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With only 1 empty slot in my clockspring connectors, I needed to add 2 more to hardwire my paddle shifters.
The clockspring is a pretty simple device - its just a strip of wire ribbon. So I decided to add in another wire ribbon. That is the easy part, but then I would need to somehow have the wires enter and exit the clockspring, and I can't use the existing plugs, so I would have to add my own for this. Involved drilling an exit hole one one side, but no problem, really.
I bought an extra used clockspring, in case I messed it up.
Then I would need two 4 pin connectors, soldering iron, solder and flux.
So first, dissasembling the clockspring. Pretty easy. Just held together with tabs.
Then I had a wire ribbon with 4 wires in it, so I cut it to around the same length as the old one, but longer. Can trim later.
On one end, I drilled holes into each exposed copper strip for the wire (this wire will go to the new connector that needs to be added) to go through. Then I sanded off the plastic sheath to expose the bare copper. Need metal exposed for thee solder.
Solder the 3 wires (could have done 4, but I needed only 3). The wire goes through the hole I drilled and then soldered on the back. Trim off the excess ribbon.
Now fold the ribbon to follow the old ribbon, and route the wires out of the clockspring. For the steering column side, I had to drill a hole to allow the wires to exit, as there was no other place for them to go. Then covered the hole all up with hot glue.
Now for the steering wheel side. Coil the ribbon up with the old one, and leave a little bit extra. Drill your holes and sand off the plastic sheath like before. Then solder them. Fold the ribbon to follow the old one. For the steering wheel exit, I had my wires follow the path of the airbag wires, so no extra hole here.
Put it back together. And that's it. I now have 3 extra wires I can use. These will be for wiring up the paddle shifters directly, so I don't need to use a transmitter.
Oh, I don't know... maybe a new horn 'pad' with buttons on it that'll do ALL THE THINGS. Like, oh, I dunno, maybe depoly a bulletproof/waterproof/pressure capable bubble canopy, or perhaps the off-road only () deforestation dual circular saws... Or the autojacks. That'd be pretty nifty in traffic... Chawnkchawnkchawnkchawnk...
/Powerful Mach Awesome.
//I told you, I don't need to be thinking things right now...
///[G] for homing robot! I mean... we can totally do that now!
You could hardwire a transbrake or line-lock button on the steering wheel. That would be pretty cool and you wouldn't have the wires hanging all over your steering wheel.
This really is a great option, when adding paddle shifters! I'm a novice (at best) regarding wiring, so please bare with me... Where are you sourcing the wire ribbon from? Do you know about how much (length) you needed?
I used wire ribbon from an extra clockspring I had sitting around for my wife's car. Unfortunately, I never measured the length, but whatever it was, it was a fair bit longer than what I needed, which is good.
The clockspring was for a 1999 - 2004 Porsche 911, if that helps.
I have a large diecast car collection in 1:18, and a good number of them are Mustangs. I like to modify and customize my models, especially if no model exists of a certain type of car. So what you see in the background is a replica of my car, a 1967 I am converting into a replica of the Mustang from the Fast and the Furious Tokyo Drift, and also of a SN95 I am converting into a 1995 Cobra R.
Thanks Jim
Amazing work and thoughtfulness in sharing the engineer/tinkers mind with everyone else.
I have read the "transmitter" thread a handful of times. It looked complete enough even I could grasp most of the steps.
But I was more drawn to the 'wired' option to do the paddles.
So I have ordered
1. a new Clock spring (so I don't ruin the current one, and so I can play at my pace and not cripple the car)
2. a 3 meter piece of 4 wire clock spring - visually same as what I see in the pics above.) I sure hope 3 meters is long enough. Couldn't find a length. Guessed.
3. I lined up some connectors... found options for 3 or 4... they look similar to those in your pictures.
Now my hope is to find out if Jim was has completed the 'go wired' mod? A bit of transfer from Jim's head to "paddle shifters for dummies" for me to follow.
How you will connect the paddle shifters wires to your modded clock spring. and how you think you will route cable down column and over to shifter. And how to splice into the shifter wires harness.
Here is hoping it is a finished effort... and not a secret. Hopefully I didn't miss this somewhere else in the posts I have looked at.
Again, thanks for all the guide work you have done so far.
Now my hope is to find out if Jim was has completed the 'go wired' mod? A bit of transfer from Jim's head to "paddle shifters for dummies" for me to follow.
Yes, my car is now wired up with no transmitter and has been working flawlessly. Not that the transmitter was a problem.
How you will connect the paddle shifters wires to your modded clock spring. and how you think you will route cable down column and over to shifter. And how to splice into the shifter wires harness.
No secret here. You just wire these directly to the sport shift wires from the shifter. You only need 3 wires to do this. The rout yo take is upto you, but I went down the steering column and then to the back of the center stack using zip ties to attach the wires so they don't dangle. From there go under the AC controls. It will become obvious to you which path to take once you take stuff apart.
So follow the wiring instructions for the paddles to the transitter, but instead it will go to the new connector you bought. Be well aware or label which wire is up, down and ground. Once you get to the shifter, look for these wires as per the original instructions:
on the shifter:
shift up - brown shift down - green/purple signal return - green white
And always test to make sure that everything is good before you start soldering.
Yes, my car is now wired up with no transmitter and has been working flawlessly. Not that the transmitter was a problem.
No secret here. You just wire these directly to the sport shift wires from the shifter. You only need 3 wires to do this. The rout yo take is upto you, but I went down the steering column and then to the back of the center stack using zip ties to attach the wires so they don't dangle. From there go under the AC controls. It will become obvious to you which path to take once you take stuff apart.
So follow the wiring instructions for the paddles to the transitter, but instead it will go to the new connector you bought. Be well aware or label which wire is up, down and ground. Once you get to the shifter, look for these wires as per the original instructions:
on the shifter:
shift up - brown shift down - green/purple signal return - green white
And always test to make sure that everything is good before you start soldering.
Would you say it's slightly faster shifting through gears hardwired as opposed to when you were using the wireless transmitter?
) deforestation dual circular saws... Or the autojacks. That'd be pretty nifty in traffic... Chawnkchawnkchawnkchawnk...
