MyGrandMarquis - Burgundy '83 coupe

[Midnight Drifter]

I plan on re-wiring the car in the near future and, the less wires involved, the better.

Hence carb swap.

[Midnight Drifter]

...so how exactly is it that keyless entry itself/alarm doesn't work with the 'bad' fuse disconnected, yet that annoying light still flashes?

[miamibob]

MUST be powered from somewhere else. You WILL become an electrical genius before you get this car straight (or broke taking it to one)! As previously stated you knew there would be other "goodies" and I am certain plenty more down the road. Do you have an official FORD Electrical Guide for this car? If not I would get one pronto! Bobby

[DsTrBd]

I'm always staying away from this side of cars ! Good luck on your work and I'm sure its a learning curve.

[Midnight Drifter]

MUST be powered from somewhere else. You WILL become an electrical genius before you get this car straight (or broke taking it to one)! As previously stated you knew there would be other "goodies" and I am certain plenty more down the road. Do you have an official FORD Electrical Guide for this car? If not I would get one pronto! Bobby

My attack strategy is simple.

RIP OUT EVERYTHING THAT DOESN'T MAKE THE CAR DRIVE. Neatly, of course - and doing housekeeping along the way.

There; simple, huh? I'm honestly considering ditching HVAC in lieu of a dashboard-mounted Back Seat Heat Plus or equivalent device to defrost the window. I hardly use A/C in the summer and only use the heater to defrost the window anyways.

It's also why I want carbs. I can reduce the engine wiring to 3 wires. Ignition, starter, kill. There, done.

[miamibob]

Will all that be easier/cheaper than restoring the previous owner's "creative" electrical work? Restoring may be better than reinventing the wheel?

[1987cp]

Hard to say. It's definitely an interesting exercise to remove all the stock dash and engine-bay wiring and then figure out what all you need to install to make the necessities do their thing. Though as I discovered, just doing that with no external references doesn't necessarily give you the understanding of factory wiring for things like turn signals (I ended up wiring that up differently than stock).

[1990LTD]

Will all that be easier/cheaper than restoring the previous owner's "creative" electrical work? Restoring may be better than reinventing the wheel?

Fix it and it would still be a CFI car

[Midnight Drifter]

Ultimately, there's only three electronic devices I'd want on the entire car - not counting stupid stuff like the cornering light unit:

-An MSD ignition box
-Radio for tunes
-A self-contained AFR gauge

The rest can go. Only half of what's in there even works right, anyways.

I've got the body wiring book. Thanks, Matt. It's one thing you've included with the sale of the car that will really help me. There's no reason I shouldn't be able to tackle a task like that when you null out the complications of an EFI system.

[87DeuceVic]

Im with ya on the keepin it simple thing....I prefer my cars "basic" as well, not a huge fan of EFI or fancy electric toys in my cars. The way I see it, all the gadgets is just more crap to break or wear out..and it will, technology always fails. Also its harder to work on and diagnose. Thats probably why I like P71's, nothing much to break on them.

[MrMarquis]

Midnight, I'm glad to see you've got good plans for this car. She'll definitely be a sharp car when it all materializes.

Are you still runnin' on them junkyard tires?

[Midnight Drifter]

For the time being, yes. Firestone Destionation LE's will be swapped onto her once the taco truck gets out of the bodyshop. =_=

Then, I have planned...

Well, I'm not going to list all 3 sets... the "all around" tires will be a secret. But here's the winter and track tires I plan on running in the future:

-Hankook Ipike 205-75R15
-Falken Azenis 255-45R18 (or possibly 50/17)

[marquisman]

Ultimately, there's only three electronic devices I'd want on the entire car - not counting stupid stuff like the cornering light unit:

-An MSD ignition box
-Radio for tunes
-A self-contained AFR gauge

The rest can go. Only half of what's in there even works right, anyways.

I've got the body wiring book. Thanks, Matt. It's one thing you've included with the sale of the car that will really help me. There's no reason I shouldn't be able to tackle a task like that when you null out the complications of an EFI system.

*unseen man in back row shoutting*
what about a fuel gauge?

yea, what about the fuel gauge? you left that out! how will you check fuel level? lol

[sly]

I think that falls under the "stupid stuff" ie: that removing the stuff would be stupid.

[Midnight Drifter]

I'm probably going to go with a different gauge altogether. I'm sure there's universal fuel gauges that are compatible with Ford sending ranges...

...oh, right, what IS the range anyways?

Eventually, I'll want two main gauges staring me in the eye at all times; speedo and tacho, (0-100 or 0-120, 0-7000) where the current speedo and fuel level are residing. Then I'll want, oil pressure (0-100), water temperature (120-260), AFR, volt meter and fuel level - in that order of importance.

Right now though, having a working defroster - by traditional or unconventional means - is top priority. Then the wheel cylinders - hope you're ready, John, it's only a few weeks away. Then tires.