73-87chevytrucks.com
73-87 Chevy _ GMC Trucks => Performance => Topic started by: 86restoc10 on February 09, 2018, 09:51:51 AM
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Hi there, first time poster here. Little back ground on me is I'm 26 years old and have been in the Marine Corps for a little over 5 years stationed in NC. I'm currently building my first truck which is a complete tear down and rebuild. I'm planning on doing a LS swap and totally rewiring the truck. I have come across wiring kits for the truck but they include the harness for the original carbourated engine. Is there any aftermarket kits that will come with the needed harness for the LS or do I need to buy a stand alone harness and computer for the motor and the kit to do the rest of the truck? I appreciate any feedback. Any tips on building the truck are also appreciated. I plan on doing every part of the build including body work and paint.
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going to say this, the ecm is separate from the main wire harness and comes through the passengers side firewall. the main wire harness is only going to have lights and sensor wires for the gauges. when i pulled my 350 tbi out of my 91 crew cab i just pulled the wires through that hole in the passengers side and just had to cut and rewire sensors and maybe a few small wires for the distributor and starter
thank you for your service.
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Welcome
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I appreciate the feedback Irish_Alley.
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If you haven't already pulled all the stock wiring out of your truck, hold off on that job until you do a better evaluation. If you are doing an LS swap with a computer, the wiring for that job is much more complicated than fixing the stock wiring in your truck.
Most mechanics hate to troubleshoot wiring, but I don't think its worth the time and money to pull out the stock wiring that is probably about 90-95% functional, and then spend all your time installing a brand new wiring kit just to solve a few problems. It costs money for the harness, its not that much fun crawling all around the truck, its tedious, and all you have when you get done is a truck that works as designed from the factory.
GM wiring color codes have been consistent for many years, and you can find all kinds of wiring diagrams online for your truck. Troubleshooting and fixing the factory wiring is not that difficult if you stay focused and work methodically. In most cases, the primary fix is to get all the ground wiring properly attached so that the power wires work the way they are supposed to. When grounds are bad, devices find other paths to ground, and you get really weird symptoms, like having the instrument panel lights come on when you step on the brake pedal.
Good luck with the rebuild.
Bruce
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Hey guys. Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I have been deployed since December 2018 and before that I was getting ready for deployment. I tore the truck down to a bare frame. I have ordered new body mounts and hardware for cab/core support and bed. I also ordered Ls engine mounts, 4l80e cross member, cab corners, fender hardware, all new brake lines and a ls swap/chassis integrated wiring harness from Painless. I still have a couple more months of deployment before I'm home and ready to start back on the truck. Next month I'm going to order a front end rebuild kit, c-notch kit and all the chassis paint. I will also be ordering sheet metal to repair some rust spots around the back glass of the cab and small spots throughout as well as filling in the firewall to smooth it. Ill end up making a build page once I'm home and able to post pictures of the progress. I just ordered the "How to restore your Chevy truck" book to read while I'm out here. Any other good books on restoring these trucks or body work? I'm doing every bit of work myself besides the machine work on the engine so any help is appreciated. I'm pretty mechanically inclined and work with metal quite a bit. I work on Helicopters in the Marine Corps. Thanks Guys and Gals.
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take it easy over there and we really cant wait till you get home to start your build
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I appreciate it Irish. I'm ready to be home with the wife and kids.
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Welcome From So Cal!
Can't wait to see pics, Be safe!
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Thanks Johnny.