red beard

[franklin40]

thanks to @pb4ugo i’m getting the wiring sorted. man was i lost to start with! here’s the thread if anyone wants some good 350 wiring advice 72 chevota wiring help please - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/72-chevota-wiring-help-please.1304168/

now i’m reengineering the crappy job of a battery tray that came with this truck. it was half welded half bolted to the frame. i’m not welding it back in!!

got some brackets welded to the original tray holder. it’ll bolt to the frame and to one hole already in the fender. i’ve ordered a new stainless tray to go on the holder. new battery is awaiting a throne!! then let’s get this thing running!!

 

[Sky King]

I am enjoying this thread. What manifold and carburetor are you using on your 350 Chevy? I currently have an Eldlebrock manifold on mine with an aftermarket Holley electronic fuel injection system installed that does not work well, an early model that probably sat for too many years unused. I want to go back to a carb something, I've always got to work well on other motors and am looking for something to bolt to my existing manifold if possible.

 

[franklin40]

i’m running an edelbrock performer manifold and a standard edelbrock electric choke carb. it ran well before the rebuild. so we’ll see if i put everything back together right when i go to fire it up!!

 

[franklin40]

ok so i found that hooking the wire harness up to the ignition switch is a very important step to getting the engine to turn over . i also found a post that said that there should be a BR spliced to the WL. mine were both dead ended so i put them together and everything started working with no smoke shows!! i’d hate to start a fire at this stage!!

once i figured out that bone head step i was able to get the starter to engage. i’ve got the hot wire through a light bulb set up to the alternator exciter wire. my problem now is that the bulb won’t sit in the socket with enough pressure to make a good contact. i’ll have to figure out how to fix that. otherwise it’s time to get some fluids in it and see if it’ll fire up!!

i’ll have to wait for my son though. he’ll want to be part of the start up but he’s in bed right now

 

[franklin40]

i’ve noticed one of my turn indicator sockets is missing. i can’t seem to find replacements on line with my quick google search. does anyone have a source for them or an alternative socket?

 

[Green Bean]

@ToyotaMatt

 

[franklin40]

i wondered if he’d have one. i’ll send him a pm

 

[franklin40]

tried starting the engine. lots of back firing and popping out the exhaust but can’t get it to fire. i don’t think it’s getting fuel. the line has fuel in it but i think i’m just getting the starter fluid to light. so it seems i have spark and air. thats why i’m thinking fuel. slowly turning distributor didn’t really help much. hard to tell where the timing should be until i get it to run! oh well i’ll keep trying another night. going to recharge the battery and give the starter a break

 

[pb4ugo]

As I Recall you have an SBC? Qjet? HEI dist? You shouldn't need starting fluid. Put the can down. When you activate the throttle by hand does it squirt fuel? You can carefully pour gas down the vent to prime the carb or disconnect the power to the coil and crank till the carb squirts. Double check the firing order.

 

[franklin40]

yes sbc with edelbrock carb and hei distributor. mechanical fuel pump though. no fuel pumping at the carb jets. i thought that if i could get it it to run in the starter fluid it’d help prime the pump. i’m also going to double check my distributor is in correct. seems like it wants to fire with exhaust valve open. i did that once before on my chevelle so think i would have been very careful this time around but who knows. raw gas exploding in the exhaust is loud and can really damage the muffler!! ask me how i know that!!

going fishing for a few days as if this afternoon so i’ll get it going next week.

 

[archie73]

As I Recall you have an SBC? Qjet? HEI dist? You shouldn't need starting fluid. Put the can down. When you activate the throttle by hand does it squirt fuel? You can carefully pour gas down the vent to prime the carb or disconnect the power to the coil and crank till the carb squirts. Double check the firing order.

He nailed it. Heck the distributor. It’s likely off.

 

[Sky King]

The SBC in my FJ40 had not been started in years. Putting in some fresh gas and a new battery got it to pop but not run. When I pulled the cap of the HEI distributor I found rusted contacts. A closer look also found rusted advance weights and a non functional vacuum advance. A new dizzy has it running well now.

 

[franklin40]

my dizzy is brand new. i’ll bet i have it 180 off . heading home from the lake now. i’ll go through it this week and see what i come up with

 

[archie73]

Putting it in off by 180* isn’t that hard- especially if you’re a hobbyist like me. I did it more than once. (One more reason I was excited about the LS upgrade).
This is a long shot, but I’ll throw it out there just in case: I had an aluminum Edelbrock intake on my SBC and the distributor would occasionally twist. This is partly my fault, as I was more scared of pulling the threads out of the aluminum intake. I tried a variety of different hold downs but never really got one that really held it. My point is the distributor is pretty easy to get off its mark. Fortunately you can fine tune it once you get use to the symptoms.

 

[franklin40]

dizzy in 180 degrees off . got it to run tonight!!

my boys and i are pretty pumped. now i’ll tune it tomorrow!!

 

[franklin40]

got it timed and carb adjusted. runs nice. i have oil pressure and fuel. my temp gauge is pegged to hot. seems like i have continuity between the gauge and the housing? i have a little more reading to do to figure this one out. now to figure out how to adapt my 4 speed ebrake to the old 3 speed handle.

also no headlights!! dang. more wiring to chase

 

[franklin40]

Here you go.
Click on picture to enlarge.
View attachment 1529324

S = Black White -► starter motor
IG = Black Yellow -► Ign. coil
AM = Black Red -► Ammeter and fuse block
Blue is coded as LB (Light Blue)

Good luck.
Rudi

i’m looking over this diagram as i’m trying to sort
out my temp gauge. it’s pegged to hot. i have a green white wire running to my temp sender but the above diagram suggests it should be a yellow/green wire. i don’t have a yellow green wire in my harness. i want to make sure i have the right wire hooked up before i start blaming the gauge

can anyone confirm i have the right or wrong wire hooked to the sender?

 

[pb4ugo]

It's yellow with a green stripe. I think It originally came through the firewall where the hole is just above the sbc dist and slightly towards the drives side. I had my heater out along with the gauge cluster out and found it coming out of the harness inside the cowl. I bought about 5' of stk color wire from coolerman and ran it out the drivers side wire loom hole, along the fender and down to the port in the head.

 

[franklin40]

thanks. i’ll have to go find it. you’ve given me the place to look for it anyway!!

 

[franklin40]

found it! wired up and the gauge does indeed work. now i’ve found i have a small coolant leak at the adapter though

i also found out what this is for.

. it’s a push button starter!! wtf!! i have to take that out now. not sure why anyone would wire that in!!

also got my headlights to work again. it’s amazing how a little (and i mean barely visible amount) of corrosion in on a connector can screw up the lights so much