Racecar Wiring Q's

[olemiss540]

Couple quick q's on race car wiring:

1. Whats the best way to establish a couple of (or a single) ground around the cockpit/shifter region? Current grounds are areas where I ground paint off the transmission tunnel and self-tap screws into wires with crimped small lug/terminal terminators against the tunnel. Would like to clean this up preferrable with a way that doesnt look to surface rust as bad? Maybe a ground bar (like https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Sea-Syst...ng%2C87&sr=1-2) and then run a single heavier lug/wire from the bar to a better ground location or even back to the battery?? Should I paint the ground strap bolt/location once its together or grease over it to prevent the surface rust? LS swaps tend to have issues with grounding problems so want to make it as fool proof and reliable as possible.

2. Similar to question 1, which grounds do I want to be careful combining? I know TPS sensor needs to be on its own dedicated ground, but is there a handful of others I want to pull aside? Most of my grounds in the cabin are dedicated to 3 or 4 points (one drivers side, two center trans tunnel, one passenger side) but there isnt any rhyme/reason as to which I separated.

3. Any downside to going to something like this for my power block: https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Sea-Syst...=ATVPDKIKX0DER ? My current fuse panel is hand crimped/soldered by yours truely behind the fuses in DIY fashion. For some reason I feel like this would have to be much more reliable? Also cleaner and easier to add new power circuits when needed.

[ScotcH]

1. I welded on a long m6 bolt to the tranny tunnel, and just stack ring terminals on it. But a single big wire to a bus would certainly be cleaner
2. Ground is ground. Unless you're talking about 0 ref back to the ECU (aftermarket ... not sure stock DME has this?). This is not really ground. For everything else,. your car chassis is a giant grounding bar, makes no difference where you ground it, but typically closer to the source is better.
3. I like the paneltronic circuit breaker panels ... very nice build, quality.

[olemiss540]

Something like this? https://fishbrain.com/shop/gear/1001...-breaker-wleds

[ScotcH]

Something like this? https://fishbrain.com/shop/gear/1001...-breaker-wleds

Ya, they have all sorts of configurations ... pre-wired, or not. I've used these in the past: https://www.paneltronics.com/Waterpr...-Switch-Panels

[aeronaut]

There is always some noise in the chassis ground, that doesn't matter for most things, except for some sensors. If the ECU is making decisions based on mV swings from the sensor, a little noise in the chassis ground can be interpreted incorrectly.
Modern cars fix this by providing a reference ground with the signal wire, exclusive to the sensor and ECU.

[HighSpedLowDrag]

I wouldn't use a self tapper for any chassis ground. I would drill a hole and use a bolt. Self tappers are going to strip out or come loose and cause signal issues, IMHO.

[ScotcH]

I wouldn't use a self tapper for any chassis ground. I would drill a hole and use a bolt. Self tappers are going to strip out or come loose and cause signal issues, IMHO.

Absolutely agree! Or weld on a bolt. Or use any number of the existing ground points on the car.