so i got a real clean 88 a while ago but it was gutted to be a drag car(just a dash shell,no havc,radio, nothing) and i also have my totaled 91

how hard generally , will it be to swap this over? my 88 has no defrost rear window or power windows and a spoiler mounted brake light. i might switch hatches

 

Its can be done. Get pinouts and go from there. The c100 may need repining. The type of engines as well as thier fuel delivery system (eg. Tunned port injection), ecms, will all factor in. I have never seen a sucessful interior harness swap where the donor had a diffrent transmission, in other words keep auto to auto and manual to manual.

 

It will be easier to take all of your wiring from your 91 and change it over. I changed an 89 iroc over to a 92-Z28 with the 92 dash and gauges, air bags, speed density system,etc. The harnesses that join each other from different years have different plugs. An 89 will not plug into a 90-92 I have tried. I had to get the dash harness and change the dash to 90-92 style. I had to get the rear harness that controlls the rear lights and fuel pump. I had to get the front light harness. I kept the A/C harness and door lock/window harness. All other harnesses I had to change. The trans harness on 89 and older is manual cable 90 and newer is electric speedo. There are many small things that trip you up.

 

Well I don't know if this is better or worse... I tore apart the dash today in the 91. My plan is to just pull it all and put into the 88. In the 88 I plan on using a ls1 style motor and change to a t56. Currently an auto car.

So I'm not using the 91 computer,power windows,air bags

So can I just cut and delete them? Also what the crap were all those computers?! Like 4ish. One is the ecu, one is airbag? Then two very small ones about the size of an iphone?


Everyone wish me luck!

 

oh and I plan on using autometer guages. So ill need this. Wiring for hvac,lights,radio, I think that's it?

 

Air bag, ECM, two cuise control (black, at least on will say AC) hvac will be a stand alone harness, it will connect via one power wire. It is easy to run AC on the ls1 swap. For air bags you have ECM and three discriminating sensors one on core support, one under radio, one under center console, all airbag wiring will be yellow or wrapped in yellow tape. The air bag has a power reserve (if the battery is severed in an accident) so give plenty of time after the battery is disconnected before tinkering with it. The only light wires you can delete are fog lights if you choose to delete them. You will want to swap the c100 (both sides). You will have to swap the light harness as well. They changed the c100 starting in 89. If it were me I would keep the power windows (at least the wires) as well as stock gauges (from 91). All of the gauges will work with the LS1 and the swap will get expensive quick, you can always come back later and add the auto meters after you get the swap ironed out. You will retain around 5 or so wires from the current ECU harness. You can retain stock cruise or go to a digital unit so I would recomend keeping all cruise control wires. I would keep the radio wires so you can always add when when you want it. On mine I deleted the Bose part of the radio harness as I have aftermarket speakers.

 

Feeling like this yet?

 

Very much so only working in a totalled car that the pass door doesn't open. So the smaller ones are cruse control? Mounted on the air ducts? Will I need this on my my newsetup? (I would like to have cruse for long trips) So if I'm not using bags I can just cut them? Ill try to take and load more pictures as I go.

 

Correct, if you want cruise retain them (black boxes). Correct, I deleted mine, I just started at the air bad ECM and the three sensors and traced and removed the wires one at a time. When the wires came to a splice (junction) I just cut the one wire I was tracing and left the rest of the splice in place. Its important to leave the rest of the splice in place as other systems are using them and they are just where the air bag system is tapping in its power and grounds.

 

donor car









the project car

 

i dont have lots of pictures because i was into it lol. so i think ill need to take the dash off the 88 will i need to take out the center console to do this?


i was just going to cut the airbag sensors but now im thinking ill just unhook them. i dont think ill pull each individual wire out, but just unhook things. but it is very tempting to just cut everything!

i need to get some wire diagrams out so i dont cut something i need.



and on top of all of this you should see my work conditions...





im thinking about moving to another state next year and i need to take what i need from my old car before i move. (next house MUST have a garage!lol)

 

Start here,
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/ltx-...third-gen.html

this may help a little,
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/elec...ctor-info.html

 

what have i gotten myself into?!



now i have no way to mount the fuse panel