mydejavooo

Ok...I panicked for no reason..silly me. The A/C delete pulley bolts in place of the A/C compressor INSIDE of the original bracket, NOT taking the place of the entire bracket itself. Doh! It's all good.

I've started to remove the accessories from the motor, in preparation for painting and such. It's become clear to me that whoever repainted this block did a pretty ****-poor job of it. That's where proper prep work comes into play. You actually have to remove the old paint, degrease it, and sand it prior to painting it, which was clearly NOT done before it was installed in the former donor car. And the paint he must have used was almost assuredly non-engine paint, since it was all cracked and shriveled up and most just fell off with the pass of the wire brush. I guess that means less work for me, so I'm not going to complain, but I still just shake my head in amazement as to what people do, all in the sake to save a few minutes or a few bucks.

I've decided that the block will be black, heads will be aluminum colored. I'm still undecided on the oil pan, which might be black or I may just spring for a chrome pan. My only hesitation with a chrome pan is that they get dirty, and crawling under the car on a regular basis to wipe it down seems like a real bitch, so I am still rethinking that one.

The brackets will be stripped down and shot blasted for appearance sake. I had thought of powder coating, but freshly shot blasted aluminum is pretty stuff, and a lot cheaper too. Time will tell. My wife has been fairly tolerant of my time spent in the garage lately, but she will still flash me "the look" from time to time...and for anyone that's married, you KNOW what "the look" means. So I need to tread lightly and not neglect my husbandly duties!

mydejavooo

Ok, I got the donor car's service manual today, and I'm going through that in order to figure out some of the wiring and vacuum diagram stuff...and I thought back to this post you left. If I understand what you are saying, you have a separate fuse block installed after the 12V wire comes from the ignition, and after a switched relay....is that correct? How many circuits will I need on the secondary fuse block? Is there is specific relay you would suggest? Or would something like this be ideal? http://www.google.com/products/catal...d=0CBwQ8gIwAQ#

The biggest mental hurdle I'm having right now is trying to understand what needs to be done with the firewall harness plug...the MAIN plug that connects all wiring and would go to the fuse block. Is that just going to be cut off and the wires routed to my original fuseblock? For some reason I seem to be making this harder than I'm sure it is. But even with all of the conversion posts I've found, and all of the help that I have been given thus far, I have yet to actually SEE how the wires are cut, modified, routed, and connected to the Vette. Maybe if someone has some pics that they can share, I can then wrap my tiny little melon around what I need to do.

mrvette

You don't need any aftermarket wiring harness crapola, period.....

and you don't need any relays either.....

in the pix I sent you, you can spot some relays on my cowling, along with other circuit cards, those are anti theft parts, and a built in garage door opener hanging there...

the dash is open now for other reasons, all that is stowed away neatly when it's all together, obviously....

refer to the F body '91 wiring diagrams of the computer, follow my suggestions, and it all falls into place....

thebruce

I had to modify a 1985 harness (which was different than the subsequent years) and re-pin the ECU connectors, so I needed to add relays. And I found it was much cheaper to pay $1.00 each for Bosch 30A junkyard relays wiht connectors out of late model vehicles than to order the stock relays from GM. If I had a complete harness for the '165 computer when I started, it would have all fallen into place as mrvette says.

My dejavoo- that Painless kit is pretty slick, and does the same thing I did. The only difference is that I wired my own setup using a junkyard relay and $7 fuse block from Pep Boys. I remember correctly, I've got the injector wires, the HEI, my MSD box, and the switched 12V to the ECU powered off the fuse block.

mydejavooo

Can anyone suggest a place where I can buy a replacement eprom for this swap? I know you can buy a programmer and do it yourself, but I just want to buy one and swap it out with the old one.

mrvette

chips@pcmforless.com


Alvin is his name, I think,...been a while, but his chip is in my car...I would get the whole cal pak.....

I have a 180 stat, so turn on my fans at 195 or so, and off at 185....

VATS is eliminated, I have a hotter cam in my engine so some alterations to do with that, and the idle is set at 850 rpm....

I would stick with the stock cam in your case....

mydejavooo

Gene, what did he charge you for the chip? And how long did it take to get it?

mydejavooo

I am getting a tad bit overwhelmed by the engine wiring. I have a service manual for the donor car...TPI Swap book...online resources....and I can't hardly tell up from down right now. I think I need to take a break for a few days to step back and catch my breath. I know some people are saying that this is an easy swap, with few wires to connect...but from where I'm sitting, that's easier said than done.

Seems like there are more connectors than places for them to go....certain wires have to all be hooked together....some are switched, some are hot, some are not needed. Oy vay! My kingdom for someone to be standing beside me doing this swap, if only for moral support. *sigh*

Deja

mrvette

Come on man, you say you learned ok how to solder, that's the first trick, make good connections, this is NOT rocket science, it's just wiring, never understood why people get all upset at a little electrickery....

