In a single long road trip to Norcal, I got the RB26 Datsun 260z engine harness finished and installed, and the audio system finished – then ran up to Sacramento for a full Mil-spec wiring job on promising Pro-Am driver Ryan Kado’s S14.  We even got some olive drab circular bulkhead connectors for the engine and chassis harnesses!  That car, and that kid are going to kill it next year!

Then we get an email from Jordan Innovations-sponsored Formula D driver Matt Powers requesting vector images of my logos so EA could accurately recreate his car in Need For Speed: World (their free MMO racer, just released) and upcoming Need For Speed: Shift 2 (coming out next year)!  There could possibly be Jordan Innovations products featured or available for purchase in the games as well, very cool!

This pressed me to finalize our 2010 logo, and here’s what we’ve got (thanks Laboratory17!) – vinyl and schwag on the way!

A couple quick shirts are on their way, much better ones (from Lab17) are in the works and will be available to sponsored drivers and for sale shortly, in addition to hats, hoodies, etc.

www.facebook.com/JordanInnovations

You’ll see updates of what we’re up to, pictures and info on the two Jordan Innovations-sponsored Formula D cars competing this season, as well as other customer cars and our always-growing customer gallery.

I started this build with the intention of having a very clean/impressive engine bay, with no wires visible and nothing passing through the OEM Swiss cheese holes in the firewall – this necessitated bulkhead connectors for main power, engine harness, forward body harness, and brake lines (for the hydraulic ebrake).

Unfortunately Mil-Spec circular connectors that can handle ~100A are cost-prohibitive, so a buddy in the movie industry put me on to Marinco’s CLM line of CamTech twist-lock connectors, rated for 150A.  I used a ‘mini’ bulkhead connector and an inline female terminal for about $30.

Starter -> Marinco Connector for Main Power

Next started the tuck and loom process for the entire upper engine harness using Mil-202 flame retardant sleeving and 3M double-wall adhesive heat shrink.  I separated the factory R33 harness by function (ignition, injectors, sensors, and trash), combining upper and lower engine harnesses as I went.  Since I did not have access to new OEM pins, I used the factory connectors and pins with Mil-W-22759 ‘Tefzel’ wire in OEM gauge.

Ignition Wiring - Tucked/Loomed

The injector wires were extended so that the plugs come up through the runners of the intake manifold:

Injector Wiring, Extended/Tucked and Loomed

Sensor Wiring, Tucked/Loomed

With all junctions that are exposed to the elements, the adhesive heat shink is ‘lapped’ so that there is a weather-tight seal from all angles:

Sensor Wiring, Tucked/Loomed - Closeup on 3M Mil-spec Adhesive Heat Shrink

Instead of a large chrome/nickle solder-terminal Amphenol connector like with the Camaro, I tried using a smaller, hard plastic crimp-terminal 37-pin Tyco connector – I figured this would be more affordable option for future customers.  I found that these connectors afforded the pins/sockets a little too much  misalignment, and when the cost of the pins and sockets is factored in, these lose any value advantage to the larger Mil-C metal connectors.

Tyco Mil-C Black 37pin Bulkhead Connector Pinned, pre-wrap

This was the interior connector, which was later weather-proofed (pic is from initial assembly).

Tyco Mil-C Black 37pin Bulkhead Connector Pinned, pre-wrap

The finished product, an intake side with almost no evidence of wiring, and protected from heat, fluids, and abrasion!

Injector and Sensor Wiring Tucked/Loomed - Finished Cold Side

Jeff Jordan, Luke Lonberger, Conrad Grunewald

… and this one’s from SEMA 2009, in the GM booth where the Camaro was stationed all week:

Jeff Jordan & "Superstar" Conrad Grunewald at SEMA 2009

In between these two events was me, at about 2AM the morning before the Camaro had to get to paint, finishing the interior/behind-the-dash wiring.  Zombie does not even begin to describe it:

Jeff J finishing Camaro wiring at the 11th hour

Putting approx 20 hrs of work into a car with a full competition-spec roll cage is painful for anyone, especially if you’re 6’3″.  Just looking at that picture gives me a back ache.

