65 drop top
06-19-2013, 11:51 PM
I have some questions about a complete wire job on a 65 chevelle with AAW classic update kit.
1. Vintage Air says to wire system directly to battery, but AAW has an a/c circuit, what's the right way to wire it?
2. DSE wiper motor, how should I hook it up into the AAW? As an acc or into the AAW wiper circuit?
3. Trunk mounted battery, what it the correct way to do this? Cable size/type? Not a race car, just want it safe.
4. Do I need to use relays for headlights? I'm not sure which headlights yet, but will be upgraded from stock.
5. Dual electric fans, what the best way to wire them? I've read about several options, not sure which is best.
Sorry, I know these are total rookie questions, but I'm a total rookie. Thanks for any info!
esenior
06-28-2013, 11:26 AM
No expert here, but I'm always willing to give an opinion. Not sure on your exact setup, but I'm using an AAW Highway 22 and have a VA Gen II compac setup.
1. Vintage Air says to wire system directly to battery, but AAW has an a/c circuit, what's the right way to wire it?
Since the Heat/AC wire is only energized when the ignition is on, the simplest solution would be to wire this to the red and purple wires to the VA relays. I believe AAW uses a 30Amp fuse so you would be covered (safe). The only drawback being that if you have a problem, the fuse will blow instead of a breaker tripping.
On my car, I decided I wanted maximum current flow wherever possible so I only hooked to the Purple (Ignition) wire and ran the Red wire to a 30A breaker and wired that to a junction block under my dash which connects to the battery via a 4AWG wire. But I tend to go overkill most times...
2. DSE wiper motor, how should I hook it up into the AAW? As an acc or into the AAW wiper circuit?
If you have a universal kit (like I do), then it's a single wire hook-up. I'm guessing that you have an original "style" harness. If that's the case, then you would use the DSE harness, but you can get power from the AAW harness (Yellow wire)
3. Trunk mounted battery, what it the correct way to do this? Cable size/type? Not a race car, just want it safe.
There's already a bunch of data out there on this and lots of varying opinions. I used Quickcar 2AWG cable (http://quickcar.net/index.php?crn=275&rn=917&action=show_detail). I would also highly recommend you run a remote starter relay for safety.
Here's a good thread on battery relocation:
https://www.pro-touring.com/showthread.php?82465-1st-Gen-Camaro-Battery-Relocation
4. Do I need to use relays for headlights? I'm not sure which headlights yet, but will be upgraded from stock.
Not necessary, but you will get more power to the head-lights that can result in a brighter light. By using a relay, you won't have all of that current flowing through the headlight switch and it's a pretty simple thing to do. Just remember that you will need to install another fuse or breaker. I used a self-resetting breaker right next to the relay on the core support.
5. Dual electric fans, what the best way to wire them? I've read about several options, not sure which is best.
I've read various opinions on this. I kept my setup simple and wired the fans to separate relays, but with a single turn-on signal. There are those that believe that turning on both fans at the same time could cause a large enough draw on the system to blow a fuse (or trip a breaker). I haven't had any problems, but another option is to use a delay on one of the fans. There are a number of delay relays on the market.
If you really want to be trick, you can look at an electronic fan controller. These let you control the fan on/off temps and can delay the 2nd fan when turning on. One example is the PAC-2750 (http://www.dakotadigital.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=product/product_id=852/prd852.htm). note that I don't have any experience with these other than what I've read online.
Good luck and remember to let us know what you do!