want to get rid of some wires?
- Thread starter krazykyle
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psssh, if it was anything like mine .... the harness was already spliced, oil drenched and burned - a mess! .... anyone who'd really WANT to put a ECM back in would want to start over anyways. That said I am probably going to be the last owner. So I got out the snips .... made the job so much quicker
I wouldn't cut them but at the same time, it is just wire. It can be replaced if need be fairly easily.
Why would you keep them bundled up under the dash? You've already done the hard part and thats fishing them back through the fire wall. You have two connections left at the computer and the whole mess could come out. Along with the computer.
Why would you keep them bundled up under the dash? You've already done the hard part and thats fishing them back through the fire wall. You have two connections left at the computer and the whole mess could come out. Along with the computer.
^^ What he said.
I personally chopped mine, but at least I still have heat, not just a block-off.
I personally chopped mine, but at least I still have heat, not just a block-off.
well at some point i would like heat.i bought a heater unit from a older g-body,i have half of it in stalled because i just didn't like those delete plates they make.I'm think about just running the fan motor off a toggle switch that will blow over the heater coil so some heat will be there.very warm heat because all the heat controls are out.I'm hiding my msd box and coil under the dash and by the glove compartment so i took some stuff out. 
Even if our cars were origional (mine was when I got it), they won't bring any real money. Problem is the baby boomer cars of the 60's and 70's are the hot ticket items. And right around mid 70's to mid to late 80's is when our cars became recycled metal junk that were emissioned to death. That's why the underside of g bodies rust so bad because its junk recycled metal. IMO our cars are worth more if customized unless it's an oddity like a 442, grand national, or choo choo camino but even at that point your lucky to get at most 12k for it (Excluding Barret Jackson lol).
I've scrapped all my AC and heat because its too hot down here in texas and the AC didn't work. We've got those big arse g body windows that let plenty of air in. If you chop and keep the harness stock and cleanly maintained and tapered then there is no problem with that. The problem is when you have spaghetti hanging from your dash.
I've scrapped all my AC and heat because its too hot down here in texas and the AC didn't work. We've got those big arse g body windows that let plenty of air in. If you chop and keep the harness stock and cleanly maintained and tapered then there is no problem with that. The problem is when you have spaghetti hanging from your dash.
From what research I've done that's what I can conclude. What's your idea? Besides the factor of age. From what observations I've made, rust seems to be a lot worse on g bodies and other vehicles from the mid 70's to late 80's. If I'm wrong than give me your opinion on why they do.
To the host of this post, unless your car is going to roll across a big time auction block then I can understand tucking away the wires and not chopping them. If you want to do because its YOUR car then go right ahead. Whole reason why I got rid of the stock clock in my gauges cause it's unnecessary.
To the host of this post, unless your car is going to roll across a big time auction block then I can understand tucking away the wires and not chopping them. If you want to do because its YOUR car then go right ahead. Whole reason why I got rid of the stock clock in my gauges cause it's unnecessary.
patmckinneyracing said:
Research?
You need more experience around old cars evidently, not to mention you southern folks get spoiled...
You're lucky I've got a lot of time on my hands... :lol: There's a lot more too it than just 'cheap metal'.
There's plenty of factors that go into it... Environment, use, poor quality paint, build materials, and here's a big one... Cost cutting!
The '70s and '80s were a dark time for the General, as well as the rest of the big three.
Safety and emissions regulations were the biggest two. Both dropped right in their laps in the early '70s, these were such monumental tasks they stole a lot of the attention as the automakers tried to meet all the stacking requirements.
Unions were becoming greedy, workers were frequently on strike, moral was low, and build quality suffered.
For instance, your all new '71 Roadrunner was supposed to be introduced as a '70 model, intented to be released alongside the all new E-body.
Plant strikes prevented that, and the car that turned out to be the '70 B-body wasn't even supposed to exist, and the redesigned B-body was pushed back to the next model year.
GM workers on strike in the late '70s left thousands of unpainted truck cabs and body panels outside to rust, panels that were simply painted over when production resumed, resulting in thousands of trucks needing to be repainted under recall.
75 year old factories were deteriorating. One winter the roof collapsed at one building under the weight of the snow, damaging dozens of new Oldsmobiles waiting to be shipped. The cars that weren't destroyed received vinyl tops to hide the repairs.
Back to G-bodies.
Sure, there's a quick smear around the door and trunk skins, but do you see any seam sealer underneath your G-body? How about undercoating other than the rear wheel wells? Of course not! That would've cost a few dollars per car!
Multiply that by the million-plus G-bodies produced each year, let alone other platforms, and that's a lot of money for an already struggling GM to save.
I'm sure the pencil pusher that figured that out got a huge bonus...
G-bodies rot just as bad as any other old car for the exact same reasons... because there are plenty of nooks and crannys for debris to get trapped, get wet, stay wet, and then corrode. Various body styles and platforms all have different spots that are notorious for it.
Cars get driven. And when cars move, they flex. As time goes by, things flex more and more, and materials become old, brittle, dried out, less flexible. Maybe just enough to make a small split in some sealer. Maybe just enough to crack a little bit of paint. But in reality, that's really all it takes, because once it starts, nature takes over.
Lets talk paint.
G-bodies, as well as all other cars of the era, were all painted with laquer paint which, fades, oxidizes, and breaks down over time.
The most common condition is laquer-checking or "crows feet". The layer of paint basically splits, allowing the environment to attack what lies beneath.
Sure, there are well maintained, garaged examples that still look ok, but most of them don't.
My all original Buick wagon was garaged it's whole life prior to me buying it, and it's paint is worn through in several spots, and checking in several others.
How about building materials? Aluminum was huge in the G-body era, helping shed pounds to help meet new strict EPA regulations.
But when placed next to a dissimilar metal, like steel, it creates something called galvanic corrosion. It's why G-body rear bumpers often fall off, due to the aluminum inner-reinforcement, or even just aluminum shims between the steel bumper shock and a steel reinforcement. How about those anodized aluminum wheel well moldings? Sand and other debris work their way in between them and the body, and before you know it, both the fender and the trim are rotten.
Remember my Malibu wagon?
Rear frame rails, rocker panels, door bottoms, all gone.
All provided excellent places for road debris such as dirt, sand, and especially snow, ice and salt to get trapped.
All those areas were pretty much gone on my car, yet my non-undercoated floors were perfect. Exposed to 30 years and 225,000 miles of Iowa and Minnesota winters, dirt roads, and everything else inbetween.
Must be some junk metal...
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