88’ c1500 gen 1 swap wiring.

[88_stepside]

So I’m doing a gen 1 sbc swap on my 88’ getting rid of the ecm, ac, etc. I have pretty much all bases covered. What I still am not sure of is... will my gauges still work? And also the hot wire from the ignition switch to the block on the fire wall is some reason grounding when the key is on. Can anyone tell me why this is? How to fix, etc.

 

[AK49BWL]

The gauges should still work fine, there's nothing running to the gauge cluster from the ECM on those early models. As for the other issue, either you've got a blown or shorted sensor or some wiring has rubbed through and is grounding out.