wiring BS

[ShadowBolt]

CMC 17 has enough extra wire to go to the moon and back. It's laying everywhere! Lots of connectors next to your left foot. Some are connected to something but most are not. There must be 50 lbs. of wire under the dash alone. Is there a way to get rid of all (or most) of the wiring except what is needed without going to a Painless (or some other brand) kit? All I need is the computer, gauges, fuel pump, ignition switch, trunk release, (yes it has a trunk release) and everything required to start and run the motor (starter, fuel injection, and ignition). Is trying to remove the wire I don't need more trouble than starting over from scratch?


Jerry

[michaelmosty]

It depends on who you ask?
When Marshall built his car he had his complete wiring harness (full car) shipped to him and I think it weighed about 55-60 lbs. It's hard to know what more you could "easily" remove without seeing the wiring in person.

I have heard that if you have not had any wiring issues in the past and you start removing un-needed wiring that you will definitely run into problems. I have never prices a Painless but I think they are around $500 and in my eyes is a pretty price to pay for the weight savings.

Have you had any wiring problems in the past? Your answer will determine my suggestion. 8)

[RichardP]

I went through the stock wiring harness and removed about everything. It's a pain but I think it was worth it.

A good wiring diagram is required. I recommend figuring out how to disassemble the stock connectors so you just remove the pins you don't need rather than cutting the wires. Makes for a cleaner finished product and it's also easier to put wires back when you figure out you messed up.

Good luck.


Richard P.

[marshall_mosty]

I did the same as Richard. I got a good set of diagrams and started identifying wires. It's amazing how much un-needed BS that are imbedded into those cars.

I've ended up running the entire car on a single 15 amp fuse... pretty amazing as far as I'm concerned.

I "dewired" the harness in the car, which sucked also, but you get an idea of where stuff is going.

There isn't much running to the back of the car now... Four wires, fuel pump power, fuel level sender, tail light, brake lights.

I took the time to relocate the EEC-IV interface to over by the computer. There is really no need for it to be under the hood.

The solenoid (when I had one) was moved to the passenger side firewall. Since I'm running a mini-starter, I removed the solenoid and went push button start.

Dewiring makes finding a problem MUCH easier.

[Fbody383]

Jerry,

FWIW

I decided to start with "dewiring" the car as I stripped it. I got a multi year subscription to AllData (www.alldatadiy.com) which has had every wiring diagram I could possibly need for the 94 Camaro.

I'll let you know in the spring whether or not it was a good call - but I have more time than money so the Painless harness was out for me.

[ShadowBolt]

Thanks for the input. CMC 17 is just a wiring mess! At the last event we had to jumper the solenoid with a screwdriver to start it. It turned out to be that both of the connectors had came off the clutch safety switch. Both of the connectors had the locks broken off so I bypassed that POS. I could see that little jewel screwing me while trying to get to the starting line. Also when I had my cage put in the guy called and said the car was ready. A few minutes later he called back and said it had burned up some of the wires under the dash when he tried to start it. I assumed he screwed up something when he was doing the cage but I remembered hearing that Eric had some electrical problems in the past. The cage guy rewired the burned circuit but I looked at it yesterday and it was not burned under the dash.......it was a big yellow wire where it comes out of the firewall melted for about two feet. There are other issues like relays and circuit breakers hanging from the left inside fender well with just electrical tape keeping them from grounding. Lots and lots of wires with the connector ends missing and/or broken. I think I will price the Painless system.

On another note. I thought I had read that we could run polycarbonate (Lexan) windshields? I could not find it in the CCR just glancing through it.


JJ

[GlennCMC70]

the glass - thats a big no! look in the CMC rules not the CCR.

the wiring - there is one thing alot of you guys here are not taking into account and Jerry kinda hit on it - the age of the stock harness. those connectors are getting old and brittle, the wires are starting to build up alot of resistance causing more heat on top of the high engine temps we already see. put that on top of the hack job a previous owner could have done and its all to risky for me. i cant imagine a EFI 5.0 harness costing that much. my LT1 harness was $3xx there abouts. Mitch got a good deal on one off ebay, new in the box.
whats reliability worth?
whats missed track time worth?
whats a burned car worth?
whats it worht in saved stress?
then there is that added bonus of less weight. for a 4th gen, thats a big deal.

[AllZWay]

With my car I went the route of stripping and cutting out the old wiring also.

I easily saved myself about $800 in actual money, but I easily had at least 40 hours worth of work doing it.

If you have the money, I think Painless is the way to go....but in my case money was definitely an object and can be done......it just takes patience, time, and good wiring diagrams.

I don't think there is any real reason to believe a harness you make is any less reliable than one you buy as long as you do it right.

[y5e06]

same exact reason for me. I used the helms (factory) manual to chase down all the circuits. It was a lot of time, but very little money. It worked out very well.

With my car I went the route of stripping and cutting out the old wiring also.

I easily saved myself about $800 in actual money, but I easily had at least 40 hours worth of work doing it.

If you have the money, I think Painless is the way to go....but in my case money was definitely an object and can be done......it just takes patience, time, and good wiring diagrams.

I don't think there is any real reason to believe a harness you make is any less reliable than one you buy as long as you do it right.

[AllZWay]

I left out... It also helps to have resources like Morgan, Mitch and Glenn like I did.

Sounds like Michale, Marshall and Richard could help you out if you needed it.