3.6 conversion Brain ;part three

[Kevin Stewart]

Harald it would be great if you had time to post a picture, Thanks in advance, Kevin

[Mifintifin]

Kevin & ischmitz

Wow, what a party...anyway, I logged back on and saw some more postings. Here's mine

On an SC that already has a DME hole as well as the brackets for the DME under the Passenger seat its much easier to use the same hole. Just slide the grommet down the harness and route the harness the the same as the SC harness. Before mounting tape up the entire fabric portion of the harness that will be exposed under the car with good quality Vinyl tape. It is also a good idea to get the various bends and curves in the harness before you tape it, it will be easier to mount.

On the earlier car that had no DME its up to you. However, routing the harness in the C2 position requires a lot more dismantling of the interior IMHO. I route them all in the lower position.

Kevin, a hole saw will not work for enlarging the old DME hole. First, there is no metal in the center for the pilot drill to go through so the saw won't stay centered. Second, there isn't enough room from the outside to get the hole saw in the proper position to exactly staddle the vertical wall that the old hole is in. You will end up cutting it up to high which will be in the bent portion of the wall. The grommet will then have a bend in it which won't seal right. Again, I recommend you use the nibbler. The hole saw is OK for the C2 position. 60 mm is OK but I like the tighter 2.25"

Cheers,

Mifintifin

[911nut]

Originally posted by Kevin Stewart
its called a hole saw, they are like 5-8 bucks at Lowes or Menards and come in 60mm size

Add me to the others who say NOT to use the hole saw for enlarging an existing hole. Hole saws come with a place to attach a drill bit at their center. The drill bit penetrates the material first and anchors the saw into position.
With nowhere for the drill bit to go the torque generated by the drill motor will make the hole saw walk all over the place and it won't cut.
Use a Dremel with a 60 grit sanding drum (you'll go thru a whole pack but they're cheap).

[Embs]

Kevin,

They make panel punches (not sure if that is the most accurate term) the male piece slides into the female cutting the metal. You use a wrench on each side to pop the larger hole in. They work great and you can rent them.

Electricians use them on large electrical panels to pop new holes in for conduit.

They look like this:

[Kevin Stewart]

Todd, as Mifintifin said its a nibbler we use these on the aluminum on the race car, a nibbler works fine in odd places but left or right side cuts would be better, the niggler is more for a square cut, I really think when it is all said and done, the next few people that do a 3.6 will have it easy, but, im looking at c2 prices and thinking, hmmmm, they are getting low, Kevin

[Early_S_Man]

The hole-cutting devices Ingo was referring to are called Hole Punches mfr'd by the Greenlee Tool Co. ... been around for more than 50 year in the electronics industry for use by DIY-type hobbyists and prototyping at small labs and shops. Allied Elecronics has always sold them, as did many Radio-TV shops back in the '60s.

http://www.alliedelec.com/catalog/pf.asp?FN=1016.pdf

[Kevin Stewart]

Sorry didnt see picture, nibblers look like pliers or metal snips but just nibble at the metal, if remember itcuts a 1/8 by a 1/4 piecs each time or smaller, Kevin

[ischmitz]

The tool in EMB's picture is exactly what I was using for the holes in my 2mm custom made box for the oil cooler.

It cuts perfect holes. That's the way to go.

Ingo

[47silver]

kevin
greenlee makes a hole punch that you can use to make a perfect hole. we use them at work, i dont know what they cost off hand, but we use them to make holes in control cabinets and other sheet metal.. you drill a 3/8 pilot hole and use a 7/8 ratchet or wrench to tighten the punch into the die.
if you cant find them ill check my sizes at the office if you want.

gary

[Kevin Stewart]

Hi gary , guess where we are at is there is aready an existing hole on my car, do i enlarge it or move the hole to where a c2 would be in that case i would need to make a new bigger hole and fill the old hole, really this isnt brain surgery and both locations will work fine, the problem is the location of the c2 harness's groumet is in a different place then the sc, so if i use the sc hole i have to move the groumet and tape up or shrink wrap a section of the harness, 5 nickles or i quarter or two dimes and a nickle, i guess the question is which door do i wanna use, Kevin

[dean]

You can use a hole saw to enlarge an exsiting hole. All you have to do is weld a piece of metal across the hole for the drill bit.