noob, please help

[houstonecity713]

i just want to start by saying, i am grateful for the forum,i have found so many answers here,and u prob can not tell by the pics,but i have sorted out many problems already by reading and searching here. i bought this 1983 grand prix from (some one i thought was a friend),turns out this car is in far worse shape then i could of imagined.it has a aftermarket distributor and carb so from everything i read the ccc system/ecm is not in use.i went crazy with this rat nest of wires trying to figure out were things went.luckily using this fourm i was able to clean the rats nest under the dash and sort out what was needed and what wasnt. currently the rats nest under the hood needs to go,i have wires sittin on metal,grounded on the engine/bare wires ect.i went around with a test light and can not find a single of these wires with a 12 +.my project for today was to remove the ecm,because these aires arnt even connected to anything, pevious owner removed most of the emmisions,no cats no smog pump,and the emmissions related relays are ither unhooked or missing.i said all that to say this,after i remove this ecm,and get these wires taken care of what about my trans lockup. do i need to connect that,if so how, im guessing it probably is already unhooked,since the ecm harness is connected to pretty much nothing.any help is appreciated

 

[houstonecity713]

please dont mind the glass fuel filter bomb sitting on the valve cover, it will be replaced soon with the rest of my fuel system because it is full of sugar,or some other white crystals

 

[houstonecity713]

gets worse

 

[houstonecity713]

well guess this hasnt been posted, already working on the car but ill take a break these wires come off of ecm harness, what do i do with them?

 

[blk7gxn]

Its hard going behind someone else's mess and cleaning up. There is a way to engage your torque converter lock up with a manual switch, off hand I can't specifically tell you how to basically run a jumper wire from the plug pin to a switch, or what pin to use, perhaps some wiring diagrams are in order, I'd recommend searching here, I'm sure its been done before. In closing, if your eliminating all the unneeded wires from under your hoods engine bay, I'd recommend when you're cutting wires, to leave enough so in the future, if you decide to go back to original or need to hook something back, you have enough to splice back into. Good luck with your project! Don't get too frustrated, it'll come together eventually and you'll be glad you took your time. Have a great day!! -Will

 

[LeftLaneOnly]

This is a good candidate for new wiring harness
Looks to be many split/broken wires hoses and what not. and the hose feeding gas to the carb looks like they missed with the clamp completely.

Good Luck and keep a fire extinguisher close by

 

[bruisedbanana79]

This is a good candidate for new wiring harness
Looks to be many split/broken wires hoses and what not. and the hose feeding gas to the carb looks like they missed with the clamp completely.

Good Luck and keep a fire extinguisher close by

I very much agree, I used the American Autowire 15 circuit kit and rewired the car. Nice thing is the previous owner did was remove all of the CCC crap. Now the motor only needs a handful of wires to run. Also I spy a massive vaccuum leak off the front of the carb, there is a T that is missing some form of a cap.

What are your plans for this car? Are you looking to get it up and running as quick as possible or is this more of a project car where you plan on tackling the fundamentals like this before getting it on the road?

 

[houstonecity713]

thank yall very much for your replys, actually i bought the car not quite as a daily driver, but sonething that if i needed to go some where i could. i have a project truck already(not running atm) and the other vehicle my family owns we share.i stopped removing the ecm because i needed clarification on the last (probably only) wires that actually connected to something. the wires in the first picture of my last post o behind the motor, im guessing maybe to the trans somewhere(these wires are in very poor shape and have exposed copper showing. im sure what ever they are going to isnt working properly because the exposed metal was litteraly laying on the metal from carb,manifold.i dont know what to do with these wires because i cant find were to unhook them from they are pinched betwee things,then run behind a nrow space between the firewall and the engine.if i cut the ecm side of these wires, i will still have these wires running to some secret location. i guess cut them tape and cap,tape off incase i need in the future.(only i dont think these exposed wires will ever help me) the other picture is of the wires to thermostat, and a ground ran to a alt bracket. if i dont need these i can unhook and remove. after that the harness can be removed with out a problem.im curious as to how this car was actually running and driving, and am starting to fell like the po just got it to start long enough for a quick sell.the fault is on me for not looking into the car further. i can see where the po cut ate least 4 wires from the ecm harness and ran them to the choke.i tested all 4 of these wires and not a single 12+ with or with out the key in the ignition position.also from my understanding the choke was never supposed to be ran from any wire i this harness anyways.i have plugged numerous vacume leaks from the emmisions systems, and thank you bruised banana, i will plug that leak as well, but after i install my hei with vaccume andvace i dont think i will need that port any more because that runs to the carb from the manifold somewhere im guessing.i will find its source and cap that off and pull vacuum from my distributor advance.also the car has no ac compressor a heater core but no working heater for some reason(also vacuum related im guessing).i just need this car to be running again, so i think the echarness has to go so i can see straight.the pink hei wire is still hot when it is supposed to be, my starter still cranks so i know that is still in place, also my alt still works i believe because the batt never died.only i have read the alt was supposed to have a brown wire, mine has 2 wires red and black.im guessing they pulled the brown and ran other wires, or had hooked everything up with sperate wires,and left the oem harness just dangling and did not remove it.

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[houstonecity713]

yes sir you are correct as well the clamp on the carb is to far bacc really just pinching the flow. i noticed it has mixed 3/8 and 5/8s fittings on it. i am fixing to buy a new tank, sending unit and fuel pump because the filter is bone dry now and full of some white crystals(im guessing sugar).i am going to try to salvage the carb and fuel lines from the tank to the pump.i was thinking about adding a electric fuel pump, but to keep it simple ill probably buy another mechanical pump.im hoping i can get this sorted out, im just going to take it one system at a time., please tell me what to do with the wires that go behind the engine and the wires to the thermostat in the pic. i am extremely grateful to anybody that would read half of my rambling to help me fix this

 

[houstonecity713]

i dont have ac so retaining that isnt a priority, my wipers have been bypased to a switch under the dash i know better then to try to use the cruise control because everything else is hacked up so im sure this system is too it dose not have power widows or loccs.i just need to to start and drive again,in case i have to go anywhere,and the other car is not available