Hello Forum, Need help identifying the parts that are missing and or damaged from the wiring area shown in the attached photo. I have a chance to pick up this car for a couple hundred bucks. The car has not moved since 1995, about two years ago the car had a small fire when someone tried to start up the car by pour gas in the carb and , well the pictures tell the rest. Can anyone tell me the items that should be in the area of the firewall or the parts that are needed to replace what has been burned and destroyed. Any help is appreciated.

 

What I see is Vacuum canister, MAP sensor, you will need the brake booster and master cylinder, ECU harness and if I remember right headlight harness.

A word about under hood fires. They always damage more then your think. ALWAYS. A new engine will not see damage when it overheats until about 260-270 degrees. With under hood fires temps and reach 1200 deg very quickly. As a rule of thumb I use is if the paint on top of the hood is damaged assume the engine is toast unless you can drive the car but even then your not 100% sure its not going to cause you issues down the road. This is the reason insurance companies are so fast total in dash and under hood fire cars. They become life long problem cars.

When I was a young mechanic a friend bought a Ford Galaxy with a 390 in it for next to nothing. It had a carburetor fire and about a 12 inch area of damaged showed on the hood paint. We went to fix the carb and nothing fit together right so we got a used one. It melted the distributer cap but after that it started but ran like crap and spewed coolant. The heads and intake where so warped they could not be fixed by a machine shop. By the time he was done counting up the costs of repairs he could have bought the same car without damage and he still had a burnt hood.

The other side effect I leaned later is warpage of sheet metal. If the fire wall is effected the windshield can be a nightmare to get to seal.

IMO unless there is a sentimental attachment fire cars and flood cars should be seen as parts cars only but that is just my opinion.

 

Hello Gorn,
Thank you for the reply. I'm torn with this project, My friend is basically giving the me car if i want it. The interior is pristine since it's been garaged since 95 . Body is good except for a front left fender scrape. The fire only damaged the electrical components in that area. i have no sentimental attachment. I haven't had a project car since my 20's and now have the itch. If i can invest say $1500 in the car and have a running camera i'd be happy. Of course if i can get it running for $1500 I have a running 1982 Indy Pace car (bonus)and then the real project starts $$$ . :-) I expect a car sitting for 18 years will have some issues that need to be dealt with..
My question to you and the forum, would I be better off buying a whole new electrical harness and start there or look for a donor motor and tyranny and start there or buy a $1500 running car and start there..I'm so torn....What would you do with this opportunity/situation.? couple more pics of the car attched

 

When GM designed the 82 it was thought to last 8 to 10 years. If I had one that was original with 30,000 miles on it and never saw rain I would swap out the wiring harness if I needed to depend on it.

No I would not mess with a 37 year old harness. In that situation you can cause more problems just moving the harness around then you had to start with. Does it still have the original fuel injection system?

 

Hey Gorn,
That's the part that makes me nervous, chasing electrical issues can be never ending. Just trying to figure out the best angle of attack to minimize chasing my tail down the road. It is a carb car so no FI to worry about. so it's got that going for it...haha.

 

Best bet would be just to contact painless wire company and get all new wiring. Seems like a huge project but if you watch real close pulling the old then putting the new on in is not too bad.

 

Thanks Gorn, i will give them a look to see what i will need. Good thing is, this can and will be a slow paced project, :-)

 

Gorn, One other questions, since it is a carb motor will an ECU be needed or could i delete that option and just go with a VACUM advance HEI? thanks

 

Gorn or Forum, Is there a way to start the car without the wire complete engine harness in place, a 'hot wire' of sorts. i would like to see if this car will even turnover/start before digging too deep in the project? all help is appreciated.

 

hows the project going. PM me