midge54

So this weekend i tore into my 87 trans am. Original 305 carb spun a main bearing so p.o. replaced with a 350 out of a truck. Problem is apparently they decided to cut and remove a good portion of the wiring harness since the computer was just laying in the car and you can see wires cut coming in through the firewall. Also the fan is wired on a toggle switch and isnt really that nice of a job. The carb on the 350 is a holly mechanical and the distributor is a vaccum advanced dist. Im kinda tossed as to how to fix this botched set up. I saw an entire tpi set up here on the forum im interested in, but a.) dont have the funds this second to do that b.) dont know what all that would entail to swap in and c) if i should even do that since the car was originally carbed. Also if i dont do that route, how hard would it be to find a original carbed wiring harness and swap out for my chopped up one?

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

Some people simply should not be allowed to own dykes: there should be a license, and a test you have to pass, before you are allowed touch them.

Sounds like some one of those has been there.

Any of those harnesses are tough to find in unmolested condition.

First thing to do is to figure out which harness(es) is/are butchered.

There are 2 that connect to the big bulkhead plug by the brake booster; one goes to body things (lights mostly), the other goes to the engine. That one is the core of the car/engine interface. It has ignition, gauges, charging, and such as that. Get that one working first.

There is a 3rd LARGE THICK one that comes out of the pass side fender well by the blower motor. That one is the computer-related stuff: carb parts, MAP sensor, O2 sensor, etc. It's actually part of the engine at the assembly plant; they drop the engine in, feed the pigtail in through the side of the windshield cowl behind the pass side kick panel, and plug it into the ECM which is mounted behind the pass side of the dash. It will be very similar in any car of about the same year that has the same motor; at least, it will have all the connectors you need, so you can use it as a source for rebuilding yours. Go get one of those out of any vehicle w a similar engine. A Caprice, Monte Carlo, etc. w 305 4-bbl will work fine as a donor.

Then there are a couple of smaller harnesses that were part of accessory packages; the HVAC system has its own, the cruise its own, etc. Save those for last.

OrangeBird

iTrader: (1)

NVM

midge54

so far from what i have been able to tell on the car, havent messed much with wiring and the engine since im trying to get the floors done. the car starts up however it has holly carb on it with electric in line pump and vaccum advance distr. The interior lights work, dash lights and gauges work, hvac works, although heater core and a/c are not hooked up. The power windows work. all lights light up except front marker lights and the headlights dont lift up. However the ecm was laying in the seat of the car and my fan is wired to a toggle switch instead of the sensor in the head