What would you say if I replaced the alternator (2xs), the battery (2xs), the voltage regulator & my beast (1977 v8 360 Tradesman 200) still won't charge good?

 

check the ground on the voltage reg. add a ground wire special if you have to. star washers are your friends, i did that to a duel point 1965 distributor, they lasted so long i would change them just cause i felt sorry for them.

 

wow- I really wasn't expecting such a quick reply! Thanx Moe. Ironically, I just dug some out- had a li'l debate about usin' them. Will do. I'll 2xChk the ground. I found a suggestion in my Haynes, whereas they suggested turning off the vehicle, taking off the Neg cable off the battery, usin' a cont. checker from post to cable head to see if there's current, then if it lights, then 1 @ a time, remove the fuses- cuz' there might be current. I'll try that too. Weirdly enough, when I used my ohm meter on that- there was 12.75 v current from the post to the head on the cords...

 

to be sure matt iam not an electronic expert. if you can find info in good books go ahead and use that. info. some times a cable looks good but its not connected inside, the metal part. i had to re-solder one once. if you can find a unmolested model like yours, you can check the ground cabels, to see where they go.. try a known good battery. my dad had a saying "check the easiest and cheapest things first"

 

I might have let water into the tank w/driving w/out a lid for a few days w/light rain...
but, when my van goes into gear- KONK - it pretty much knocks out- I have to rev hard and stay in neutral as much as possible to keep it running.. I've got a Holley 2245 carb 2 barrel 360 v8... any thoughts?

 

get 2-3 cans of HEET, and put it in the gas tank. and get a locking gas cap. its mostly methanol and will grab any water in the tank, and run it on out. dont use more it will cause the engine to run bad. on the carb if it is the stock one keep it, i think it is the stock one. even though i like carter carbs.