Next up I decided to go through the wiring harness assemblies. The front two harnesses (engine and lamp) appeared to be new, but slightly messed up (figures). The dash harness was chopped up while the original rear harness showed signs that Bubba was there. So I decided I could fix the two forward assemblies, but the rest were FUBAR.
Because Bubba the Electrician was in the front harnesses. I needed to fix those, uh, modifications and add my own. In almost all of the hot rod builds I do, I take out the unnecessary electrical components and slim down the harnesses. It looks better plus there's less of chance for it to burn to the ground.
So I unwrapped the two front harnesses, fixed the Bubba repairs, removed circuits (in particular the bulky Transmission Controlled Spark and ECS solenoid system) and re-wrapped the respective harness. FYI, those devices worked in concert with a lean carburetor and late ignition timing to reduce emissions. Since I won't have a lean carburetor or retarded ignition timing, I can delete them. It also makes for a much cleaner engine compartment. FYI, the idea here was to redo everything and make it look like it came that way from Chevrolet.
This is the "before" of the engine harness...
Some parts of the harness included this type of, uh, repair.
Another "repair" was this candidate for a dead short.
Opening the harness is easy. I used a pair of sharp electrician's scissors to cut apart the wrap
When I found the circuit I needed to eliminate, I'd trace it back to the fuse box plug. Then with a little needle nose pliers, I push down on the spade wire terminal. This allows it to release so you can pull it backward from the fuse box plug.
When putting the harness back together, I tape it every few inches. That keeps it tight. FYI, 3M Super 88 is costly compared to Chinese stuff, but it is exceptional electrical tape.
Then I used harness wrap (vinyl tape without adhesive) to re-wrap the harness. This is exactly what Chevrolet used way back when.
Aside from fixing the Bubba repairs, this mess is what I removed. FYI, I also removed the stock evaporative emissions canister and engine compartment hoses (not show)....
Here's one of the slimmed down harnesses...
Here's a look at some of the revised engine compartment wiring and plumbing. Strange fact: Chevrolet eliminated the headlamp washers on most '71's (like mine), but they kept the hoses. I removed the headlamp washer hoses from the inner fender and re-arranged the hose and wire pack...I think it looks cleaner...
Having fun, but this was a little bit gruelling