jchaussee

Ok. Here it goes. I recently got a 85 Z28 with a carbed 327. I had some AC and smog stuff ripped out. Now there is crap all over the place. What all as far as electrical can I remove. I will leave the heater, but get an AC delete box for that. I really want to clean up engine bay and car just a bit. So any help would be appreciated. All harnesses that could come out would be great, all desriptions or pics would be cool also

Camaro305SB

If theres nothing wrong with the car don't go ripping **** out. Thats how problems start. Trust me, I've seen it SO many times. (in fact I'm in the process of repairing just that). C'mon, do you stare at your engine bay all day? The hoses and connectors aren't causing any harm.

If your building a race car thats a different story, in which case all you need to KEEP under the hood is the engine, distributor, and carburetor. But then why wouldn't you just find an already caged car or something instead of hacking up a nice street car?

jchaussee

The main reason is that when something does go wrong , I like to know what is what. Right now I just have a bunch of wires with plugs that don't plug into anything or cut wires. There is a harness by passenger door that is all cut up. And I do enjoy staring at my engine bay. But also if I do have electrical probs ( already do) it is easier to track down if I am not messing with thirty wires to nowhere

Dustytrix

iTrader: (3)

If your car is running and no probs then cut them out. If its not running yet get it running then sort out the needed and uneeded. Thats what I am doing because you never know what you might need.

jchaussee

Where is the ecm and all wires/harnesses connected to it? That I know I can remove. Car runs good, but the electrical has probs, which is part of reason why I want to tackle wires. Like lights behind speedo don't light, auto door locks don't work, back hatch light, rear derost, and passenger courtesy also don't work. Either does power rear view mirror. Just a pita to figure out , so I figure if I remove what I don't need such as ECM , all smog, and all AC wiring I will be one step up.

P-ROC

iTrader: (2)

I just yanked my complete wiring harness out and rebuilt it. I think that if you are comfortable with it you should do the same. These cars tend to have a lot of connectors where temporary repairs were done and left permanently. Solder everywhere that there is a connector or splice. As far as extra connectors, if you are sure they are not going to ever be used then use a good wiring diagram and start removing the ones you don't need from the harness. Never just cut them off. The AC wires and some of the others will likely still have 12 volts running through them. If it shorts out it will blow fuses all day long.

BillyTheGoat

iTrader: (2)

I feel your pain. I have a carbed 350 and I too have wires all over the place.

P-ROC

iTrader: (2)

ECM is under dash on passenger side. Remove the panel and you will see it. All the wires run through the fender and wrap around behind the door.

jchaussee

So can I remove everything connected to the ECM.??

P-ROC

iTrader: (2)

It depends how much was changed out. Here is a link for the most likely pinout on your ECM ending in 865.

https://i.imgur.com/ZevSw.png

The main thing is if it is still connected to your distributor and transmission then no. But you can remove everything that has to do with emissions. My advice is go through the diagram and check that everything is gone and you should be good but the thing I don't know about is how it will affect your transmission. You might have to ask someone else about that.

Or you could just disconnect the ECM and try the car. If everything works then you should be alright removing the harness.

jchaussee

I will try that tommorow. It is really rigged, but like you say if I disconnect it and it starts, runs and drives then it should be ok. Thanks for the link also. I guess I will now learn to read wiring diagrams. It also looks as if it is connected to my fan relay also.

P-ROC

iTrader: (2)

I was assuming you had a mechanical fan with that kind of swap but if not it will definitely be hooked to the fan. You can eliminate that with a fan sensor. Just cut the wire that goes from relay to computer and hook it to the sensor. Here's one example of what I am talking about:

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/HYP-4028/

They come in lots of styles from adjustable to set on/off temps. If you use one of these to operate the fan then your computer won't have any control over it anymore.

jchaussee

So under dash on passenger side there are three harnesses. On big a++ one and two litlle ones. Do you know what those three are?

P-ROC

iTrader: (2)

They are all part of the harness you want to remove. The biggest is plugged into the computer. The other two I am not sure what they go to.

jchaussee

I looked in a Haynes manual. It shows one of the small one going to fuse box , but also the ALCL cpnnector?

jchaussee

Also when I unplugged everything seemed to start but maybe was a little rough? Have not driven with unplugged I read on another diagram that it contols 4th gear?

P-ROC

iTrader: (2)

Controls, distributor timing/spark advance and 4th gear. I didn't think you would get away with removing the whole thing. Best thing will be to just eliminate what is gone. Was the car originally carb'd or FI?

jchaussee

EFI . I runs with everythin unplugged, just real crappy. I think I will just gut interior and statrt following stuff.

jchaussee

I will bring up my old thread. Over the last 7 monthes I have come to know my car a bit better. Thanks tgo. Anyways fan it hot wired in right now. No relay. So ecm unhooked. Cars runs fine. So where big thick bundle splits off to drivers side, what is all in that particular loom? Also I see that the wires are epoxied from one side of car to outide. How do I actually get that harnes out. Is seems that a lot of the ac componants are also in same loom. Is that correct? I have searched and searched, but is their a thread that goes over all of this in detail??