I've had a few cars that had been butchered on the wiring. One of them I took out over 30' of extra wire under the dash! I usually fight them and get them cleaned up, but haven't installed a factory harness. I've done a couple aftermarket harnesses by EZ and NW Autowire. They were pretty decent items to wire in.

 

Hello sir.
Just found this site and joined tonight.My family owned the first 1979 black z-28 delivered to the Philadelphia area , which arrived in late December 1978.It was ordered through David Penske Chevy [as in the brother of
Roger Penske ].It was ordered as a general manager demo , so we
got every option except t-tops , which I knew even back then leaked.It had a black custom vinyl interior , gold stripes and the aluminum wheels.
It was stolen 2 days after we took delivery , and was found abandoned
2 weeks later on new years eve 1978.Had it for 14 years , wish I still did.

Anyway , I remember reading in 1979 the magizine artical about the 12 CHP Z-28's and the testing they were going through.The CHP had to get special permission from the ATF bureau to shorten the barrels on the shotguns issued to each car.Because of the lower roof line on the Camaro,
and the mounting location of the rack , a standard length shotgun would not fit in the cars.You mention Traco also.I do not know if you are old enough to remember this , but after the Trans Am series of racing went away in the earll 1970's, the IROC series was born I believe around 1975.
They used Camaros in that series[hence the mid 80's IROC models] and Traco was the company that built the engines and chassis , and modified the bodies for the cars.I also believe there was a link between Traco and Penske Racing , but my memory fails me on this.Someone else may be able to confirm this.

If you have not already also found out about your VIN info ,please allow me to de-code for you:

1- Chevrolet division[ been used for decades ]
S- Camaro [the series]
87 -2 DR Coupe
L -350ci engine LM-1 I believe is the code
8 -1978 model year
L- Built in Van Nuys CA plant [the other plant was in Norwood Ohio ]
last 6 digits are the build sequence number, which always starts at 100,001 at every plant.I would say your car is a late build in 1978.Remember ,they built other models at that plant ,not just Camaros.

Anyway, hope this helps a little.Keep in mind , this is all from my memory of things that happened over 30 years ago , so please feel free to correct me anyone , if my info is not right.

Take care.

-Bob

 

Thanks for the help sir. I have never been able to find any information about Traco at all. However, I'm really not looking anymore as this Camaro is a Type LT and not a Z 28. I'm sure the story had gotten twisted around a bit about the car (probably was a retired officers from the CHP) but not an actual patrol car. Still wish I could get the title history on this car but no big deal. It's getting torn apart this winter and I was only trying to make sure I didn't have something that I shouldn't be modifying. Appreciate the vin decoding also, thanks. Pretty sure it's just another Camaro that needs work.

 

If the plugs aren't marked for what they go to, then start at the beginning and lay it out close to where it goes. Then just start plugging it in. GM was pretty good about not duplicating plugs and making it possible to swap them. If the harness is made right it will fit and lay where the plugs are close to what they plug to.
It's usually amateurs that chop up harnesses. They want to add some aftermarket thing like a radio, and just start cutting wires to see if they can find power. Or they cut wires to troubleshoot, instead of using a prope to poke through the insulation.