"Raine's SC300 (KEIRA 2.0) From the Beginning to End."
08-03-12, 10:05 AM
#107
Lexus Test Driver
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You probably saw my brother driving the SC, who coincidentally is sharing a place with Ken in Irvine. lol His GS is getting a swap, so he's borrowing my car. It's on stockies right now, cause I just got the SSR's refinished and have been real lazy when putting them back together. lol I always thought you would keep the stock body look cause you've been rocking it for so long!
08-03-12, 01:51 PM
#110
07.15.12
Dual Powered
- So while I was waiting for the side skirts and rear bumper to be painted and finished up, I decided that I wanted to rewire EVERYTHING I added onto the car. You know how it is – you start stock, then add a new head unit. Then months later you add an EDFC. Then even later you add gauges… eventually you have a bunch of wires connected here and there from multiple gadget installations, and things start to get messy. I just so happen to be one of those neat freaks, especially when it comes to organizing stuff – and when I installed the gauges and saw a bunch of other wires under the carpet, I had to do something about it.
The initial plan was just to clean the wiring up. From there I started drawing diagrams on Adobe Illustrator, and it kept changing and changing until – and I don’t know exactly how it came to this – I ended up with a master plan for a dual battery setup with remote controlled features. What the hell?
Fun fact: the above diagram is version 8.0; every wire is accounted for and routed identical to where it is in the car.
The main parts list (which was compiled after I finished the project) is as follows:
100-ft. 18/4 Home Audio In-Wall Wire
25-ft. Red 4-gauge Main Battery Cable
2-ft. Black 4-gauge Main Battery Cable
20-ft. 4-wire Phone Cable
30-ft. 1/2" Split Wire Loom
20-ft. 1/8” 60/40 Solder
5-ft. 1/8" Heat Shrink Tubing
50-ft. Electrical Tape
1x Taylor Battery Relocation Tray
1x Duralast Group 54 Battery
1x PAC Battery Isolator, 200 Amp
1x Blue Sea 12-Circuit Fuse Block w/Ground Bus
1x 4-Channel Remote Switch
3x SPDT 12-volt Relays
3x Pre-wired Relay Sockets
2x ANL Fuse Holders/Fuses
2x Mini-ANL Fuse Holders/Fuses
24x 14-ga Ring Terminals
6x 4-ga Ring Terminals
4x 12v LED Indicator Lights
20x D3 Diode
100x Adhesive Wire Labels
...and probably more stuff that I forgot to list (zip ties, etc.)
This is just a small sample of the rewire job. Note that electrical tape was used to hold the wires temporarily; when everything was finalized I used straps.
So the game plan was to pull all of the old wiring out of the car, then redo everything as neat and as organized as possible. This included running all-new wiring and cables from the engine bay to the interior, running more cables from the interior to the trunk area, installing a dedicated fuse block, battery isolation circuitry, and of course – figuring out where to put the second battery.
Installing the LED indicators in between the head unit and HVAC control unit.
Working on the fuse block. Can you see where it’s mounted?
It’s right there…
…under the passenger-side carpet below the front seat area!
On top of that, I had to figure out how to integrate the alarm system wiring, head unit wiring, the triple gauge setup, the EDFC, the Knight Rider light, Puddle lamps that weren’t even installed into the side skirts yet, and other electronic toys (like a 4-channel remote). Try keeping track of all those wires! It was a good thing I had the diagram AND a Word document 5 pages long with every single wire, its color, where it starts and where it ends. Like I said – freak.
Auxiliary battery custom mounted in the trunk where the old CD changer was.
Fuse protected, of course.
In total the project took me a good week to complete, working on the car during vampire hours, from around 8pm-5am each morning. It was a lot of crouching inside the car, a lot of wire stripping and soldering, a lot of heat shrinking, and a lot of Pandora on the iPhone. But I’m glad I got to clean up everything, it was well worth the time invested. Every add-on has it’s own fused circuit. The auxiliary lighting additions are remote-activated. Even the puddle lamps have custom circuitry (read later). And everything runs off the trunk battery, so I can crank the stereo or do a disco light show (LOL) without worrying about killing my starting battery. I can also add some more audio later on down the line if I get inclined to.
You can see the LED indicators on the left above the head unit screen.
Oh, somewhere in between I finally switched to red floor lighting. Now it matches the car.
(continued on post #119)
Dual Powered
- So while I was waiting for the side skirts and rear bumper to be painted and finished up, I decided that I wanted to rewire EVERYTHING I added onto the car. You know how it is – you start stock, then add a new head unit. Then months later you add an EDFC. Then even later you add gauges… eventually you have a bunch of wires connected here and there from multiple gadget installations, and things start to get messy. I just so happen to be one of those neat freaks, especially when it comes to organizing stuff – and when I installed the gauges and saw a bunch of other wires under the carpet, I had to do something about it.
