Re-wiring the Iron Duke engine bay... (Page 2/2)
Stingray92 NOV 21, 09:30 PM
So a few years ago I had the whole engine bay empty. Took care of the old firewall insulation and did a lot of cosmetic touch ups to the rails, strut towers etc. When I went after the original wire loom and wire routing around engine the plastic and tape was such a degraded mess. Got every wire harness off the car, wiped/washed with Dawn dishsoap and warm dried afterwards. Then checked all the connectors for corrosion and ohm'd things out. Looked over the wire routing diagrams as well as some junked cars to ensure I put things back where & how they were done originally. I should have taken more photos prior.

I'm going for a restoration as best as I can do. If you're looking to alter things here's a couple things I'd suggest.

Pay attention to the surrounding areas for heat, vibration, movement of components in that area, suspension, engine, exhaust, etc. A poorly tuned engine can make the exhaust get very hot and melt the wire insulation. If you're planning on using the original wire harness check the assembly carefully. You don't want any knicks, cracks or breaks in the insulation.

Watch the routing, an idle engine doesn't move, under load, changed in acceleration/deceleration it definitely will.

Don't use the cheap/junk zip ties, either, they're susceptible to the same heat & harsh environment the wire loom is exposed to and won't last more than a couple a years. Use proper wire clamps, check out Auveco.

Good luck on your project,

BTW to all the neigh sayers maybe there needs to be a GOM section....

Just my two cents
82-T/A [At Work] NOV 21, 10:03 PM

quote
Originally posted by theogre:

You're just another sucker for this racket...
Oh gee, kid want to rebuilt X car. Better is a girl wants it. Then parent(s) was Free info & more & push the channel/"show" to get viewer # hope to get viral or @ lest to get monetized etc. Maybe even local news coverage because "girls don't to this" @ outlet wants "feel good story" that week. Then get free stuff from vendors too. He's already getting Free Ads spamming General w/ posts for every "episode" on YT.

We've seen this happen here w/ big thread starter 10+ years ago. Some saw the "writing on the way" was going dead very soon as other projects/programs & making "statues" to sell ate more & more time But they Never told anyone. Many still didn't get a clue when she left for whatever university several years later.

I've seen this same thing happen many times in other places even before YT having most "Car Restore" projects that are abandoned in similar ways but YT & Internet have these making money, free parts & more. If they abandon the car, the free parts often go on CL Ebay etc.




Ogre, not really sure what the problem is. I don't quite understand what you're saying, but I'll just explain what my daughter is doing, since you seem concerned about it. My daughter wants to get into MIT. She's been wanting to go there since she was 11 for some reason, I don't know. I help her make these videos because she believes it will help her get into a good college. She also gets straight As. As a matter of fact, she just got her first "B" in about 6 years, and she's devastated about it (I tell her it's not really a big deal). She works really hard... does three sports a year, and has a lot of hobbies. To reward her for her good grades, I told her I would buy her a car, but that she had to restore it herself so she would be mechanically inclined. It was then she decided she wanted them recorded because she wanted to use them in an application to MIT. She's only 14.

What you are saying here, I don't even really know how to respond to some of it. My daughter is having fun doing this, and I'm spending father/daughter time with her... what is the problem? She's getting experience in public speaking, she's learning how to work on a car... and by the end of the Summer, will literally have totally restored a car entirely by herself. I don't do any of the work, except make sure she's doing it safely, and occasionally break some of the bolts loose because she lacks the strength to do it. As for me... if you think I'm doing this to make money, then I guess you don't know what I do for a living, or what my lifestyle is.



quote
Originally posted by Dukesterpro:
Best thing you can do 82 T/A, if you are going to reroute, is keep focused on keeping wires as far from the heat as possible and as high up as possible, to make them easier to get to, and prevent hidden wires from causing faults later on. Maybe start with the OG harness and build a new one one wire at a time, routing each wire along there new path. Your gonna want to use heat resistant wire loom.



Thanks Dukester... Rodney Dickman was selling some off-sized (screw-up) heat shielding wrap... I bought out his entire inventory as I plan to use those when I restore my own Fiero... but I figured I could use those when re-wiring her engine compartment. I just don't like the fact that the wiring harness (in her 4cyl car) wraps around the back of the engine and then wraps along to the side and down the front of the engine to get to the A/C compressor. I don't mind the part that goes along the back and under the intake... that makes sense... but for the A/C compressor, it's a poor design to have it go down the front of the motor behind that plastic shield and wrap around the bracket. To that point, it would make much more sense to have it go along the front firewall where the relays and the O2 sensor harness is already going. Plus, then I can remove that plastic shield that sits on the front of the motor above the timing bracket.



quote
Originally posted by Stingray92:

So a few years ago I had the whole engine bay empty. Took care of the old firewall insulation and did a lot of cosmetic touch ups to the rails, strut towers etc. When I went after the original wire loom and wire routing around engine the plastic and tape was such a degraded mess. Got every wire harness off the car, wiped/washed with Dawn dishsoap and warm dried afterwards. Then checked all the connectors for corrosion and ohm'd things out. Looked over the wire routing diagrams as well as some junked cars to ensure I put things back where & how they were done originally. I should have taken more photos prior.

