Wish I had done this 20yrs. ago !!!!!!!

[cole930]

I've been sitting around waiting on some parts and for the Tail to get painted.
I'm easily bored so I started dinking around with a remote starter switch I was
going to install in an early S 20 years ago.

After spending a whole hour or so doing it, I gave it a try and I've been kicking
my ass ever since. If you have ever tried to hook one up the conventional way
by clipping one lead on the starter of a 911 you'll really appreciate this. I keep
thinking about the PIA I,ve gone through running the valves, bringing up #1 TDC,
doing compression checks, your nuts if you do your own work and don't do this.

1. I used the small fuse holder on the rear panel for the power source because
it is powered directly off the battery and the key does not have to be on.

I had previously removed my rear window defrost and the rear wiper so the
fuse block was not being used anyway. I had removed and taped off the power
wires for the defrost and wiper so I had an empty hole with a rubber grommet
in it on the right side of the fuse block that worked perfectly for a separate dead
lug for the starter wire.







2. I wanted to make sure I isolated and insulated the starter wire lug so it could
not be powered accidentally by any hot wires in the area. I used a bolt with insulating
washers on both sides and installed that through the rubber grommet and then
put a nut on it to hold it tight. I also added rubber caps on both, the bolt head
inside the panel and one for over the outside end of the bolt.




3. Disonnect the 14 pin connector and using the engine side of the harness cut
the tape before the connector lengthwise to access the harness wires. Find the
larger yellow wire that goes to pin 1 of the 14 pin connector and pull out the large
yellow starter wire at pin 1. Strip off about 1 inch of the wire insulation cover. Cut
yourself a 6 inch piece of spare yellow wire and strip 1 inch off one end. Twist the
spare yellow wire striped end around the stripped off section of the yellow starter
wire and solder it together. Cut electrical tape and wrap it around your new
souldered connection. Place the yellow starter wire back in your harness leaving
the new pigtailed yellow wire hanging outside the harness and retape the harness.








4. Reconnect your 14 pin connector back onto the mateing connector on the
panel. Now take your yellow pigtail and pull it to where your lug will be inserted
and cut it to length where it will attach to the lug. Strip the end of the pigtail
solder on a round solder lug large enough to attach to your bolt.




5. Now assemble your bolt through the pigtale lug and add an insulated washer.
Put the bolt with insulated washer through the rubber grommet that was previously
used for wires to defog and wiper. Once inserted add the second insulated washer
onto the bolt and put the nut on and tighten. In the pic look through the
round hole in the panel and you an see the red rubber cap that I placed on the
head of the bolt to insulate the bolt inside the panel.




6. On the front side you now have a starter wire lug to attach a remote
starter switch to. To finish up I added a cap on the front of the lug for protection
when not being used.




7. At Auto Zone you can get a nice trigger type remote switch with 6 ft. leads for
about $15.00. You simply connect one remote switch lead to either of the original
fuse block lugs on the left side and then remove the red cap and connect the
second lead on your bolt. Now pull the trigger and the starter turns even without
the key being on. MAKE SURE THE CAR IS IN NEUTRAL WHEN YOU DO THIS !!!!!




Nice little weekend project and every time you use it you'll ask yourself why you
waited so long to do this.


Cole

[smurfbus]

Yup. Installed one last year and it helped a lot when troubleshooting. Nice to have a writeup for archives.

[vas930]

Great write up, Cole.
Step by step

[gsmith660]

Why not install a momentary switch there and fore go the other switch?

[JFairman]

I installed a $10 generic starter button with a black rubber cap over the button in the unused relay hole in the left rear corner of the engine relay panel.
The hole was a too big for the switch but I found a generic square shouldered grommet at autozone that fit the hole perfectly and the switch fit inside the hole in the grommet just right.

Then I took constant 12 volts from the starter motor solenoid, ran it to the switch through 12 gauge wire and then back to the low amperage primary wire on the starter solenoid.
Very simple and it's very helpful being able to press it and spin the motor on the starter when the ignition is on or off while doing compression checks or whatever if I want.

[unclebilly]

Just make sure you ALWAYS have the car in neutral when you use this.

My first car took itself for a drive one day when I started it from under the hood. Another buddy of mine nearly ran himself over...

[cole930]

Very easy to just pull the red relay before you clip the remote
start trigger leads on. Notice in all the pics. the red relay
socket is empty. Works every time !!!!

Cole

[JohnJL]

This is a great idea. I have been cursing my short-wired remote starter with hacked up wiring for years but never thought to do anything about it...I'll definately integrate something similar (with an automatic fuel-pump bypass or a separate pump on/off?) into the two projects I have underway now.

Reminds me to also do something about timing light power too. Why are those battery-powered timing lights so expensive? I've been thinking about clipping off my timing light's positive clip and crimping on a female spade that'll click onto a spare B+ male spade in the engine compartment.

[cole930]

John,

I've always used the same power source of those two fused primary lugs for
anything I needed temporary power for. Those lugs are always powered as they
are connected to unswitched battery power. I carry a DC drop cord in the boot and if
I run into trouble on the road I can get it out and clip it there so I have good
light in the engine compartment. Also perfect for your timing light. Best timing light
for us is the Craftsman 2134 Indutive Timing Lite ,I bought a new one last year on
Ebay brand new for $32.00.

Cole

[JFairman]

Merry Christmas Cole!

I did a bunch of searches on the Sears A-2134 dial back timing light you have and yup it is considered the best one and maybe the only dial back timing light that works and is accurate with MSD ignition.
I tried a friends old snap on timing light and it seemed to work but they are ridiculously overpriced and it was an old one that may not be made anymore too.

A Steve Weiner post on the tech forum says none of the newer digital ones are accurate with MSD. They display something but it's wrong.

I have an old cheap plastic Sunpro timing light with no dial back for checking advance and it works ok but without the MSD compatible dialback delay feature you can't check vacuum or centrifical advance with it.
I'd just use timing tape on the pulley with what I have but with the dual pulley for AC on mine there's no where to stick it on... figures.

Unfortunately Sears doesn't sell the good old A-2134 anymore and all the used sears timing lights I found on ebay are different ones it seems.

I'll keep looking on ebay and amazon... some people had luck finding one in a garage sale.