65 vert ISIS wiring install progress- reassembly on the way!

[fonebooth]

been a while working on the vert.. the ISIS is coming along-- lots of work-- toughest part was the initial cutting the oem harness for the plugs.. i still find it tough to "cut up" some of the original parts :-)

used a LOT of heat shrink-- trying to make it all look nice and hiding it all as i go.

with the ISIS you have to control grounds not power so its reversed to oem.. its less voltage thru the switches controlling ground and safer.

rear mounted battery with the power taps mounted on the battery box. ran the main power wire thru the pass rocker and to another power tap up on the inner firewall. from here will make another -4 wire to the mini starter.

i like the ISIS-- there are a few things that they should upgrade on it _ like the canbus cable isnt long enough to put the power cells where i wanted and a 65 mustang isnt all that long. overall its the nicest system i think.. at least havent seen anything that compares.

this is a LOT of labor to install.. i am not the fastest person on wiring-- although i dont know if you can do wiring fast.. i have easy 40 hours into this so far.. routing everything thru firewalls with grommets and heat shrinking before that takes a long time-- so if you had to pay a shop for this i'm sure this is a $3-4 k expense.. so way more than a painless that you could likely almost "bolt in"

[JEM]

Since so many of the original plugs are those molded bullet assemblies, you're saying you're splicing the wires for those things?

I'd rather cut the connectors off the other side and use a decently modern connector.

[fonebooth]

i want the car to "look" original

so that means stock headlight and wiper and ign switches

and cutting those large plastic ends off to use those switches.. by bye oem harness..


i also wanted it so i could plug the turn signals and headlights into new ones and if i ever needed to replace something it plugs in without any wiring..

HID wired in as well as stock wiring for H4s.. wont need relays with the isis if i ever go back to halogens but gonna start with HID and see how i like them..

using IPF which are a CIBIE copy and HID single to look more vintage. rounded bulb- IMO fits the "period correct" part..

heres the conv top switch modified for the isis-- orig power in is now grounded and a new 2 way bullet connector will go to the isis mastercell control

and the HID bulbs are inside the housings in the pic-- cant really tell theyre anything special.. until you power them up!

[supercj]

Just found this thread while surfing. What is the advantages with the ISIS, and if your starting from scratch on a build, or if you have limited switches to adapt, is this a fairly easy or straightforward deal? I'm building a '66 F100 and its fairly limited as far as electrical do dads go so this system may be the way to go. Thanks for any and all help.

[fonebooth]

isis allows running grounds to control everything instead of running current everywhere thru switches..

isispower.com

the only items i am leaving outside the isis are wipers- and courtesy lites-door pins-- but on the doors just finished doing it all new wiring and ran power to the lites and control the grounds thru the door switches --

another 15 hours into wiring this week-- second mini fuse block done with a 40 and 50 amp fuse - 50amp for the 4 power windows- 40a as power block to rest of car not in isis-- door switches- radio- wipers--efi ecm- heater and then each of these with own smaller fuse.

[JEM]

Originally Posted by fonebooth

i want the car to "look" original

so that means stock headlight and wiper and ign switches

and cutting those large plastic ends off to use those switches.. by bye oem harness..

All the terminals in the Ford connectors at the dash are removable, except maybe for the ignition switch. They're all either AMP .250 quick-connects or Packard 56-series.

I went a slightly different route in my wiring, since my car was not worth a 'councours-look' restoration from the day I got it anyway.

All the dash controls are original-look though I went with one of the Scott Drake intermittent wiper switches.

There will be a turn-signal mounted dimmer switch that's a Solidworks model right now in which I'm fiddling with dimensions for trying to get a little McMaster-Carr spring-detent ball into the design. Soon to spit it out to a CNC mill, not sure if it's going to end up aluminum or some flavor of machinable plastic yet. It screws into the turn-signal switch and a shortened stock lever screws into it.

That dimmer switch drives a VW headlight relay that toggles hi/lo based on a grounded input and will provide hi-beam flash with lights off. The mounting brackets for the relay socket and fuseholders for it (the VW relay has a funky base that requires a socket NLA and found in only a couple junkyard applications) should be back from the waterjet shop this week, so I can finish that wriing.

I ditched the factory bullet connectors everywhere I could - the only ones remaining I can think of are on the wiper motor and the top pump.

The dash has two Deutsch 12-pin DT-series bulkhead connectors and a 4-pin DTP for power circuits (+12 for main fuse panel/headlight switch and Vintage Air AC.) All the interconnects between harnesses are either Deutsch (for exposed harnesses) or Weatherpack (where they connect to the RJM harness) or AMP/Tyco Mate-N-Lok for interior/nonweathersealed connections (large for lights, etc. and small for gauges, turn signal, etc.) Other connectors are Packard 56-series, AMP quick-connects, AMP small Mate-N-Lok, etc. as necessary to mate with factory switches, motors, etc.

