Ive already got an 18 circut wiring harness from summit



Ive decided to do it myself, but im going to buy a book or two for a little help. ANyone know of a good car electronics/wiring book? Ill have to check out amazon.com or something.

And about time... well i have 2 jobs(to pay for this thing) and im a full time student, but no summer class. And yes i study a good bit! 3.0 GPA

 

$2500 is awfully cheap for burn job wiring work. Add to that having a non-running car (no functioning engine/trans installed), and I'm actually surprised a shop would touch it (I wouldn't). Unless you can do the work yourself, you're going to have a hard way to go, and it's going to cost you a lot of $$$.

Good luck to you!

 

Im wondering what you mean by rewire the car! Did you take ALL the wiring out of the car and you are going to rewire ALL of the car. OR are you just trying to get what burned up repaired?

I can see 2500+ to rewire the entire car. This will take a long time to search wiring diagrams for pin locations on switches and motors. If you are just trying to replace the burned portion, I could see your 500 dollar estimate being more realistic.

Too bad you do not live closer, I would love to help with this. I really enjoy doing wiring.

 

All window harness's are intact and taillight, fuel pump, cd player, speakers, all have about 10ft of wiring left on them. All i need to do it run hot and ground wires to the window switches and door lock switches, make my custom gauge panel and wire them up, wire cd player and speakers, alternator, coil, starter, things like that on engine. Theres still about 50% of the wiring left in the car so its not the entire thing. I just got two books off Amazon.com and will be reading up. Ill be away on a Missions Trip for a week and when i get back im going to start. Expect ALOT of quesions!! thanks for all the help! Plus my engine should be in when i get back, lots of pics soon to come!

 

any update?

 

Awesome!
I've dreamed of doing the same. Sounds fun!

 

good luck on your project!!!! I applaud you for taking this on!

 

How much for the wiring harness??

 

the wiring harness was like $225 from summit

THE BAD NEWS: Ok, the newest info on the project. Its getting axed. I should of listened to the wiser corvette vetterens on this one. The project that started as just replace the engine and hood for around 4K, turned into a replace: engine, trans, hood, wiring, gas tank, gas lines, brake lines, master cyl... the list goes on. My most recent calculations estimate the total project costing 12K and when im done, the car wont be worth but half that.

THE GOOD NEWS: The car is going to be parted out. Unless someone wants the whole car? There are still a lot of good parts on it, doors, mirrors, interior plastic, wheels, tires, seats... SO, i will list the car in the FORSALE section with pics soon. Let me know if anyone is interested. O and i also have a crate 350 with 390hp, 390 tq and a fresh, rebuilt 700-R4 with upgraded internals to handle 450hp.

Sorry for the let down guys, i just took on a project wayy to big for me and my bank account. I should have listend

 

Don't feel bad about it. You're smart to cut your losses and you may make some decent money selling the parts. Sell the parts and use that money to buy a C4 in more reasonable condition if you still want one and you'll be ready to hit the road without all the work and expense.

 

I bet the owner would like to have had a good fire extinguisher. Hope I never have to use mine.

 

why quit now? you have a harness, engine, trans, all paid for.
finish taking stuff out of the dash, and wire the windows so they go up, and take off the wires.
put the top back on it.
The fuel tank doesn't need changing, just the fuel pump, it's the wrong pressure. I will even trade you some stuff for a new 10# electric pump and regulator (worth about $200) for stuff I need that you aren't going to use.
The fuel lines are already run, and you have a return line already installed to prevent vapor lock. just bend some lines to go to the side of the car from already made up lines from autozone. The mechanical fuel pump for your new engine is on the same side as the in-place fuel lines.
lay the wires in place, don't strap anything down, get it running, and little bit by little bit, start with a comprehensive list, and check off the little things every week.
Then, start with the first big thing. The wiring.
make a list of everything you want wired, then wire each thing and give yourself a realistic deadline..... a week for each item that needs running wires to it. Then buy some wre crimpers and put ends and splices on the wires to make stuff work.
Then, for the dash, make a set of spacers from some aluminum u channel extrusion 4 " thick, and cut out a piece of 1/8" aluminum plate for the instrument panel. Screw the panel to the spacers, and buy a hole saw for each small gauge, and a big one for the tach and speedometer, cut out the holes, and slide the wires up to the holes you cut for the gauges.
Forget about lights, turn signals, etc. till you get it wired for engine, trans, and other necessary things like fuel pump, fan, and sender units.
when you get that done, then tackle the headlights by buying fixed in place headlight buckets that don't flip. or trade your headlights for the kit. Or put driving lights in where the parking lights are. There was some guy on the forum that made his own kit.
Then the rest of the project can sit till You do each thing that bugs you the most first.
You have all the big things bought, and all you have to do is install them!!
Geez, you even have almost new tires.............
The best part is that you already have a running engine. Sell the new engine, all you have to do is slap a carb, distributor, and a manifold on the old one, and it will easily power the car that way. After all, it is a one piece rear seal, roller cammed engine with aluminum heads!! just take the TPI stuff off of it, and see if you can sell those items separate. Sell your new engine, and use the money to be a wise shopper and get stuff you need right here on the forum.
There was a guy selling brake lines. I saw the ad just today!! cut out the old lines, and just bolt in the used ones. You don't have to have ABS to stop, it will work and stop fine till you figure out how to wire it up to make it work.

 

I wish ya would stick with it also your halfway home. If you still decide to sell it where is the car located and what is your asking price? Pipe

 

This corvette isnt a total waist. I have been thinking of getting another C4 to turn into a race car. Put a good motor, cage, and pull out the electronics. Have fun with it. Restoring it would cost to much with to little fun.

 

Thanks for all the advise, coupeguy, ive gone through the exact scenario in my head of what you said, and it would just cost me too much. By the end of the project, i would have 12-13K and about 500hrs of my time invested in a car i could only sell for 5-6K. Its just not a long investment in the long run. Ill own another vette one day, thats for sure. just not this one... all parts are being sold in the forsale forum. check there or pm for prices.

 

Thats too bad about quitting the project. I thought you would beat the odds and make the naysayers humble. Yup you learned a lesson and surely are not the first person or the last to bite off more than you can chew. Someone summed it up pretty well on one of the first posts, about a free car being one of the most expensive. We cut our losses on a free Honda civic at about a grand. My son had it running good then the tranny crapped, wasn't worth fixing it as the car needed too many parts to make it into a good looking ride. And as you found out, corvette parts get pricey fast. You can buy a running C4 fairly cheap these days. Live and learn.