Worst Wiring Mess Ever

uestraven

Daily Driver
Nov 13, 2011
27
0
0
Long Island
I have a 1979 Malibu. The person who I bought the car from wired this car like a 5 year old. There are loose ends everywhere and the car wont run. I took it to a shop(a friend of mine) to have checked out and he said it would cost over 5000 to rewire the car. I cant afford that so I was wondering how hard is it to actually rewire the car? How hard is it to rewire the dash? I dont have heat or a/c. How hard would it be to just rewire the ignition?
 

kevind

Dragway Regular
Jan 7, 2009
868
0
16
Whitley City KY
I hot rod wiring harness is less than $200 from Speedway Motors. If its got a HEI then You can just run a wire from the battery to Dist and it will run.
 

malicad

Dragway Regular
Dec 8, 2009
1,383
0
0
South Milwaukee, WI
Worst wiring ever??? I think I have you beat, sir :lol: ...The previous owner did such a horrible job making the wiring "disappear" under the hood, that every time I fire the car up, I'm waiting for it to burst into flames and be the cause of my death. He did everything else on the car pretty good, but when it came to the wiring, he was an idiot. That's why I'm slowly redoing every aspect of the car I bought, one thing at a time. I'll be wiring a Painless 18 circuit system over the winter. Their stuff is excellent! I'll try to get a picture of the wiring so you all can have a good laugh...
 

Doober

Moderator
Jun 2, 2003
14,704
1
38
Catalina, AZ
www.cardomain.com
You can get a complete harness from a similar year G-Body and it will be an excellent start (the dash harness should be nearly identical on most G-Bodies). If you can get it from a u-pull junkyard you're probably better off... that or find one on Craigslist or eBay. Honestly the hardest part will be getting the old one out. You may have to loosen the screws/bolts holding the dash (there aren't many) to free up part of the harness, you won't have to removeit though if you choose not to (though it would make working on things much easier), I would remove the steering coplumn to give you more room as well. I had to put the entire wiring harness (except for the taillight portion) back in my '78 and while I did have a wiring diagram to work off of (Haynes manual, wiring job like this doesn't bother me) it was all still fairly straightforward. A $5000 quote is ridiculous, every single wire better be new and look either factory or be hidden for that price.
 

kevind

Dragway Regular
Jan 7, 2009
868
0
16
Whitley City KY
I'd wire it for $2000 and buy the harness. For $3000 I'll come to NY and wire it.
 

malicad

Dragway Regular
Dec 8, 2009
1,383
0
0
South Milwaukee, WI
If you do go to a junkyard and find one as a donor, remember that the firewall connector is different on a 78 and 79 model. I found that out by swapping the harness from my 78 and 79 on my other Bu. It will fit, but the shape is differnet...you have to trim a bit.
 

78_Elky

Pro Stocker
Mar 9, 2005
1,680
0
0
Oregon
smlblk78.onlineshowoff.com
Just go buy a new fuse box with 18 circuits or so. They will cost you around $150-$200 and come with all the wires labeled. I did it with my dad in one weekend in a driveway in the rain while in college. It isn't the worst thing ever and if you take your time it can turn out great. I have a lot of little extras in my car to wire up so it wasn't the easiest thing to do (power doors, windows, after market gauges, big stereo, power seat, and replaced all the exterior light sockets).
Its better than buying a fuse box that is 30 years old and putting all this time into a car you want to update and be safe to drive.
Of course if you want to stay original then go with the original stuff :)
Jess
 

81classic

Top Fueler
Jun 5, 2003
2,833
0
0
North Port, Fl
if it's that bad, I would buy a good used harness and exchange. I think I paid $50 bucks for a good uncut dash harness and changed them out. My car was apart and the dash was out so it made it alot easier.
 

LS6 Tommy

MalibuRacing Junkie
May 15, 2004
15,847
1
38
North Jersey
Worst wiring ever? One word-

















Peugeot.

:-&

Tommy
 

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