If I wanted to say, cut a 1" hole in my firewall...

[vtluu]

... how should I do it?

Nice round 1" hole (a few inches right of the ECU harness wiring hole) which I'll fit a grommet to and route my battery cable through. I've just spent an hour trying to find another way through the firewall (including using the hole for the ECU harness, and the "spare" hole which I use for my boost and oil temp gauges).

Now I just need to figure out the best/easiest way to do it and what tools I'll need.

[LEVIII]

The way I usally do it is by just drilling from the cabin to the engine bay. If its to hard to reach you may need something like this

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=91056

To bad you arent local I could do it for you real quick, I do it almost on a daily basis.

[vtluu]

Thanks... Do I want to drill a smaller hole and then bore it out, or use something like a hole saw?

[LEVIII]

Use a small drill bit first, then use a Unibit to make it bigger.


Please please please doube and even triple check the other side of where you are drilling before you drill. I have lost a many a bonuss from noob installers not checking before drilling.

[Eclipse]

I've just spent an hour trying to find another way through the firewall (including using the hole for the ECU harness, and the "spare" hole which I use for my boost and oil temp gauge)

If you've come to view the A/C as optional(I recall you considered removing it) then I have used the hole for the 0 gauge battery wire. It's kind convenient really for DSM's. I had drilled enough holes in my firewall already.

[earlyapex]

There is a huge hole to the right of the glove box and down a bit that goes through the passenger side fender. It's where Mitsu routes the guage pack wiring on the RS and MR's. Take your passenger side fender liner off and you will see it.

[Matz]

Thanks... Do I want to drill a smaller hole and then bore it out, or use something like a hole saw?

I recommend using a knockout punch. You drill a small hole, then screw the knockout punch in. Then use the ratchet and it'll punch a really nice, clean hole through the sheetmetal.

I may have trouble borrowing it from work to loan you since we use it quite a bit, so if I can't, you're welcome to come by to use it.

[LEVIII]

Hey Matz, what do you do?

[Matz]

Hey Matz, what do you do?

I'm a mechanical engineer turned software engineer, and work for an automation company in Menlo Park.

[vtluu]

I recommend using a knockout punch. You drill a small hole, then screw the knockout punch in. Then use the ratchet and it'll punch a really nice, clean hole through the sheetmetal.
Thanks for the advice! Harbor Freight has a set of them for $15, so I think I'll just expand my tool collection. :)


There is a huge hole to the right of the glove box and down a bit that goes through the passenger side fender. It's where Mitsu routes the guage pack wiring on the RS and MR's. Take your passenger side fender liner off and you will see it.
Thanks, I'll check this as well. I was thinking I want the power cables more centrally routed, since in a full-out racing situation the fender areas might take some "cosmetic" damage (from contact, impact, etc.) and I wouldn't want that to jeopardize the battery connection. But maybe I'm just being silly.

[Matz]

Thanks for the advice! Harbor Freight has a set of them for $15, so I think I'll just expand my tool collection. :)

Wow, $15? I don't know what the specific differences are, but our set from Greenlee was over $200. From the picture, it just looks like the one from Harbor Freight isn't as sharp. I'd totally go with the one from Harbor Freight, though. :)

As far as the battery connection goes, I don't know what the risks are -- the only thing I might do is to put a fuse next to the battery in the trunk. That way, if the battery connection gets severed and shorts out on the chassis, the fuse will blow.

[vtluu]

As far as the battery connection goes, I don't know what the risks are -- the only thing I might do is to put a fuse next to the battery in the trunk. That way, if the battery connection gets severed and shorts out on the chassis, the fuse will blow.
Yep, that's the plan. Actually I'm getting this fancy-schmancy Monster Cable 100-amp circuit breaker that I'm using instead of a fuse. Not only is it easy to reset, I can also use it as a battery cutoff switch--great for resetting the ECU, working on the car, etc.

[Matz]

As far as the battery connection goes, I don't know what the risks are -- the only thing I might do is to put a fuse next to the battery in the trunk. That way, if the battery connection gets severed and shorts out on the chassis, the fuse will blow.
Yep, that's the plan. Actually I'm getting this fancy-schmancy Monster Cable 100-amp circuit breaker that I'm using instead of a fuse. Not only is it easy to reset, I can also use it as a battery cutoff switch--great for resetting the ECU, working on the car, etc.

Oooh, that's neat. I'd like to check it out after you install it.

[onesicklambo]

I have lost a many a bonuss from noob installers not checking before drilling.
hahah i second that...like a noob at my work drillling a hole into the brake master cylinder on a brand new escalade. :shock:

[vtluu]

Hmm, the tool ended up being $30 at the retail store--so if you want it, order it online.

That aside, let me state for the record, in front of all you as witnesses: I suck.

In my haste, I forgot to put on the "cup" that opposes the "punch" part. As a result, I ended up running out of threads, stripping the threads on the tool "bolt", giving myself a nice bump on the head slipping and hitting myself with a vise grip during the 4 hours I spent trying to extract the tool. I finally gave up and used a Dremel cut-off wheel to cut the bolt and get the tool out. Tomorrow morning I'm gonna use a die grinder to enlarge the hole a bit and use the 1" punch (the plan was to use the 3/4" punch to make a hole so I could use the 1" punch, but I destroyed the 3/4" punch). Hopefully this time I'll get it right. :roll:

[Matz]

In my haste, I forgot to put on the "cup" that opposes the "punch" part. As a result, I ended up running out of threads, stripping the threads on the tool "bolt", giving myself a nice bump on the head slipping and hitting myself with a vise grip during the 4 hours I spent trying to extract the tool. I finally gave up and used a Dremel cut-off wheel to cut the bolt and get the tool out. Tomorrow morning I'm gonna use a die grinder to enlarge the hole a bit and use the 1" punch (the plan was to use the 3/4" punch to make a hole so I could use the 1" punch, but I destroyed the 3/4" punch). Hopefully this time I'll get it right. :roll:

Ouch! Well, I'm glad that you survived to post this, though! Good luck on Round 2. :)

[smack]

There is a huge hole to the right of the glove box and down a bit that goes through the passenger side fender. It's where Mitsu routes the guage pack wiring on the RS and MR's. Take your passenger side fender liner off and you will see it.

there is also the route that the stock harness takes on the driver's side fender as well.
it goes in front of the battery into the fender area and into a big grommet on the door jam
that you can get to if you drop the liner. that's were i ran the 4-gauge for my amp. install is
easy and clean.

[vtluu]

Well this morning things went according to plan, use the die grinder to enlarge the hole and then the 1" knockout punch to make a clean cut. Took about 20 minutes and that was because I didn't have a long enough socket extension for the ratchet so I had to tighten the punch with a big adjustable wrench.

Amazing how smoothly things go when you not only read, but follow the instructions.

The hole is about 4" right of the big hole where the ECU wiring harness goes. I ran the wire along the door sill on the passenger's side, and the battery in the right-rear corner, because the last corner-weighting data I have tells me my left side is about 100 lbs heavier than my right, and moving the battery from the front left to the rear right should preserve the cross-weights.