I have to remember to get you those wiring diagrams, I see about them later this morning, need wife to copy/mail to me, then forwared on....

sorry I got other thing on my mind and didn't do that yet....

mydejavooo

Gene....good call. Yes, I was having a momentary pity party...with my melon all bottled up with wiring stuff. In fact, after I wrote that, I went out to the garage and diagrammed the C207 plug for ease of reference. That's the connector that has all of the injector wiring and such. I was able to find the pinout diagram in my service manual for the ECM harness plugs, which I am sure will help. It's becoming quite clear that there are a fair amount of wires that simply will not be used for my application. I have yet to decide if I want to entirely unravel the wire looms and bundles in order to weed out the unnecessary wires, or if I will simply "cut and tuck" them into the loom after I KNOW I will not need them. This goes for the A/C compressor switch plug, AIR diverter plugs for the smog pump, and a few others here and there. Even some of the wires coming from the C207 plug will not be used.

I have left the harness attached to the engine block until I'm ready to actually drop the motor in and start the in-body wiring. That way I KNOW for sure where everything is going. I have found a few online diagrams to help with the mental conceptualization of the wiring layout. It always helps me to actually SEE what I am creating, and not just working from pinout diagrams......but that is a fear that I will have to overcome if I wish to get this thing done.



That's one that really helped me visualize what I was making, and what goes where. I got that from www.chevythunder.com.

The other one is from www.rowand.net, and has a colorful layout that is also fairly self explanatory.



We'll just keep at it...stone by stone, brick by brick! LOL!!

Deja

mrvette

Which computer you using there 7730 or 7727?? I used 7730 which is the inside version....I THINK 7727 is the underhood version...

I don't like putting electronics under the hood, too much heat/humidity/weather/water/grease...but that's ME....

guys find a tough time to put even a MSD underhood on these cars...not much room for anything, really....

mydejavooo

I would have to say that I am using the 7730, since it was pulled from behind the dash of the donor car. I would love to have the weatherproof Corvette ECM, but I'm happy to have the one I have. I know space is a premium under the hood, so I will squeeze the ECM under the dash on the passenger's side. The relays are weatherproof, and they will remain under the bonnet.

And Gene...didn't anyone ever tell you that if it doesn't fit...get more lube or a bigger hammer?!

Trevor

mrvette

Hey watch it man, I don't talk about my greazy assed hammer very often....

nate99

I've been following this thread and reading up on the others referenced. I'm trying to get an idea of what the all-in cost would be for a swap like this recognizing that I probably don't have the patience or time to customize used parts or find them in the first place. I admire the ingenuity of those of you that do it yourselves, but looking at cost alone for a pre-made harness and all the various and sundry other items, I think I'd probably be approaching $1500 for parts alone. just wondering what the guys that have already done it have spent.

Thanks for all the good info, and good luck.

mrvette

15 years ago, the initial install of my stock TPI on to the L48 engine was a tad over 700 bux.....here is the cost breakdown as I remember it.....

TPI system.....350 bux, with injectors, but no wiring, complete mechanicals for a speed density system...

1227730 computer 10 bux, junkyard.....

wire ends at computer and every sending unit......almost free, junkyard.....

NEW frame mounted fuel pump and filter and hose in rear near tank, junkyard FP relay.....120 bux.....

CAL PAK to dump VATS, and redo the thing for power 250 bux, that is about 120-150 bux today, due to lack of demand and the programs being in the can from suppliers today....they need to know all about the engine, cam especially....

O2 sensor, new, into the heat riser/flapper fitting off the ram's horn....
about 60 bux for a single wire back then, unheated.....today it's about the same for a heated one like I have in the header collector....

being a olde tyme ET, I had tons of wire on spools, so made my own wiring harness, leaving the pigtails of the stock GM connectors alone on each end....that way the color of the wire running the length did not matter, just what it said on the computer end, and the sensor ends....

now over the years, there have been several iterations of this install, the latest one is with a LT1 modified intake, still using the L98 dizzy, on a '89 truck roller engine with L98 heads/headers...larger injectors, and another Cal Pak.....and a ZZ9 cam from TPIS,

nate99

Sounds like something that would stretch in to my retirement if I attempted it, or at least until my daughter goes to college (she's 2). I can come up with the money for an out of the box system a lot easier than I can come up with the time to develop the expertise and find all of the necessary parts, such is my situation.

Thanks again.

Iskenderian

i built the harness myself for my LT1 swap in the car. As in i set the computer in place and custom ran/cut all the wires. took 10 days or doing it after work, but i wasnt in a hurry so it got done for 20 bucks of solder and wiring parts. computer reprogramming was 100. but this is an OBD2 computer, no "chip" to swap out. LT1swap.com is where i got all my info.


-bob

1mpalss

Finally put the TPI'd ZZ4/700R4 in the 70! As you can see, I've got a lot of wires to hook up. I'm going to use relays from the IGN wire to trigger power for the injectors, O2's, and ECM (though the ECM also gets Battery power). I've got to wire up a solenoid for the NASCAR starter - it's only got a positive battery power post. Also have to figure out the A/C and cruise control hookups. A small-cap HEI would actually be nice!


Accessories are 1990 vintage C4.

mydejavooo

Deja

markdtn

I have your same setup. PM me if you have any questions.