Performing Honda K24a3/AST5 6spd Conversion

[Rodger]

It's not dry - it's somewhat part of the wheel well, although there is a plastic piece to keep water from getting in there.

I don’t see how water can get in there. There’s no opening except where that plastic panel is. With that in place and with the fender liner over that, the only way you could get water in there is if you submerged the car.
I originally put the foam in there as sound deadening, but then I found those foam speaker cups from Crutchfield. They act a further moisture protection but I think they may deaden the bass from the speakers. I plan to compare the sound with them out to see if it makes any difference.

 

[lookforjoe]

In order to properly sort out the dash wiring, I had to take all this apart (again) - the way I wrapped it, the switch sections were all too short to allow the console to be pulled out without it being really awkward

Had to rearrange & add some wring to make sure all have sufficient length to allow the switch plate to be pulled well away from the console for servicing

adding wires to route the speaker harness & power window relay mod wires with the main harness

 

[kmead]

****, technicolor spaghetti. Damn man. I thought these cars were simple.

 

[Tom Ginefra]

I believe "technicolor spaghetti" is the English translation of "Italian wiring".

 

[lookforjoe]

got a couple hours wiring done - doesn't look like much. At least the console area is now properly sorted. A little more on the left side, then I have to deal with the mess on the right

 

[CnC79X19]

got a couple hours wiring done - doesn't look like much. At least the console area is now properly sorted. A little more on the left side, then I have to deal with the mess on the right

View attachment 39923

View attachment 39926

Untidy on the right? A little more sorted already on the left? Really Hussein? Because where I'm sitting my next move would be to have a local wrecker come and haul it away as I sit on a bench with a bottle of JD wondering where I went wrong. There's not one single thing electrical that would work if you were to turn me loose in that mess! Some of you guys here in this forum are so far beyond talented that its scary. Very impressive work.

 

[Longitudinal]

Untidy on the right? A little more sorted already on the left? Really Hussein? Because where I'm sitting my next move would be to have a local wrecker come and haul it away as I sit on a bench with a bottle of JD wondering where I went wrong. There's not one single thing electrical that would work if you were to turn me loose in that mess! Some of you guys here in this forum are so far beyond talented that its scary. Very impressive work.

Like they say, you know how you eat an elephant?

 

[lookforjoe]

I haven't touched the wiring since last Wednesday - the temps dropped into the teens, snow storms, etc,. made it uncomfortable to work out in the garage.

This is where I left off - I'll get back to it once I'm done fiddling with the dash, then drop the HVAC box, and rebuild that with the new heater core from MWB

 

[lookforjoe]

So the dash mods are done. Thread here.

Test fitting, removed after this to tidy up all the wiring.

So, now I need to fix up the wiring under the dash on the right before I pull the heater box. There is a big mess, I have added a bunch of stuff over the years, and the wiring criss-crosses back & forth, I need to separate the various looms, and reroute the central lock, keyless entry, remote trunk release, etc., so that they all follow the stock looms. To achieve this, I have to add a bunch of wiring, and add connectors where needed to separate the harnesses.

I want to repurpose the unused stock relay locations for seat belt, timer, headlight covers for some of the relays I had added (trunk release, park & interior lights flash w/lock & unlock). To do this I needed to follow the wiring manual & figure our which wires I can repurpose, and which would need replacing. So far, every wire I have checked is a different color than the diagrams, and routing/relay connections seem to alter also

So, I've removed the entire box, and started to map out the pins from the relay connections to the I/O on the back of the box.... I'm not good at spreadsheets, etc., so I'l prolly just write it all out on a legal pad.

Seat Belt & timer relay wiring

Compared to diagram

ALL the connections - already tidied the flasher & delayed interior lighting

NOTE: This is the order of letters embossed on the box - diagrams use a different designation (!) see Rodgers post

top row O F Q S L H I [F vacant]
Middle G B
Bottom Row E P C D A R V N [V vacant]

I can't find a schematic anywhere that lists the pinout for the connectors, so I have to number & label them all, then ohm out the circuits that I need to know about.