Gets tuned this Thursday at Dynamic Motorsports here in Socal, expect another vid then ~

Took the JefeS14 out for it’s first RB25-powered drift event at the National Orange Show speedway in Fontana, CA last weekend… The event was put on by Ernie (DTC Performance) and the Slide Assassins, and was fantastic!  Drifting under the lights throughout the night was incredible, and the 5-car tandem pulled of by the Slide Assassins was epic!  The JefeS14 was still not running at 100% (ignition breakup under high load that none of us were able to diagnose that day), but I was still able to get some pictures and have a ton of fun.

Thanks to Larry Chen for the unbelievable photos!

Summarized on the Formula D Blog from Motortrend’s coverage:

You can see the JORDAN INNOVATIONS stickers just under the Formula D name plaque ~ and check out that clean dash switch and fuse panel!

Click the pics for a link to their coverage, and check back for more ~

Jordan Innovations has the engineering background and practical “hands-on” experience in these fields to assist your legal team in exactly this manner as an expert consultant – on Tuesday 10/13/2009, Jordan Innovations was hired by John Rowell, senior partner of Cheong Denove Rowell & Bennett, to oversee the disassembly and inspection of a subject car in an ongoing Product Liability suit; overseen by Jordan Innovations, and with the help of Ted Zinke from Automotive Safety Research and David Galassi of Rest Your Case Evidence Storage and Handling in Irwindale, CA where the car is stored, the Protocol was carried out thoroughly and both parties were satisfied with the events (and, more importantly to Mr. Rowell, the legality) of the teardown.

Here’s a couple “action shots” from the procedure – note that the process was performed in a clean inspection room and recorded on video!

Jordan Innovations and Automotive Safety Research at Rest Your Case Evidence Storage and Handling in Irwindale, CA performing an inspection/teardown Protocol in a Product Liability suit

Jordan Innovations and Automotive Safety Research at Rest Your Case Evidence Storage and Handling in Irwindale, CA performing an inspection/teardown Protocol in a Product Liability suit

Contact Jordan Innovations for any automotive or electronic consulting needs!  Consulting@JordanInnovations.com

Jordan Innovations will be doing all the electrical work for Conrad Grunewald’s GM-sponsored 2010 Camaro drift car!  I just returned from 4 days of work at Luke Lonberger’s location in Los Gatos, CA on the car, and every single aspect of this build is TOP NOTCH!

From the 6.2L supercharged LSA powerplant that GM Performance Parts has provided (they actually gave them two!) to Luke’s Cro-Moly roll cage, to full carbon fiber bodywork from Seibon, this car is done right!  The wiring harness had to be fabricated in it’s entirety – the crate motor came with pigtails off the sensors/coilpacks/injectors and that’s about it.  Moreover, instead of using the OEM Powertrain Control Module, Conrad is using a new AEM EMS unit which is electrically very different in design and capabilities.

Using parts of an AEM-supplied harness and MIL-W-22759 wire, we constructed and loomed the harness using flame-retardant and abrasion-resistant loom and adhesive heat shrink, terminating in an Amphenol MIL-C-5015 circular connector.  The rest of the electrical system consists of Bussman panel-mount circuit breakers powering heavy duty toggle switches for the rest of the systems, and a OMP SCCA-legal 6-pole cutoff mounted on the firewall.

Pictures of the first round of work will be up this week!  Stay tuned!

*Wiring/electrical (conversion harnesses, tucked/hidden wiring, Mil-Spec connector retrofits, Push-button start, alarm/security system installs, custom 12V projects)

*Fabrication (stitch-welding, pressing in/out bearings and bushings, custom suspension arms, welding brackets/etc)

*S-chassis Race Prep (everything from big brake swaps to custom IC/radiator ducting and undertrays/diffusers)

If we can’t take care of your needs, we can certainly point you in the right direction – contact us today!

Info@JordanInnovations.com