Harness through metal Question - NJFBOA - Home of New Jersey's Camaros and Firebirds

LTb1ow · 03-11-2013, 07:52 PM

Since I listened to internet people, I need to cut a access hole to allow the trans plug to fit here.

This is from under the car, the connector needs to be able to have a harness plug into it.

So, my idea is to cut a square out from the inside, see dashed lines below

Then weld a plate over the inside with a grommet riveted to it, similar to below

Thoughts? I am not a welding/body etc kinda persons so wanna get some opinions before I cut away. The hole was from a pilot drill, was gonna try a hole saw, but that was not a good plan. Measured out decent though, found it first pilot hole/

BonzoHansen · 03-11-2013, 08:51 PM

why a square hole? and those seals don't require welding do they?

LTb1ow · 03-11-2013, 08:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BonzoHansen

why a square hole? and those seals don't require welding do they?

Because the surface is curved, which is why I abandoned the hole saw idea, it would be ugly and not work.

A square would be easy to cut, then mold a plate to the curve, weld it, and have a grommet bolted/riveted etc to the plate.

BonzoHansen · 03-11-2013, 09:04 PM

You can cut a round hole with a dremel. either cutoff discs or maybe a spiral saw blade (I think they make those for metal)

is the underside flat or equally curved

LTb1ow · 03-11-2013, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BonzoHansen

You can cut a round hole with a dremel. either cutoff discs or maybe a spiral saw blade (I think they make those for metal)

is the underside flat or equally curved

This is frame steel, a dremel or similar tool would take me a month and a few hundred disks.

Both sides are curved, and I just was under the impression a piece of 1/8 steel molded over the square cut then welded down was less hack than attempting a circle cut.

But, again, I am not a body guy

transmaro93 · 03-11-2013, 09:12 PM

how curved is that area? those grommets are pretty cool. id say cut it with a holesaw put the grommet in and just bang it into place and screw it in with the supplied holes. If its not going to be seen you can squirt a little seam seal around it to ensure its air tight... the ring around the seal is metal right?

LTb1ow · 03-11-2013, 09:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by transmaro93

how curved is that area? those grommets are pretty cool. id say cut it with a holesaw put the grommet in and just bang it into place and screw it in with the supplied holes. If its not going to be seen you can squirt a little seam seal around it to ensure its air tight... the ring around the seal is metal right?

look on your driver side seat area, trans tunnel, thats the area in question

BonzoHansen · 03-11-2013, 09:19 PM

is is just a harness or do you have to clearance for the connector too? i know it is a tight fit

LTb1ow · 03-11-2013, 09:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BonzoHansen

is is just a harness or do you have to clearance for the connector too? i know it is a tight fit

The trans connector needs to fit though, well, I could depin it and then feed harness though a small hole, but thats not well thought out.

transmaro93 · 03-11-2013, 09:22 PM

lol i know thats where it is but its hard to tell in pic how curved it is. i dont see why you can just cut a nice hole with a hole saw and use those grommets. if that ring is metal you can bang it into any shape you want so curved area shouldnt really matter to much. only thing is you will have either rivits or screws showing under the car in the tunnel. if you can live with that i think it would work. another thing to think about is if you have to pass a connector through it you may want to cut your holes and everything and maybe cut the wires and just pass the thin wires through the grommet connect it into the trans and then solder the wires inside the car. otherwise your gonna have a bigger hole cut inthe rubber grommet and its not gonna be air/water tight

transmaro93 · 03-11-2013, 09:33 PM

if you wanna cut and weld a plate or somthing that is doable to. i can help ya with that if you want to go that route. but your car is at your house and not drivable. assuming you dont have a welder and prob dont have same plug for 220 i have on mine. so i dont know how we could make that happen unless you tow it here

LTb1ow · 03-11-2013, 09:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by transmaro93

if you wanna cut and weld a plate or somthing that is doable to. i can help ya with that if you want to go that route. but your car is at your house and not drivable. assuming you dont have a welder and prob dont have same plug for 220 i have on mine. so i dont know how we could make that happen unless you tow it here

Towing it is a viable option, would not mind doing it at all.