The initial plan was just to clean the wiring up. From there I started drawing diagrams on Adobe Illustrator, and it kept changing and changing until – and I don’t know exactly how it came to this – I ended up with a master plan for a dual battery setup with remote controlled features. What the hell?
Fun fact: the above diagram is version 8.0; every wire is accounted for and routed identical to where it is in the car.
The main parts list (which was compiled after I finished the project) is as follows:
100-ft. 18/4 Home Audio In-Wall Wire
25-ft. Red 4-gauge Main Battery Cable
2-ft. Black 4-gauge Main Battery Cable
20-ft. 4-wire Phone Cable
30-ft. 1/2" Split Wire Loom
20-ft. 1/8” 60/40 Solder
5-ft. 1/8" Heat Shrink Tubing
50-ft. Electrical Tape
1x Taylor Battery Relocation Tray
1x Duralast Group 54 Battery
1x PAC Battery Isolator, 200 Amp
1x Blue Sea 12-Circuit Fuse Block w/Ground Bus
1x 4-Channel Remote Switch
3x SPDT 12-volt Relays
3x Pre-wired Relay Sockets
2x ANL Fuse Holders/Fuses
2x Mini-ANL Fuse Holders/Fuses
24x 14-ga Ring Terminals
6x 4-ga Ring Terminals
4x 12v LED Indicator Lights
20x D3 Diode
100x Adhesive Wire Labels
...and probably more stuff that I forgot to list (zip ties, etc.)
This is just a small sample of the rewire job. Note that electrical tape was used to hold the wires temporarily; when everything was finalized I used straps.
So the game plan was to pull all of the old wiring out of the car, then redo everything as neat and as organized as possible. This included running all-new wiring and cables from the engine bay to the interior, running more cables from the interior to the trunk area, installing a dedicated fuse block, battery isolation circuitry, and of course – figuring out where to put the second battery.
Installing the LED indicators in between the head unit and HVAC control unit.
Working on the fuse block. Can you see where it’s mounted?
It’s right there…
…under the passenger-side carpet below the front seat area!
On top of that, I had to figure out how to integrate the alarm system wiring, head unit wiring, the triple gauge setup, the EDFC, the Knight Rider light, Puddle lamps that weren’t even installed into the side skirts yet, and other electronic toys (like a 4-channel remote). Try keeping track of all those wires! It was a good thing I had the diagram AND a Word document 5 pages long with every single wire, its color, where it starts and where it ends. Like I said – freak.
Auxiliary battery custom mounted in the trunk where the old CD changer was.
Fuse protected, of course.
In total the project took me a good week to complete, working on the car during vampire hours, from around 8pm-5am each morning. It was a lot of crouching inside the car, a lot of wire stripping and soldering, a lot of heat shrinking, and a lot of Pandora on the iPhone. But I’m glad I got to clean up everything, it was well worth the time invested. Every add-on has it’s own fused circuit. The auxiliary lighting additions are remote-activated. Even the puddle lamps have custom circuitry (read later). And everything runs off the trunk battery, so I can crank the stereo or do a disco light show (LOL) without worrying about killing my starting battery. I can also add some more audio later on down the line if I get inclined to.
You can see the LED indicators on the left above the head unit screen.
Oh, somewhere in between I finally switched to red floor lighting. Now it matches the car.
(continued on post #119)
Last edited by raine; 11-10-12 at 09:30 AM.
am speechless .. hats off to you sir ..
08-03-12, 05:18 PM
#117
No she's just a teacher. But when her car guy husband goes parts shopping, she tags along sometimes
Thank you sir.
Now why would you want to do something like that LOL
Thank you too - Now put the hat back on, it's hot outside
I put a quick video up in the Knight Rider light post above LOL
08-03-12, 05:56 PM
#118
Driver
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Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Nassau, Bahamas
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07.14.12
Knight Rider
- With the Spec-A bumper in place, I now had the center grill on my car. Feeling 80’s I decided to have some fun and install a Knight Rider scanner light behind the grill. I didn’t get the thin “million color/million mode” LED lights that are all over eBay – I went full 80’s with the larger, big-rig side marker style scanner light. The best part of it? The control box is actually labeled “Knight Rider” so it’s REAL lol
Made a custom bracket to position the light fixture at the correct height.
I told you! It’s the KNIGHT RIDER hahaha
System check is complete, Michael. Wait - who’s Michael?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lry-tTMQeg4
Quick vid, it's the afternoon but at night it's a lot brighter.