The battery's in the trunk and I've fabricated a little bracket to mount to the rear fender arch for the fuel-pump impact switch and a couple of relays for the top pump; the top switch will now just provide a coil ground for the up/down relays.

There's unfortunately fuses and relays all over the car now, and they're a mix of sizes, ideally I'd have liked to have one front-body panel and one rear-body panel but it didn't work out that way. There's the RJM stuff (four mini relays and an unsealed 4-ATO fuse block) on the right fender under the hood hinge, my headlight box (one VW relay, one mini relay, two ATO fuses in a weathershielded box) on the left front fender behind the (Toyota Tercel) washer bottle, a small Delphi main fuse panel (2 micro relays and up to a dozen ATM fuses) under the dash in front of the left air vent, some other micro relays under the dash for the Vintage Air stuff (their harness was unusably bulky), and a 4-ATO block and 2 mini relays in the right rear fender.

I've considered using the ISIS stuff for the '64 wagon, but haven't made any decisions yet; I *will* get things a little more centralized in that car.

[ScottsGT]

OMG! I'm an electronics tech and that system sounds like a nightmair to troubleshoot if something stops working! Keep us posted on the outcome

[fonebooth]

i like the idea of a turn signal hi-low beam like new cars.. that would be a nice replacement switch IF it was ever done.. where you can replace the stock turn signal switch with that.

i have put all my wiring in for Hi-lo with the expectation that one day i can buy such a switch! --

i am leaving the floor dimmer off and will put a small micro switch or program one of the isis remote buttons to be hi-beam -- just want to keep the floor clear of the dimmer and running more wiring down seems a waste when the isis can run that off a button as needed..

and yea the vintage air wiring is rather bulky-- i will be into that this week and see how i can reduce its relays to run thru the isis.

with how elaborate you have done it and all new you will likely be fine-- next car try the isis.. less relays. and trouble shooting is on the isis main brain tells you which circuit is out and at what end.

[68EFIvert]

Any updates on this system? How do you like it? Worth the additional labor and money? I am thinking of using it on a new project I am starting.

[hookemdevils22]

here's some light reading from pro-touring.com re: ISIS. It's actually quite nice to troubleshoot -- it can be done visually. Plus Jay @ ISIS is awesome at answering questions and helping in general. I'm surprised he didn't put my email in his spam folder by the time I was done.

I installed the kit in my GTO. I agree the hardest part is gathering the OEM connectors. It's awesome otherwise, especially if you're going with power accessories. I haven't yet, so I haven't come close to taking advantage of the adaptability of the ISIS system.

My biggest gripe was that the CAN cables were too short. Granted, the GTO is loooong, and that shouldn't be a problem with the 'stang. In retrospect, I should have lengthened them.

[shaneh]

How long are each of the ISIS can cables? The total bus length on a Controller Area Network is limited based on the bit rate of the transmission as well as the allowable delay. These factors could play a part in the cables that they provide you.

[fonebooth]

so far i am happy with the system-

yes the canbus cable is way too short for front and thats on a 65 mustang... not a long car, the canbus is a combined cable that ties front and rear cells to master cell.

i lengthened it about 5 feet. the original isis was made for a cobra kitcar. i believe jay is doing a revision for the canbus as its a common complaint that the canbus is too short to the front cell on any car.

there is a new PW module thats built in the new isis that i would have liked if it was out - but i have the remotes as well to control the brain as an alarm .

a few things that they should incorporate-- like the main cell being able to trigger the turn signal indicators and hi beam-- as you have to run wires back from the front lights to trigger the indicator bulbs.. and no point running from rear as there is no "high beam" trigger there so you can do it all in one run

[toofast415]

Hi. I too was thinking about installing this kit on a restromod that I'm currently doing. Have any additional thoughts or feedback on this kit? I think the only thing that scares me is if ISIS tanks in ten years from now.

Thanks!

[fonebooth]

drove car all summer- wiring worked great-- found out that the conv top needs a 20amp fuse as it was blowing the 10 on the circuit i originally had it in-- took a few minutes to figure it out as i had 2 fuses -- one up and one down and forgot it was so long from when i put it together-- as top went down and not up.. at first i thought was the top switch..

its nice to be able to disable the car with the remotes.. next car i do will be the same-- i still need to get a file from jay at ISIS to change one of the outputs as right now the turn signals even work when the ign is off..

only other issue is if you leave it over a week+ it will slowly drain your battery-- you need to have a trickle charger there to power the brain or a battery disconnect..

[Injected65]

Modified Mustang mag that came in the mail late last week had an install of the same power system. As a techie kind of guy it really peaks my interest. Unfortunately though I already bought a new AAW harness.