[steve]

So there is this enormous wiring harness in the engine bay of my 81. I am assuming it has to do with the cars prior life as a turbo car. Anyone know anything about these and if I can remove it without disabling all sorts of electric goodies ? the pic is the engine side and the wires seems to mostly end under where there radio mounts.

[78w72]

that is the 81 CCC harness. its for the computer under the console & all the connections are for emissions stuff like knock sensor, mixture control solenoid, O2 sensor, timing, dwell etc etc. so yes you can remove it & not disable other electric goodies.

[4dblnkldude]

Thank you for this, I started removing mine today. The only thing I;m a little confused about the switch on the side of the trans...that can be removed? Also there is a 4-pin connector on the distributor? That can be removed as well? The temp sending unit is on the side of the head, the one temp switch is on the intake I can remove this as well and just plug the intake? Thank you!!

[Ben M.]

The 4 pin connector to the distributor controls the firing of the distributor and advance. You need to replace it with a mechanical distributor to truly get rid of it (assuming you haven't already done so). The switch on the side of the transmission is not needed either.

The 4C harness pictured is different from the main engine harness and passes through its own firewall connector to the console as you have found. You should really get a wiring diagram to know exactly what connectors are used, but as I recall nothing on that harness goes into running the gauges or starting circuit. If you put a standard Pontiac v8 in it, you won't need it.

[78w72]

Originally Posted by 4dblnkldude

Thank you for this, I started removing mine today. The only thing I;m a little confused about the switch on the side of the trans...that can be removed? Also there is a 4-pin connector on the distributor? That can be removed as well? The temp sending unit is on the side of the head, the one temp switch is on the intake I can remove this as well and just plug the intake? Thank you!!

the connector on the trans is for the torque converter lock up, technically if you remove the rest of the harness & computer the lock up wont work anymore, which just means you will lose some MPG at highway cruising, the trans will work ok without it aside from that.

the dist connector as mentioned, will affect the timing so you will want to get a normal pontiac HEI dist from another car, or they sell new ones for cheap or nice ones like MSD or DUI for more $.

the temp sensor on the intake is for teh computer, you can remove that & plug it or just leave it in place, the gauge temp is in the head.

[Skip Fix]

Mine already had that and the computer gone just a big hole in the firewall for it!
You can just change the module in the 81 distribution and replace with an earlier non computer version.

Another FYI if you are using the 81 temp gauge it needs and 81 sensor. Earlier models used a different ohm sensor. Can freak you out when you run the motor!

[4dblnkldude]

Thanks guys!! I got a couple HEI's laying around.