Ok, this is making more sense now. I took a bunch of unconnected wires out today. I traced them to the ECU and removed them there. I left everything that is plugged in for now. It made a big difference getting all of the loose ends taken care of. I didn’t cut anything that was connected to other things, only the ones that were JUST straight shots to the ECU. Good to know about the temp sensor and other items.

I’ll probably leave it alone for now and just enjoy driving it. I’ll revisit the rest of the wires later.

What should I do for the evap? I may look into adding this at some point.

can’t thank you enough for all of the help, i really appreciate it.

Kevin

 

Well Ideally I would want to see what is left for wiring once the EEC removal is fully compted, as it will give you more options. You could utilize some of the existing control that was not tied to the ECU and or you could use a vacuum-controlled setup for the EVAP. The vacuum control will require, acquiring a vacuum-controlled purge valve. And not even sure if the after-market carb you have has an E port to control it.
If the wiring is in still place ideally I'd like to utilize some of the existing electrical, that would make it a zero dollars job as you would be utilizing stuff you have already have removed and stuff that is in place.
This is in part why I wanted to avoid a rip-and-tear-out situation like the peanut galley was suggesting.

And sure come back whenever you want to continue tidying it up.

 

Yeah, I was a little nervous about the rip it all out method. As I was tracing wires I found several that were tied to other things that weren’t in the ECU. I left the ignition wire that connects to the new distributor in there as well.

basically, I left everything that was already connected. I know the temp sensor and stuff aren’t really doing anything anymore but it was only 4 or 5 wires so it’s not an eyesore. Just one conduit running over towards the battery. I can live with that. Just removing the connectors from the solenoid and the several dead connectors that were coming out when I bought it really cleaned things up.

I’ll dig up the pictures of the things that are still attached so you can see what’s left. Just went for a long drive and it is running great after all of the distributor and timing work.

the zero cost option is very appealing, I kept everything that I took out so let me know how I should set it up. I know I don’t “need” an evap, but it would be nice if it’s not too bad to setup.

 

Here’s what’s left, along with the ignition wire, a red wire that goes behind the engine somewhere I can see, the yellow wire to the starter solenoid, and some wires that attach into the harness for the lights on the driver side. There may be a few more that I can’t remember. Basically I just took out the solenoids, the dead connectors that haven’t ever been plugged in since I’ve had it, the old distributor connector, and evap canister.

 

Ok see below.

Do NOT remove ALL the connectors as not all go to the ECU and ONE of them we may need to use. Specifically, it was the plug that went to the carb vent solenoid.
This should have NOT been tied into the ECU and "SHOULD" be on it's own circuit. But variations exist where it ties into the ECU power for the tab tad solenoids that were removed.

We will look for that connector later....

 

Thanks Matthew, I'll continue to pick away at some of these connectors and revisit the evap at a later date. I may start a new thread when I get to that point.

I did want to say thank you to everyone for all of your help on this. What started as a clean up the engine bay question ended up with a new ignition, perfect idle, timing setup, and a much much better running truck. I learned a TON. In the meantime while waiting on parts, I also installed a tach, new coil springs, fixed all of the lights, and got it cleaned up really well on the inside. Of course I keep finding new things to fix on this 36 year old truck, but it is exactly what I was looking for.

Now that it's running great, I'll be moving on to an small oil pan leak and some body work. Then I'll start dealing with the interior - headliner, seat, busted dash, etc.

I look forward to hearing from you on future posts!

 

Glad to hear it is running great. As you get more familiar with it you find more items underhood you can remove to clean it up. Eventually, you may want to do some performance improvements also, and having all the crap gone from under hood will make that job a100 times easier.

 

Not just easier but so much nicer looking without all that unnecessary junk under the hood. I cant wait to get rid of my air pump and all the lines for the air pump as well as all the OE vacuum lines. Going to look so much cleaner under the hood with that junk gone and just basic vacuum hoses for PCV, transmission, brake booster, vacuum advance, and evap.