wiring is a nightmare!

I discovered i am absolutly awful at wiring.... because i have absolutly no idea what the hell i am doing. I need help. I have a 77 v-8 with NO wires on it at all. I need to know how to wire this thing to get it firing.


Also i stripped the one wire coming out of the distrubutor only to find 2 smaller wires inside it? WTF? Where do they go?

 

Should be a Prestolite electronic distributor if it's a '77. There are two wires to the reluctor coil.

You need to decide if you are going to wire it like the factory, or wire it according to some other spec. If you're going to do it like the factory, I'd suggest you buy the factory service manual and follow the wiring diagram.

 

Probably try a painless wiring kit or similar if you're wiring the whole jeep

 

If you are starting from bare-bones, no wires at all, I might consider getting a wiring kit from EZ Wire, Painless, or one of the others (check with forum members for experiences with wiring kits). Or wire it from scratch, learn as you go, and be able to say "I did it"!
Good luck.

 

If you want to use that distributor, the wiring kit is not going to help you.

 

Hey, check out the link I posted over at BMJA! It got a ton of wiring diagrams from advance or autozone or something. They may help.
-Dante

 

If you want to wire it from scratch, (or just learn about wiring) here are a couple of books that will help.

Automotive Electrical Handbook by Jim Horner. HP Books
How to do Electrical Systems by Skip Readio. Tex Smith
Basic Auto Electricity by Steve Watson. Street Works Rod & Custom Products
How to Wire Your Streetrod from Start to Finish by Jack Sweeden. Street Rod Wiring

I think these are also available on the web. Hope this helps.

tommy b

 

If you are wiring from scratch. Get an HEI distributer if possible and a Delco alternator. Thos drastically reduce the amount of wiring necassary under the hood.

 

I'm pretty handy at wiring diagrams and building harnesses from scratch, tell me EXACTLY what you have and I'll see with I can do to help with a custom diagram.

 

If you are willing to spend about $100 more than painless, Vintagejeep.com has an exact OEM harness with connectors ready to go out of the box. All you have to do is follow the wiring diagrams out of Chiltons or www.c104.net , its about as easy as its going to get. I also had a 304V8 with not a wire or gauge in it, and it took about 6 hours to install mine and I wasn't going for any speed records. $520 to my door, but i had to pay Texas sales tax. If you are out of state it'll be cheaper.