I just do not think a hole saw is gonna be a clean way of doing it, just imagining it grabbing and what not

sweetbmxrider · 03-11-2013, 09:43 PM

I'm assuming the problem here is the unibody structure that is seen in the first pic.

LTb1ow · 03-11-2013, 10:15 PM

Thats kinda what i had in mind, then weld a plate on the inside, goop up the outside with a plate to seal out debris

WildBillyT · 03-11-2013, 11:07 PM

More hack than a hole saw imo.

Dudbird113 · 03-12-2013, 03:17 AM

Why not just cut the hole, make a plate up and silicone it on with some self tapping screws since u dont have a welder.

LTb1ow · 03-12-2013, 07:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WildBillyT

More hack than a hole saw imo.

Ok, guess the consensus is to attempt the hole saw.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dudbird113

Why not just cut the hole, make a plate up and silicone it on with some self tapping screws since u dont have a welder.

Making a very concerted effort to avoid any and all hacking, self tappers are way up on the half ass list.

Stevoone · 03-12-2013, 08:23 AM

Do you have an air compressor? I bought a Carbide Burr set from the Snap-on guy and they work great. Something like that may be easier to work with in that area.

V · 03-12-2013, 10:11 AM

Have you looked to see if anyone does or can make a custom connector? like 90°, then you can run the harness back a little . not a simple mod but shouldn't be impossible. only like 12 pins or something like that right?

WildBillyT · 03-12-2013, 10:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LTb1ow

Ok, guess the consensus is to attempt the hole saw.

Making a very concerted effort to avoid any and all hacking, self tappers are way up on the half ass list.

The way I see it, if the hole saw looks half assed and h@x0r then no biggie. You were going to cut the section out anyway.

LTb1ow · 03-12-2013, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by V

Have you looked to see if anyone does or can make a custom connector? like 90°, then you can run the harness back a little . not a simple mod but shouldn't be impossible. only like 12 pins or something like that right?

The trans connector is not made aftermarket yet AFAIK.

Would def use that option if I could, believe the truck connectors are right angles but again, its too tight.

BonzoHansen · 03-12-2013, 04:31 PM

saw this earlier, thought of you

Quote:

Originally Posted by Done Yet?

First off the repair pieces were purchased from NPD. Lay your repair pieces over top of existing hole and draw a line around the outer edge.

Next i will show you how to cut a round hole with a cut off wheel. This works better if your cut off wheel has a little wear on it and it is not full size. You need to make a bunch of cuts from the inside and stop right before the line that was transfered. See the pic below.

When your done slicing it will look like this.

Now use the cutoff wheel and cut out the rest stopping before the line. Once you have removed all of the slivers of metal turn the cutoff wheel upright and clean up the edge of the hole without grinding past your line.

Now switch out the cut off wheel for a deburring tip (shown in the next pick) And carefully trim the outer edge of your hole until your repair piece fits nice and snug like shown.

Blackbirdws6 · 03-12-2013, 04:51 PM

I was thinking he would just punch a hole through the tunnel.

sweetbmxrider · 03-12-2013, 06:50 PM

That is neat!

transmaro93 · 03-12-2013, 07:18 PM

was thinking more about this... is there an actual clearance issue on the trans half of the connector or just a clearance issue when the harness end is plugged in? was thinking today to do it (imo) really clean would be hole saw what you need in that unibody frame brace to clear the connector then from inside the car get a smaller rubber grommet and cut a hole in the actual tunnel itself to what ever size the grommet is poke a small hole in the grommet and depin the harness and punch the wires through the hole made in the grommet (this will now be pretty tight fit for air/water) and repin the connector. loom the portion of the wire that is on the outside of the tunnel for any sharp metal made by the holesaw. to me this is a clean way of doin it with minimal work. tell me what you think. dont forget to etch prime and paint any bare metal.