Wire elimination confusion

Hi everyone,
Been a while since I've posted. The Frankenscrambler has been sitting in the garage for a while and with temperatures rising in the PNW, I've decided to get some work done with the few spare hours I have available at night. Some of you may remember my 8, but as a little bit of history I picked it up in pretty sad but drivable shape. I've enjoyed having it up at our cabin in E. Washington. Great for FS roads and just cruising in the sun. Love it. But it has its gremlins, which includes running rough, hard cold starts, running rich, etc. So I decided to bring it back this winter and get some work done on it. I started by replacing the air filter on the Weber carb and realized that the electric choke doesn't work. So I followed some wires and found that the wire to the electric choke goes into a sea of mostly unidentifiable, poorly spliced (duct tape, lamp cords, etc.) mess of wires that go nowhere since it has a Weber carb. There was no power at the electric choke wire...

So down the rabbit hole I go...

I realized that despite having been converted to the Weber, no one ever did a Nutter bypass. I started at the diagnostic ports on the passenger fender well, and started cutting wires. Like crazy. Many went to the ECU, some over to the drivers side, and I've managed to get rid of maybe half of them. I've completed the Nutter bypass. I now have a series of questions that may seem overwhelming, but I'll try to lay them out in a manageable way.

1) Can ALL of the wiring going to the ECU be eliminated and the ECU removed? I'd like to make a clean cut here. Here is what I have so far...


2) on the driver's side there are two groups of wiring coming out of the firewall. the one I'm pointing at goes to the lighting, it stays. The one on the left seems to go to either the ECU or ignition. Is there a good way to know what can go and what can stay?


3) I found two relays in the mess of wires. one was removed, I have no idea what it went to and when I traced the wires, many went nowhere. the other I'd like to remove, but I have no idea what it goes to, or went to? Of note, the manifold heater is gone. I kept the wire going to it in case I would like to add it back later.



4) What in the name god happened here?? when I pulled off the electric tape coming out here, I was stunned (although with this jeep, its never THAT big of a suprise!) These seem to be heavy gauge wires, spliced together with two thing gauge wires coming off going to the starter solenoid. Me thinks this is a fire waiting to happen!


5) I haven't checked the timing, which after the Nutter bypass I understand should be 8* BTDC, but could some of the poor performance be due to vacuum leaks from the following manifold vacuum ports not being plugged??



and



6) Does anyone know of a good wiring diagram for the engine compartment that shows basic, minimal wiring, for after a nutter bypass that includes wiring that should go to alternator, coil, solenoid, ICM, etc.? The vehicle obviously doesn't have an emissions system...

7) Assuming the oil pressure switch works, where should it draw power from in order to turn the electric choke on (or off I guess)? The switch is currently sitting there with no power going in or out of it.

Thanks everyone. This has cost be a lot of Rainier Beer. I don't know anyone in the Seattle area to help me out, so I'm kind of on my own here... I've spent a lot of time scouring this site and the broader internet. I've taken valuable tidbits from here and there, but these are my remaining questions. Thanks again!

Jordan

I did the nutter and then wiring removal on my 85 last year. I approached it very methodically since I had never done this before and was paranoid about cutting something I shouldn’t. In the end it all worked out. From memory

Can ALL of the wiring going to the ECU be eliminated and the ECU removed? I'd like to make a clean cut here. Here is what I have so far...

Click to expand...

Yes. However there is a wire to the coil that needs to be spliced to eliminate the connection to the ECU. IIRC it’s the 3 way connection in question 4

2) on the driver's side there are two groups of wiring coming out of the firewall. the one I'm pointing at goes to the lighting, it stays. The one on the left seems to go to either the ECU or ignition. Is there a good way to know what can go and what can stay?

Click to expand...

I didn’t remove any of these. Not sure if you can

I found two relays in the mess of wires. one was removed, I have no idea what it went to and when I traced the wires, many went nowhere. the other I'd like to remove, but I have no idea what it goes to, or went to? Of note, the manifold heater is gone. I kept the wire going to it in case I would like to add it back later.

Click to expand...

I determined one of these is for the choke and manifold heater. I kept it. The other one I removed.

What in the name god happened here?? when I pulled off the electric tape coming out here, I was stunned (although with this jeep, its never THAT big of a suprise!) These seem to be heavy gauge wires, spliced together with two thing gauge wires coming off going to the starter solenoid. Me thinks this is a fire waiting to happen!

Click to expand...

Is that on the passenger side? Mine had the same thing. I think it’s stock wiring- Seemed shady. If it what I think it is, it’s the 3 way connection with a wire going to the diagnostic plug that I eliminated and re-spliced -mentioned above

I haven't checked the timing, which after the Nutter bypass I understand should be 8* BTDC, but could some of the poor performance be due to vacuum leaks from the following manifold vacuum ports not being plugged??

Click to expand...

That looks like the the CTO switch. It’s a vacuum switch that is activated by the coolant temp. It’s not a vacuum source so you shouldn’t need to plug it if it’s not connected to anything.

Does anyone know of a good wiring diagram for the engine compartment that shows basic, minimal wiring, for after a nutter bypass that includes wiring that should go to alternator, coil, solenoid, ICM, etc.? The vehicle obviously doesn't have an emissions system...

Click to expand...

The best resource I found, if you haven’t found it already, was a thread on jeepforum by ken- search post nutter bypass wiring removal.

Hope that helps.

Thank you for the thoughtful response. I have her running, perhaps a little better with the nutter, but still not great. Found one vacuum hose with a crack in it. Will try replacing that and setting timing. Its just really hard to see the timing marks, No idea how to read them looking down between the radiator and the pulley. The choke is temporarily wired to a a hot wire I found that is only hot when the vehicle is on. Once I get some more time, I will try to get it wired through the oil pressure switch.

In any event, THANK YOU for the great response.

I would definitely check the timing. When I got my 85 it started running crappy soon after I got it and I chased a bunch of other things before bothering to check the timing. It turned out the distributor clamp was loose and the timing was way off. Adjusting it made huge difference. Vacuum leaks will cause issues too. The timing mark on my balancer has a white mark ( chalk works) that made it easier to read. Good luck

Timing good. Runs ok, theres a sputter when I stomp on it, about 1/2 through the spool up. If I dont let up, it almost dies. Carb secondary jet plugged up? I haven't done anything to this jeep since I got it. Could be old dizzy, coil? Plugs? Wires? Dunno. One thing at a time I guess!