i got this 86 for a grand and it is pretty heavily modified for the track but im trying to restore some of it and so far i started with the guages which none are hooked up. i dont know where the factory harness ties in to this motor seeing how it used to be a v6.

 

on the very back of the block behind the distributor there will be GM stamp with the liter numbers and casting numbers. To me it just looks like any ordinary pre-centerbolt 305 or 350, but who knows for sure until you look at the numbers.

 

Yep, that's a small block Chevy alright. Here's how to decode it: http://www.chevy-camaro.com/chevy-ca...oding-help.asp

 

thanks guys. i believe it is a 350 since i was told it was a 355. im an IT and dont get around motors much but its something im trying to learn and i appreciate your help.

my next question would be about hooking the stock harness up to this machine and getting stuff to work

 

As long as the Wiring from the gauge cluster hasn't been cut apart it should be a simple plug and play. Even if they have been cut, as long as they can be spliced, there is no reason you can't get all your gauges to function correctly.

 

nothing behind the cluster was cut i know but at the end of the stock wiring harness it looks as though he rigged some parts to work. as you can see in the picture i have a random blue wire hanging over the engine and further back is a green one. there are also several aftermarket gauges as well that dont work. im gonna try to tear them all out to get rid of all the extra wires, but is there a diagram i can see what stock wires go where so if i do have to splice of the end i can

 

there should be in any haynes or chiltons book. Just find the wiring schematics for your year and go from there. But...

I believe orange is for the oil Pressure sending unit that is behind the distributor...just a little towards the drives side. I believe water temp was green and ran from by the brake booster towords the steering shaft that back towords the head. Battery comes from the firewall towards the alternator. Tach is the hardest. The two wires are pink and white. Pink is hot (keyed on for the +side of the coil), white is for the tach.. This is hardes because both wires cipped in the stock type coil, and need to be separated if running non stock type coil (MSD, etc). Speedo went from behind the cluster down through a water tight plug to the retainin fitting in the 700R4 on the passenger side.

 

how do i hook the stock (v8 cluster) oil pressure, water temp, and tach guages to this motor. i dont see anything like a water temp wire to replace the aftermarket one

 

See the above post. Purchase the oil pressure and water temp sending units. if the wiring hasn't been removed, you will be able to tell what connectors are required for which sending unit...ie large female spade for oil, and a snap for the water temp sending unit. Your block probobly just has plugs in the passages where the sending units go. There is a chance, if the motor has aftermarket guages, the original wires are hooked to the gauges and then to the block...ie oil passage for a mechanical PSI read, instead of a sending unit in the place of a mechanical gauge. A decent shop manual shows the locations of the wires (in a wire diagram, so not the actual physical spot, but I did my best to try and explain where they go) and the two sending units required are fairly cheap. $15-25 each.

 

ok i did not know about the sending units ill have to check my local advanced auto or something. the stock wiring however, well it seems that a lot has been unplugged and i do not know how to read i wiring diagram to find which wire is where, i suppose what information you have given me and perhaps following the wires from the back of the cluster should work.

but thank you so much for your help i greatly apretiate it and will post back at the next problem i run into