(continued on post #110)
Knight Rider
- With the Spec-A bumper in place, I now had the center grill on my car. Feeling 80’s I decided to have some fun and install a Knight Rider scanner light behind the grill. I didn’t get the thin “million color/million mode” LED lights that are all over eBay – I went full 80’s with the larger, big-rig side marker style scanner light. The best part of it? The control box is actually labeled “Knight Rider” so it’s REAL lol
Made a custom bracket to position the light fixture at the correct height.
I told you! It’s the KNIGHT RIDER hahaha
System check is complete, Michael. Wait - who’s Michael?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lry-tTMQeg4
Quick vid, it's the afternoon but at night it's a lot brighter.
(continued on post #110)
08-03-12, 06:10 PM
#119
07.21.12
Carbon B
- My B-pillars were in bad shape before the paint job; the drivers side developed a bubble under the paint, and eventually it chipped off, leaving a shiny oval shape on the drivers side. The passenger’s side was on its way too. I had them repainted by the paint shop in gloss black, but I didn’t like how it looked afterward, so I wrapped the B-pillars with carbon fiber vinyl.
Ignore the smudge, I didn't wipe it down before I took a photo.
Carbon B
- My B-pillars were in bad shape before the paint job; the drivers side developed a bubble under the paint, and eventually it chipped off, leaving a shiny oval shape on the drivers side. The passenger’s side was on its way too. I had them repainted by the paint shop in gloss black, but I didn’t like how it looked afterward, so I wrapped the B-pillars with carbon fiber vinyl.
Ignore the smudge, I didn't wipe it down before I took a photo.
08-03-12, 06:17 PM
#120
07.24.12
Waterproof
- At the end of the week I picked up the Spec-A side skirts and rear bumper from the paint shop. However I couldn’t install them yet, both items had some minor work to be done to them (not related to fitment).
For the rear bumper, I marked and cut the two holes in the rear bumper for the OEM license plate lights using my trusty Dremel. The Shine Auto Project bumper had markings for the mounting holes, so it was pretty easy to get everything lined up.
One hole cut; using masking tape made it easy to cut with the Dremel.
Now the side skirts – it was puddle lamp installation time. I made a few measurements and sorted out the spacing using Adobe Illustrator, then it was just a matter of marking and drilling the holes for each LED pod.
Marking the locations following my Adobe Illustrator diagram.
One in, nine more to go.
The wiring was easy, just tedious and repetitive.
Now for the wiring part – I modified the circuitry so that the puddle lamps would go on when one of seven things happened:
1. Both sides on with parking lights when arming the alarm (10 seconds)
2. Both sides on with parking lights when disarming the alarm (15 seconds)
3. Both sides on while remote start is activated
4. Driver’s side only on when the driver’s side door is opened
5. Passenger’s side only on when the passenger’s door is opened
6. Both sides on/off when using the Kenwood head unit’s on-screen aux. switch
7. Both sides on/off when using the remote controller
With all wiring done (took about an hour and a bunch of diodes), I installed the side skirts and rear bumper. Installing all three pieces took me about 10 minutes total – a testament to how good the Shine Auto Project parts fit and are practically bolt-on.
Waterproof
- At the end of the week I picked up the Spec-A side skirts and rear bumper from the paint shop. However I couldn’t install them yet, both items had some minor work to be done to them (not related to fitment).
For the rear bumper, I marked and cut the two holes in the rear bumper for the OEM license plate lights using my trusty Dremel. The Shine Auto Project bumper had markings for the mounting holes, so it was pretty easy to get everything lined up.
One hole cut; using masking tape made it easy to cut with the Dremel.
Now the side skirts – it was puddle lamp installation time. I made a few measurements and sorted out the spacing using Adobe Illustrator, then it was just a matter of marking and drilling the holes for each LED pod.
Marking the locations following my Adobe Illustrator diagram.
One in, nine more to go.
The wiring was easy, just tedious and repetitive.
Now for the wiring part – I modified the circuitry so that the puddle lamps would go on when one of seven things happened:
1. Both sides on with parking lights when arming the alarm (10 seconds)
2. Both sides on with parking lights when disarming the alarm (15 seconds)
3. Both sides on while remote start is activated
4. Driver’s side only on when the driver’s side door is opened
5. Passenger’s side only on when the passenger’s door is opened
6. Both sides on/off when using the Kenwood head unit’s on-screen aux. switch
7. Both sides on/off when using the remote controller
With all wiring done (took about an hour and a bunch of diodes), I installed the side skirts and rear bumper. Installing all three pieces took me about 10 minutes total – a testament to how good the Shine Auto Project parts fit and are practically bolt-on.