Ok so my car is basically in pieces. I am currently replacing both floor pans, stripping the exterior of the car, and trying to hook up the wiring harness and dash. I wont be putting the dash in untill the floor pans are installed and carpet is put down BUT i want to get ahead of the game and figure all this out now.

Engine:

My engine is sitting on my mounts. It isnt hooked up to anything. I need to install my rad, starter, alternator, belt, ignition system, hook up wiring harness.. and i dont know what else yet.



Interior:

Everything is stripped. Right down to the sound deadener. No Dash, seats, carpet, nothing! There are wires ect hanging out of the firewall into the inside of the car but other than that.. thats it..


I need to get this car started so i can see if its in good running condition.. I have the dash, i have the wiring harness for the engine bay.

QUESTIONS:

Where the hell do i start? How am i supposed to know where all these plugs run to on the wiring harness? Like which ones are going to be connected threw the firewall into the interior dash.. Which ones are going where in the engine bay and to what parts.. I am totally lost with this but i do have confidence that i can do it with a little time and advice from you pros..

If any of you guys could post some pics or advice on where to start and what to do that would be AMAZING!

 

Start to google it will be your new best friend!

 

Honestly i was just looking at some wiring diagrams and it was like reading looking at jibberish.. I dont understand what the hell is going on with all those lines and letters and sh*t.. i think im doomed lol

 

I know the basics of a wiring diagram. They arent too hard to get the jist of.

 

take your time and start matching the wires in the diagram, to the wires in the harness, tag and number them if you have to(tag each end of each wire). Everything is more or less segmented and only goes in one way for the most part.

 

Ok thank u guys! ill try using my manual and print off those crazy diagrams lol.. Gonna take a long time but its gotta get done! I'm thinking about starting a project thread. Iv got tons of work to do and a million pictures and parts. I'm sure it would benefit a lot of people like my self.

 

get yourself a clean area and lay it all out and mock it up on the floor or bench to get a good feel of where and what you need to run.

I have an 84 3.8cfi converted to a carbed 302 and mines currently in the same stage as yours.Im not running heat or ac and making it pretty much a warm weather 1/8 mile/stop light to stop light door slammer.not even going to have a radio just the warmed over 302,C4 trans,and 8.8 with 4.30's.

You can probably do away with a large portion of the wiring harness depending on what you want to keep.im keeping the instrumentation,lighting,wipers everything else is history.

 

Looks like a nice start to a bare bones street/strip car, if it was me, i would gut all the wiring (except for the light wires), if you dont have the light wires id get a 12 circuit wiring harness, all mechanical gauges, no heat/air, jegs racing seats, carpet from the front seats forward, no sound deadener etc etc, but it all depends where ya wanna go with it i guess.

 

Thats a good idea actually.. I wasnt going to run AC but now that i think about it im not going to need heat either since its only going to be driven on sunny days like yours. So that means i can just toss everything to do with heat? All that crap on the passenger side behind the dash?


I wanted to have a full interior ect but would like to cut out as much as possible. Like the Heat and AC and anything else really.. What wiring are you referring to anti? Like the wiring harness in the engine bay? Doesnt much of it go to head lights, fogs, alternator, starter relay, wiper motor, washer fluid, dizzy? Im not sure what else :P

 

I didnt notice all the wires in the bay didnt look to long, but what you listed is pretty much all you need to make it run. Just get all mechanical gauges instead of ****ing with a dash harness, thats what i did. Plus they are more accurate.