I'm going for a restoration as best as I can do. If you're looking to alter things here's a couple things I'd suggest.

Pay attention to the surrounding areas for heat, vibration, movement of components in that area, suspension, engine, exhaust, etc. A poorly tuned engine can make the exhaust get very hot and melt the wire insulation. If you're planning on using the original wire harness check the assembly carefully. You don't want any knicks, cracks or breaks in the insulation.

Watch the routing, an idle engine doesn't move, under load, changed in acceleration/deceleration it definitely will.

Don't use the cheap/junk zip ties, either, they're susceptible to the same heat & harsh environment the wire loom is exposed to and won't last more than a couple a years. Use proper wire clamps, check out Auveco.

Good luck on your project,



Thanks Stingray, this is exactly what I want to do. In my own Fiero (1987), I'm replacing the entire wiring harness with a new one (going with an aftermarket ECM / harness)... but the wiring doesn't seem so bad, but as you said, I plan to have her unwrap the entire harness and clean the entire thing with Dawn dish soap and then replace (solder) in new replacement connectors. As we were disconnecting things, I made a note of all the harness connectors that were either cracked or broken (most were in good shape), and I was able to order replacements on Rock Auto.

[This message has been edited by 82-T/A [At Work] (edited 11-21-2023).]

jelly2m8 NOV 22, 04:53 AM
The way I see it and the way I do my swap harnesses is ...........near 40 years on, that section of the Fiero Wiring harness that goes along the block and back up into the cabin is still pristine and never has been an issue on any Fiero engine harness. it works, don't try to reengineer one of the few things that never gives an issue.
Dukesterpro NOV 22, 09:57 AM
82 T/A

Stupid question, is your engine bay pass through connectors by the battery like an 86 or behind the engine like a 84. Seems like you are going to have to behind the engine to get to the center console anyways. I cant remember when the moved the bulkhead connectors over.
Raydar NOV 22, 10:53 AM

quote
Originally posted by theogre:

You're just another sucker for this racket...



Racket? YouTube? I couldn't care less what people do with YouTube. More power to them. No skin off my back, either way.

Sucker? Really?
I've listened to your effing "know-it-all" attitude for too many years now. Essentially, "If it isn't stock, it's worthless." It's long past tiring.
Aside from that, you know nothing about me, you cynical, condescending posterior orifice. GFYS.

[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 11-22-2023).]

82-T/A [At Work] NOV 22, 01:04 PM

quote
Originally posted by jelly2m8:The way I see it and the way I do my swap harnesses is ...........near 40 years on, that section of the Fiero Wiring harness that goes along the block and back up into the cabin is still pristine and never has been an issue on any Fiero engine harness. it works, don't try to reengineer one of the few things that never gives an issue.



Yeah, I guess I wasn't very clear. I had / have no intentions of changing the passage of the electrical harness through the firewall where it's going now. It's Ogre that said / inferred that I was doing that, but I am definitely not doing that. I just don't like that it snakes around the actual engine block like a vine, when instead only certain parts of it need to do that.



quote
Originally posted by Dukesterpro:
82 T/A

Stupid question, is your engine bay pass through connectors by the battery like an 86 or behind the engine like a 84. Seems like you are going to have to behind the engine to get to the center console anyways. I cant remember when the moved the bulkhead connectors over.




Yeah, everything comes in from the center, where the shifter cables connect through also. So I'm definitely not changing that... it's a great design. I'm also not planning on changing the fact that the harness comes in around the back of the engine (drivers side) and wraps under the intake manifold to the distributor, alternator, etc. None of that is going to change.

What I don't like though, is the fact that the positive cable feeds to the front of the engine, or that the HVAC connectors go down through the front of the engine in that plastic bracket. I feel like it's unnecessary, and that's what I'm looking to change. I just don't want anything going over or around the front of the motor. I have plenty of cable shielding, so I'll likely bridge the positive cable up and over behind the water pump, and then down through it's normal path, but behind the water pump, not over the center of the motor. I'll also re-route the A/C compressor connectors around the same location where the O2 sensor wire comes out, rather than going all the way around the engine, down the front of it, etc. That'll let me eliminate that entire plastic bracket, and clean up the front of the motor. My goal is to open everything up and clean up as much as I can.

My daughter has actually picked a light gray as a color for the motor too, with black accents (like the lifter plate and valve cover). I explained to her that you'll be able to see the engine more clearly and see if you have any leaks at any point.

[This message has been edited by 82-T/A [At Work] (edited 11-22-2023).]

richard in nc NOV 23, 07:07 PM
first of all i enjoy her videos.im sure her dad is directing. im new to fieros but have had two third gen camaros.i like that her videos help me understand the odd fiero compared to other gms.since there seems to be several fiero iron duke experts in here im going to ask this.i just bought a 1987 2.5 auto fiero base coupe to swap a 1989 3.8 and auto that i have into.i found out noone is interested in helping me do that.i later bought a 1988 base fiero 2.5 auto from a junkyard probably closing down because of the owners bad health.i bought it because of the good condition body panels.it is almost complete.it seems to me this car was junked because of a fire in the battery area.is all the wiring in the engine bay coming through those connections on the passinger side of the engine bay?im wondering if a replacement engine bay harness might 'fix' this 'parts' car?