Intensity_Z

ok guys as you know i have the 84 z which is an all aout street legal race car, i took out all the wires in the dash because they were a mess the fuse box was broken so i went and bought an 8 circut one to make my own. now i want to keep it turn key ignition, but which wires will i need off the steering column for ignition and lights (low beams only) any wiring diagrams for wiring from scratch will be helpfull, will switch to push button igniton if necessary..thanks

brandon

TheGreatJ

GM ignition switches are pretty standardized. Red is battery. Yellow is "hot in start" for the starter. Orange is "hot in run" for things like the fuel pump, radiator fans, alternator, etc. Pink is "hot in run or start" for the ignition coil. Brown is "hot in accessory or run" for pretty much anything else. These are all thick wires (12ga or so.) Any thinner wires off the ignition switch are for the door dinger etc.

88tatpi

There are many ways of approaching a light weight race-only wiring harness. Firstly if you are trying to get the minimum weight by taking out every extra wire there are many other avenues to take before counting every gram of plastic coated copper.
You will not get a better e.t. by removing those last five pounds of wire!!!!

If you really really really want to get the bare minimum, first and foremost do not mess around with ANY non original, non factory wiring manuals.

The best thing to do is get the factory GM wiring books right away. I have lost countless hours/days/weeks (not to mention dollars....) trying to make sense of non factory- incomplete wiring guides. Even more wasted hours of cursing those cheap aftermarket alledgedly complete coverage publishers of shop manuals.

After you have aquired the real books, make photo copies of all pages or at least the pages you are going to work with first, that you can take them to the car and not worry about getting torn, crushed or dirty.
Next take along many pages of large note paper, different color pens and pencils, different color high lighter markers.

A list of "tools" to include high quality volt/ohm meter. test leads with shielded clips, various colors, various lengths, various gauge wires, continuity tester, small light, regular flash light , mirror good needle nose pliers, strippers, shielded shank probes, screwdrivers. SPARE FUSES...lots...just in case...better get them before you start rather than in the middle of the work.....

TEST before doing something irreversable. WRITE IT DOWN before you forget what you did last!!!!

Make up a diagram of what you want to end-up with and make a checklist of what you have to do to get there and UPDATE IT AS YOU work....

REMEMBER: the positive wires are only HALF of the wiring. The other half is GROUND!!!!
The basic law is the electrons are going to go from one end of the battery to the other end. If you don't provide the right path...they are going to find a path on their own and sometimes it won't be pretty and sometimes it won't be cheap!!!

Two more things. You may want to keep the ground cable snug on the battery post enough to make good contact yet easy enough to be pulled off in case something gets too hot or out of hand. A cut-off switch is a great thing too.
And of course a freshly charged and inspected fire extinguisher rated for oil/and electrical fire(12ABC or better) is a great thing to have around when you don't need it and fantastic to have around when you do need it......

Hope this helps, take care!

Intensity_Z

it's not that i'm trying to save weight by taking out all the wires, i'm just trying to simplify everything, the whole car has been gutted and i wanted to run all new wires so that the only wires i have are the ones i needed. and me not being a wiring expert, leaving all the excess wires under the dash and such would just complicate any problems i would have down the road, and like i said, the fusebox is broken so it needed replacement, , but there is now a 8 in around group of wires off the steering columb an di was just wondering which ones i would need and which ones would do what, thanks for the help, BTW where can i find gm wiring books i looked at the local autoparts stores but found nothing about GM specific stuff, thanks for the help

88tatpi

I got my original GM wiring book(s) from online companies.

I had some real good luck using eBay. Doing a GOOGLE search I found several companies selling original shop manuals and wiring diagrams-troubleshooting guides. Local Chevy dealerships will give you the email address and a toll free number to call and order the official factory books- unfortunately at the official factory prices. For a complete set of Chevy truck books covering 1988 to 1992 ran about $150.00 . You get around five volumns, over 2,000 pages. The wiring book is a loose leaf binder and the pages are about 12" X 24"- BIG - CLEAR illustrations. The truobleshooting guides are simply the best-period.
NOTHING BEATS THE FACTORY MANUALS.
Again , I 'd get the pages photocopied and get out a highlighter pen, marking out all the wires that are "keepers" and when finished go to the car for "search and delete" double checking before each clip!
Good Luck and take care. It would be good to know the weight of all the wires to take out. Please let us know!

Intensity_Z

150 bucks! for that i could just pay someone to wire it for me, maybe i'll just have my dad borrow one from work (chevy dealership) and i'll just use it and then give it back

88tatpi

Hey,
If you can borrow the books and make photocopies either from the dealership (some libraries may have them too!) all the better.
Also checkout eBay and keep an eye on the books available.
I found a set that sold for les than $55.00
I bought just the wiring book(big factory loose leaf guide) for $12.00 .

Remember $150.00 is for the set, new from the authorized distributor. Used bookstores(walk-in and online) sell them for less.

Take care

1983Fbody

Go buy "how to do electrical systems" by skip readio. Amazon, summit, ebay, costs 20bucks. The book covers pretty much everything you need to know. You'll also want a chiltons or haynes which you probably have already? I'm running barebones wiring in my '66 4x4 el camino. Theres no wires going into or out of the steering column. accessorys are controlled by 5 seperate switches and inline fuses. I have a 5plug fuse holder which I plan to hook up and then I'll only have one large wire going into the cab, acc's will feed off of that.

Jc whitney sells an aftermarket turn signal switch w/wiring diagram for 35bucks. It's easier than buying a ticktocker, 3position switch, and a dummylight. There's a bunch of info out on the net too, I found a real good article on converting to a 1wire alternator. I even found a tractor website, the guys were using all GM stuff on the old antique tractors. The site had diagrams and step by step instructions. It doesn't get any more simple than that.

88tatpi

Great info.!!! I'll check it out too. I already purchased the Chilton guides and I found them to be completely inadequete.

Their wiring diagrams were missing great amounts of circuits.

Many items were missing lables. Their proof-reading is terrible if there is any at all!!

Comparing it top the factory diagrams they are actually just plain pitifull.

Instead of those "filler" pages to show us what a good spark plug looks like, what end of the wrench to use and how to do little body repairs they should invest some time into their product.

Nothing beats the factory books. Borrow them, buy them used, read/copy the info. from them at the local library. Get your clubs to own a set.

1983Fbody

Is this what you are looking to do?



I know it's not pretty, I built it for function not looks.

88tatpi

WOW. Pretty basic indeedie.... No, I'm not the one looking to put in the mimimum wires. that guy must be up towards the top of the list.

Personally I'd shape some aluminum sheets over the dash, maybe even a couple of alloy panels on the doors after a few more holes cut into the door to lighten things up..

Many years ago in an Abarth race car the doors had plexi-glass windows with what looked like a leather belt withe holes on the bottom edge of the window. One pulled-up on the strap and and hooked the leather belt onto a pin much like a regular man's belt buckle!. Talk about lightness... Also the door inside release handle was a cable across the door from latch to hinge. One pulled on the cable to open the door!

Motor was pretty awesome too: 122 cubic inch four cylinder produced around 166hp....not bad for mid 60's with carbs only.

Thanks