Using 78 Harness On 82 Turbo Engine

[MESSEDUP280]

LOOKING FOR INFO ON THIS KIND OF SET UP. IS IT POSSIBLE TO USE 78 HARNESS TO FIRE UP 82 TURBO ENGINE. THIS IS WHAT I HAVE OR DONE. DROPPED OIL PUMP OUT OF TURBO AND CHANGED SPINDLE SHAFT TO 78 SPINDLE AND 78 DISTRIBUTER.

AS FAR AS AIR FLOW METER I WAS TOLD YOU CAN TAKE COMPUTER CHIP OUT OF 78 AFM AND INSTALL IT IN A TURBO AFM.

WELL I'VE DONE ALL OF THE ABOVE AND THIS SET UP IS NOT WORKING VERY WELL. I GO THROUGH A SET OF PLUGS EVERY TIME I START IT UP. 1 AND 6 PLUGS ARE BLACK, 2,3,4,5 ARE SOAKED WITH FUEL. IT WONT IDLE. AND WHITE OR GRAY SMOKE POURING OUT OF DOWN PIPE. I'M NOT A MECHANIC OR CLOSE TO ONE. SO I TOOK IT TO A LOCAL GARAGE AND THEY SAID MUST GET TURBO WIRING HARNESS AND COMPUTER FOR THIS SET UP. IF YOU HAVE TRIED THIS OR KNOW ABOUT THIS SETUP PLEASE HELP.

[2ManyZs]

I doubt if it can be made to work, I'm suprised it even fires up.

Couple reasons, there is no "chip" you can change in the ECM, you have to use the complete ECM. Doubt the harness connections will match up, even if the connections worked, the ECM's are not the same. Each engine has it's own specific ECM.

Plus, ZX's had sensors for the FI that 78's didn't.

[ZmeFly]

You will need these items

Turbo AFM

Turbo Fuel pump

Turbo engine wiring harness

Turbo ECU

Turbo Fuel dampener

Turbo distributor (runs on CAS)

Turbo coil with ignitor

[hls30.com]

I have had an '82 L28ET running on '77 wiring, harness, ecm, distributor, etc. for more than 18 years. http://www.hls30.com/hls30_012.htm

The number one thing is to make sure you have enough fuel to aviod the detonation caused by running lean.

The tricky part was fabricating the idle adjustment-it is a brazed concoction that is ugly, but it works. My setup was made to run rich below WOT.

1) I used a 10k potentiometer on the cold start sensor to fool the car into thinking it was always cold and thereby add gas through the cold start injector, then through T&E with carefull driving adjusted until I got almost no ping at WOT.

2) I "adjusted" the arm on the airflow meter to get rid of the rest of the ping-then I backed off the 10k pot to "fine tune" the A/F ratio.

3) I advanced the timing and added a "Carter Knock Eliminator" to catch any knock I couldn't hear-it came with a calibrated sensor.

4) I added a "TurboSaver" timed electric oil pump(it ran for 15 seconds before it allowed the car to start,and 5 minutes after the car was shut off-18 years, same turbo, still going strong.

This is not the optimal way to go-but for the first few years after I got it on the road, only a Grand National could consistantly beat me.

Will