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Last Updated :
June 2006

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Wiring Loom & dash board

I decided to save a bit of cash with the wiring, Instead of spending £150 on a loom I think it cost me about £60 to go the DIY route. I could not find a MK2 Escort loom that was not seriously corroded, So my local scrap yard had a Mk5 Cortina that still had a Good (Non corroded and not hacked about) Loom, I paid £15 for the loom and stole the switchgear !. I completely stripped the Cortina loom removed unwanted circuits and laid each circuit into the car.

Once I had run all of the cables I remade connections as and when required before loosely Tie wrapping the loom together. manky cortina fuse box replaced with a 8 way blade type fuse box fitted to bulkhead.  The loom took about a week to build up and test, I only had one wrong connection which was easily solved (wiper switch operating L/H indicator ?) After testing the loom was then taped up and cabled tied to the car.
The major difference between the Cortina loom and the Stylus is obviously the engine wiring. I removed all of the Pinto ignition connections and spliced in the Dunnell ECU loom I also ran extra cables for the 3D ignition upgrade which I plan to add at a letter date. This picture shows the underside of the plate that is fixed behind the passenger side of the dash. As well as acting as a heat sink for the ECU it also carries ignition and fuel pump relays & fuses as well as the Flasher unit and wiper relay.

I eventually obtained a good mini wiper and rack motor from a local breakers I had too loot 3 cars to get all the parts and managed to pick up a reasonable (old!) heater at the same time. Wiper motor and rack fitted easily although I replaced the mini rubbers with black electrical conduit and had to replace part of the rack tube. The heater would not fit under the dash top so I ended up removing the the control flap and cutting the front off the heater replacing it with a flat ali plate.
For the dash I really wanted carbon fibre but it was just too expensive. So I went for a simple ali panel will will be covered with padded vinyl. The ali blank cost £8 and we formed a radius on the lower edge by bending the sheet around a TV antenna pole !n It actually looks quite good in bare ali, but we had a couple of mishaps and driller holes in the wrong place so the vinyl wil cover it all up  

Separate loom made up so the dash just plugs into the main loom. I've used LED's instead of traditional warning lamps which looks Cool !. No Speedo cable because I opted for the electronic speedometer which uses a magnetic sensor attached to the propshaft and allows user calibration. The small circuit board allows me to use a Ford based Loom with a BL type hazard switch without having two flasher units. If anyone wants to build one of these adaptors or needs a set of LED's please contact me.
I converted the single speed MINI heater into a two speed unit by adding a resistor into the slow speed connection of the switch. I'm still not sure about the FIA switch passing the SVA in its current position, I think a bit of pipe insulation may be required to cheat slightly !