odd swap question

[buickpower2]

Hello, I am helping a friend swap a hotair motor into an 86 limited NA and had a few questions. The donor car had a digital dash/floor shift, the new car has an analog dash/column shift. We removed all of the dash wiring from the donor but don't really want to swap if not necessary, just the motor harness. I have read about all the posts I can find about swapping motors etc., but I can't seem to find a clear answer. Can we simply plug the hotair engine harness that used the digital dash into the existing analog dash harness, or will this not work? I realize that I won't be able to use the map for the dummy colored boost light.

 

[GNBeswick]

From what I know, the dash harnesses from a digital dash car are completely different from an analog one. You wont be able to use the harness form the donor car if the car it is destined for does not use a digital dash. Im not familiar with the dash harness of the NA cars, so im not sure if it's compatible with the hotair engine harness or not.

 

[buickpower2]

thanks for the comments. does anyone else have a take on the NA dash harness compatibility?

 

[turbofish38]

The big difference in the harnesses is that the LC2 harness has the extra wires for the PowerMaster and other turbo ancillories like the boost-a-tach. You would be better off just buying the correct wire harness for the dash than trying to figure out how to hack in the NA harness. There is also a difference between analog and digital because the digital has a power source pigtail where as the analog doesn't.:smile:

 

[buickpower2]

Thanks for your response!

We are going to be using an LM9 hotair motor and keep the hydroboost brakes. I am not sure what the boost a tach is exactly, is this the dummy boost gauge in the dash? If so could I just leave those unplugged?

And here I thought I could just plug the engine harness into the existing analog dash harness without removing any of the dash figures!

 

[Quick6'n'-K.C.]

Ive always swapped over the entire dash harness, but i do think that it will bolt right in and run.

Your main concern would be power supply to certain things mentioned above, but the only one that comes to mind would be the wastegate solenoid circuit.

The worst thing that could happen, is you wont have any power to certain circuits.

Try doing a search on this site for pinning out the fuse box, maybe someone can let you know exactly what to put where.

I would also go thru the na car fuse box and make sure it has the correct amp fuses in there.

You will be running the fuel pump on a separate circuit so there will not be a need to swap the rear taillight harness.

BW

 

[buickpower2]

Excellent info, thank you.

It just so happens we will be using a manual bleeder for boost control because the old solenoid was toast, so that is one thing we have in our favor.

The new car used to have a 307, I will look into the fuse block thing, I think it might have had an empty space for a fuel pump fuse. I have a feeling there is going to be a bit of a learning curve here .

 

[Quick6'n'-K.C.]

Excellent info, thank you.

It just so happens we will be using a manual bleeder for boost control because the old solenoid was toast, so that is one thing we have in our favor.

The new car used to have a 307, I will look into the fuse block thing, I think it might have had an empty space for a fuel pump fuse. I have a feeling there is going to be a bit of a learning curve here .

You just need to tie into the service fuel pump lead, on the 86-87 its right next to the alternator.
You should run a power lead to a new external fuel pump relay.. Its very simple.

Post some pictures if you get a chance.

BW