I have a wiring mess with my 87. I went to the local junkyard and got a wiring harness off a car and I'm looking at the wire and connecter count and my new one is short? Are the wiring harnesses interchangable or v8 and years (excluding 90+)? Also, this harness doesn't have the oil pressure pig tail now how would I route a new one?

If you would like pictures let me know!

 

Stupid question probably but:
Did you get the harness from a camaro or firebird?

I have an 87 Camaro that i shoved a 89 formula harness inside and out and it fit just fine. Are you doing an interior harness swap or the engine harness swap?

Are you switching engines, or just need a new harness?

 

I got the harness of a camaro (not sure of year but did not have elextronic dash guages) and I'm planning to keep the motor for now but will upgrade to 350 in future. It is carbed, its an automatic. And it is the engine wiring harness w/headlights.

 

are the wires clipped for where the pigtail is supposed to be?

I would check your c100 connector also, just make sure all the pins will line up, check the book, it will give you which pins do what, its how everything flows form the engine harness to the inside harness.


I'm not super familiar with the carb'd setups, is their a safety feature like on TPI's where the car wont start unless there is suffiecient oil pressure.
B/C if not get yourself a new gauge from autometer, they include a new oil pressure switch, connect a ground wire to the switch and ground it, then attach another wire to the switch run it through the firewall to the rear of the gauge and connect, wire the gauge up for light, and another ground for the gauge and you're set. Gauges are easy if you run new ones, it is when you get involved with removing the old ones and splicing in new ones.

*only saying this because i've made this mistake*
You should only purchase a part from a car you know the year of, and if its compatible, also get everything off the car you can. Switching an engine out, every single harness needs to be pulled out, and swapped.

 

Well I don't see any clipped wires. But the weired part thing is that the c100 pins on the back of the one attatched to the car have more pins than the junkyard one. The wires for headlights are identical but the rear pins are different for both sets

 

headlights are easy, they are always the same, except for fog lights being there or not.

Sounds like you got the wrong harness. Which v6 do you have? the 2.8 or the 3.1?

Do you know which engine the car you yanked it from had

 

Well the car came with the 2.8 but the prior owner put in a 305 carb and hacked the harness so certain things do not work. The car it pulled it from had a 305 or 350 (doubt it was 350, not many true 350s) v8 carb in it and was also an automatic.

 

phew...
um the prior owner sounds like he half assed it a little, am i right?

for all safety purposes i would say, remove each connector one by one and label on old and new harness. get out the tri fold wiring schematics from the back of the book(you know the ones we all dread) and check that the new harness has all required connectors to do lights, and starting procedures. If it is missing things for like the ac/heat and stuff, i would say ignore them for now. Get the the car running good then run seperate wires and grounds for the extra accessories, like fan switches(if electric) and ac/heat.

hacked harnesses are not the root of all evil as some ppl think, i hacked my harness up, but i know each and every splice and crimp, so i'm set.

Do you have a mechanical or electric fuel pump?

 

Man, you wouldn't want to know the job they did to this car. They gutted/hacked the smallest parts to make it a "race car". I could show you things that are that would make you mad just to look at. It will begin the "tear down" of the old harness to try and match everything up. But in end result, if this proves to fail what would you recommend afterwords?

 

the old harness is hacked or the one you picked up w.o the oil pigtail?

cause if its the new one, youre gonna have to either completly run new wires for everything thats missing(which is gonna be pretty labor intensive and painstakinlgy long) or get another complete harness

Just for clarification:
You have a carbd 305
auto or manual?
power anything?
keep or delete ac/heat/radio?
keeping lights?

You really may be able to run your own harness, completely clean with hidden wires and stuff like that. Let me know.

 

Well I guess both harness are hacked because the old one is junk. and the new one doesn't have everything I'd like it do. I'm just thinking of parting the car out and starting with some with a V8 in it so it will be more cost effective in the long run. i will be remembering this when i get the new toy and drop the 350 in it.

 

yeah, you can do that. Either way will work. Cost really depends on what kind of performance you want, i have put more time into my car than anything. Cost wise, not that much, i scoured the junkyards for months looking for harnesses, bought sold and traded parts, and am still doing that. If you can get a running v8 in a decent car do that, it's gonna b easier. Wiring is a bit**and i don't recommend doing it unless you got time ad the patience. Good luck to you and your build! Keep us posted