Top - L-R : #1 is bottom connection within any connector

NOTE ; ANY wires that look turquoise or blue-green are actually GREEN.

O 4pin connector - to front of car

F -vacant

Q 3pin connector


S 6pin connector - dash harness

L 6pin connector (goes to rear of cabin)

H 10 pin I/O for aux 6 relay set

I 10 pin connector (shown upside down - BN is 1)

Middle L-R

G 8pin I/O for aux 6 relay set

B 8pin connector - rear cabin harness

Bottom L-R

E 12pin connector - rear cabin harness

P 8pin connector - goes to front of car

C 8pin connector - goes to front of car

D 12pin connector - dash harness

A 12pin connector - dash harness

R - BN output - defroster

N- 2 wire R , R-SB input

Additional Relay Set H & G connectors

E B L

To Rear

O C P
to front

 

[Rodger]

I have a spreadsheet of all of the pin outs for the fuse panel and where they all go if you are interested.

 

[lookforjoe]

I have a spreadsheet of all of the pin outs for the fuse panel and where they all go if you are interested.

Thank you Rodger - Did yours have the same style fuse box/relay panel? I've tried to cross-reference mine (which have no numbers) to the early listing, and it doesn't make sense to me

 

[kmead]

I have a spreadsheet of all of the pin outs for the fuse panel and where they all go if you are interested.

Wow that would be a great resource to have. Both of my X’s have the late fuse box.

 

[kmead]

So the dash mods are done. Thread here.

Test fitting, removed after this to tidy up all the wiring.

Looks great.

Any chance of moving the gas gauge to where the Lambda gauge is so you at least always see the tail end of the gas left in time to see when you actually do have to stop for gas? You kept the low fuel level light? On our Miata it doesn’t have a light and I have found myself perilously close to an empty tank a few times because the gauge is a bit out of the way and I don’t really look at it much.

Great view of the wipers

 

[Rodger]

Thank you Rodger - Did yours have the same style fuse box/relay panel? I've tried to cross-reference mine (which have no numbers) to the early listing, and it doesn't make sense to me

A few years ago when I was doing my swap project, one of the components was a custom wiring harness. Although I started with an '81 car, I had picked up a mostly complete wiring harness and fuse panel from an '85 Bertone. It was missing a few connectors and whoever had harvested it just cut the main rear harness in half about where the passenger seat belt is instead of pulling it out intact. Anyway, I used that as the basis of my custom harness and spliced in where needed missing wires and connectors from the '81 harness. I wanted to repurpose some of the wires that were used for Fiat engine needs to the K20. That is when I started playing with the Bertone fuse panel and discovered that is not just a fuse panel. Many of the connections never even go near a fuse, rather they just go through the fuse panel as a connection from say, the rear harness to the instrument panel harness. The wiring harness is laid out in three distinct regions, front end, dash, and rear end.

I spent a ton of time pouring through the various pages of the Bertone wiring diagrams and then using my multimeter to check where each terminal was connected to others on the panel. Of course the first thing you discover is that the connectors on the fuse panel are lettered totally different than the same connectors in the wiring diagram. The book of wiring diagrams that I bought from MWB had a conversion chart included. Here is how I set up my fuse panel so I wouldn't get so confused.

Some of the connections are just one to one, others split off and go to multiple circuits. In order to keep it all straight, I created a spreadsheet of how the stock factory harness is all connected. I then used that to create my own custom version to run all of my K20 specific circuits through the existing connectors. I had offered at the time to send the spreadsheet to anyone that wanted it but only got one request. Here is the original post from my build thread. Here are pdfs of the spreadsheet. There is one sheet for the fuse panel itself and another one for where all of the relays go to. If someone wants the actual spreadsheet, PM me and I can email it to you.

 

[lookforjoe]

I spent a ton of time pouring through the various pages of the Bertone wiring diagrams and then using my multimeter to check where each terminal was connected to others on the panel. Of course the first thing you discover is that the connectors on the fuse panel are lettered totally different than the same connectors in the wiring diagram. The book of wiring diagrams that I bought from MWB had a conversion chart included. Here is how I set up my fuse panel so I wouldn't get so confused.


