whether the switches you refer to are directly switching the power to the device, or whether they are just control signals to a processor or control module. In this day and age, I would think that most switches are control signals as opposed to directly powering the device. It is much less expensive to build a switch that handles milliamps than amps, and the associated wiring can be a light gauge instead of big and heavy. Also, the car manufacturers like to be able to collect data on the settings of all the items in the car for "black box" information too, so having a module control the high current devices makes that easier too.

I could be totally wrong too, but it seems like a low current control setup would be significantly cheaper and lighter than the alternative, and it is cost that determines how something is done in a car design (unless the government says differently, of course).

Re: S197 Mustang Wiring Help???
 

First step is to find a good factory wiring diagram for your particular car. Most everything should be able to be wired thru that panel if it is simple analog(on/0ff) control switch. The wiper/washer could be an issue, body control module or not it's not a simple on/off switch.

Re: S197 Mustang Wiring Help???
 

Thanks for the info guys. I really appreciate it. It was exactly what I was looking for. Glad I did the research before I bought a car...L-O-L.

Wayne

Re: S197 Mustang Wiring Help???
 

I can tell you that you can get the headlights, tail lights, brake lights, and power windows to work. Those are the only things on your list that I have running through the factory switches. I did worry a lot about the power windows because they automatically go down about 1/2" when you open the door and back up the same when you close the door. It turns out there is a computer of sorts built right into the door latch that takes care of that..

Re: S197 Mustang Wiring Help???
 

Thanks Bob! I really appreciate it.

And by the way, these answers (above) are the reason I dig this forum. The knowledge pool here is over-the-top. You folks ROCK!

Thank you!

Wayne