I just bought an 83 camaro about three weeks ago. Its got fresh new paint and so far I've really liked it, until last night. First off, I knew the wireing was wierd because if you dont disconnect the battery and dont start it up for around 24 hours it will drain the battery. I knew this before i bought it and he said it started happening after he installed a new cd player. No big deal i thought, and i just havent got around to fixing it yet. I also noticed that when the headlights are on, the right blinker light in the dash stays lit up, but i believe the blinker works still. the dash lights also dont light up.

Heres where it got serious. last night i was driving to a friends house, i usually just leave my cd player off since it drains the battery when it sits, but i just got a new cd that i wanted to listen to. I have a gauge cluster under the dash by my feet for temp, oil pressure, and battery. all of the sudden it starts sparking, my stereo cut out, but i gave the gauges a little kick and it stopped for a bit. by this time, i was about to turn onto my friends street who lived a few blocks down. as i took the turn, it started sparking again, this time they were some mean sparks, like staying lit for a few seconds after they hit my floor mat. I immediatly pulled off to the side of the street, and started choking on smoke. my headlights were on, but just barely glowing. i unhooked the battery and noticed the positive battery wire was fried.

I went back today to see if i could figure it out, and once i hooked the battery up, the same gauge immedeatly started smoking and sparked a little, even before i put the key in the ignition.

To top everything off, my friend live in the ghetto part of town. Needless to say, i want to get it home asap.

If anyone could help diagnose the problem, that would be great. Im a body man myself, but i dont know much of anything when it comes to wireing. i was thinking it maybe a ground, but wouldnt know where to even look at under the hood.

 

Im having somewhat same problem, when the head lights are on the right turn signal bulb stays on and when intior lights are on the guages Go dead... I havent had sparks yet....
I HATE wiring.. if i figure something out ill let ya know.

 

Pull radio and inspect wiring, report back.

 

Brendan: Sounds like the whoever put the gauges/cd in has run a positive directly to the battery, without a fuse. You certainly shouldn't be able to sustain welding sparks from a fused circuit!

Draining the battery overnight sounds like maybe a partial or intermittent short, which has become a full-blown and evidently un-fused short. I'm guessing the po's handiwork is a bit on the ghetto side - find where it's getting power and disconnect it before your car catches fire. Hopefully your car's factory wiring will be ok and u can start it up.