Some of the connections are just one to one, others split off and go to multiple circuits. In order to keep it all straight, I created a spreadsheet of how the stock factory harness is all connected. I then used that to create my own custom version to run all of my K20 specific circuits through the existing connectors. I had offered at the time to send the spreadsheet to anyone that wanted it but only got one request. Here is the original post from my build thread. Here are pdfs of the spreadsheet. There is one sheet for the fuse panel itself and another one for where all of the relays go to. If someone wants the actual spreadsheet, PM me and I can email it to you.

Now it all makes sense - I found I had a printed copy of your connector pinout PDF from Jan last year, and couldn't understand why all the connector letters didn't jive with the lettering on my box. I'll re-label my box as you have, that will certainly make it less confusing.

 

[lookforjoe]

Looks great.

Any chance of moving the gas gauge to where the Lambda gauge is so you at least always see the tail end of the gas left in time to see when you actually do have to stop for gas? You kept the low fuel level light? On our Miata it doesn’t have a light and I have found myself perilously close to an empty tank a few times because the gauge is a bit out of the way and I don’t really look at it much.

Great view of the wipers

Nah, can't switch those. The gas gauge is the least of my viewing priority. I'm OK with nodding my head to see the low side. I do have the fuel light connected.

My Volvo wipers ?

 

[lookforjoe]

Working away at the endless (feels like) wiring layout. Added a (30) constant fused supply for the extra circuits - revised power window feed, central lock, voltmeter, keyless entry, etc., It's from the old Volvo 240 series. Has a slide on cover to protect the terminals

Uses 9.5mm 7 6.5mm Faston Female spade/receptacle.

adding connectors (JPT 929504-2) for the control lock, so I can disconnect the L& R harnesses - I used to have the relay & the harnesses taped to the main loom at the fusebox, quite an unwieldy mess

AMP 928930-2 - male pins for door harness side

added M6 rivnuts under the dash to secure the extra relay(s) and to provide extra ground trees as needed

 

[kmead]

Thanks, that is a nice part, I will have to keep an eye out for some of those when I get back to Pickapart found to the right of the glove box and possibly in the engine bay.

Volvo power distribution block, the three parts that the box consists of are: case 9162083, cover 9162425, terminal 1234263

 

[lookforjoe]

Thanks, that is a nice part, I will have to keep an eye out for some of those when I get back to Pickapart found to the right of the glove box and possibly in the engine bay.

Volvo power distribution block, the three parts that the box consists of are: case 9162083, cover 9162425, terminal 1234263

View attachment 40785

They are normally fitted to the left inner fender near the battery.

 

[lookforjoe]

Last 2 days, about 8 hours work on this. Doesn't look like much progress. This is pretty much where I sat & leaned in to work on this - with the sill digging into my side & my legs wedged under the door, sitting on my left buttock. Not a comfortable woking position by any stretch. Had to get up & move around pretty often just to keep my back & legs from aching nonstop.

Adding wires & connectors, moving wires, forgot wires, rearranged wires

Added a number of connections to enable harnesses to be separated

Plugged the box back in to check switched & constant feeds, and various circuits.

Found out I had mis-wired the constant & switched power to the radio - yellow is 30 red is 15, opposite of the central lock that I wired add the same time.

Added a M6 rivnut on the r/s, using an existing hole, to use for the keyless entry grounds

Tidied up somewhat - had to keep checking that it all flexed appropriately when shoved back up in it's normal resting place

wires from seatbelt system to be used for trunk release and courtesy light flash for keyless entry

interesting (not so much) that the green wires here & in the next pic register as blue in this light

Wires that used to feed headlight motors -spent some time trying to figure out if I could re-pin the supply to E2 that feeds relays E5 & E3, so that they could be used fro other than lights-on functionality. Seems to be an internal bridge, so I can't just move the wire that comes from the headlight switch.

"Just' have to wire in the relay sockets (red/green) using the wires I repurposed. Only thing (I hope) I forgot are the extra connections on the interior light circuit (vio-wht, vio-bk) for the keyless entry courtesy light.