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Final fitting came in today....Haven't filled up tank yet, but poured a little gas into the floats of the carb, and after some fiddling with the distributor position, it fired up!! Ran it for about 30 seconds before the garage filled up with smoke (no exhaust pipes or muffler, no drive shaft, etc)....So now will put some gas in the tank, push it out of the garage and start some tuning. Even though I got an 800 cold crank amp battery, it's a hard start turning that sucker over. But it ran effortlessly once started.
The hesitation was because the new battery I bought didn't have a full charge on it....Once I charged it overnight, no turning issues. That's the good news.
The bad news, is I put some gas in the tank today and nada. Pisses me off because I went to the trouble before I put the pump back in the tank to bench test it and it ran fine. I jumpered the relay, checked the ground, and I had 12V at the connector. Dropped the tank and pulled the pump, and the weirdest thing. It will run for a few seconds and then nothing. When I ohmed it before running, it had around 9 ohms which I would expect for a motor. After it ran a few seconds and stopped, I checked it again and it was in the KOhms...and it was discharging like a capacitor, steadily dropping. I guess at some point it would reach low ohms and run again. I don't know if these pumps have an internal thermal OL that opens the windings when it's locked up or what. But in anycase, have a new pump and strainer on the way. Never ending......Although it may be my own fault, is I neglected to pull the fuel relay while I was doing all my timing testing. With the tank empty I may have burned the pump up myself
New fuel pump installed. I also discovered that the fuel sender unit wasn't working either. Disassembled it, and most of the contacts/pickups were coated in varnish. Sanded down the pickup arc, the low fuel pickup, and the wiper and readjusted and now it's working great. These units are really pretty simple, and unless the wiper has broken can easily be repaired.
Sold my aluminum finish edelbrock 1405....In buying stuff off of CL a few months back I luckily met the Quality Manager at the Edlebrock plant near me. He's getting me stuff at cost, so I sold my manual choke 1405 and getting a new black finish 1406 (electric choke) for less than what I sold my carb on CL. Should be here tomorrow.
About have all my electrical gremlins solved. My battery was going dead because I didn't realize the vanity mirror lights were staying on as well as the right kick-panel lamp. Note to self...before chasing down all the grounds to the door switches, make sure the headlight **** isn't turned all the way...D'oh! I did find that someone in the past disconnected the driver's side door switch connectors. There are two...one for the courtesy lamp and one for the key buzzer. With some needle nose I was able to get the lamp one back on, but it seems I might have to disassemble the entire driver kick panel to get to the switch to put the buzzer wire back on. My turn signal issue was because I hadn't put in lamps yet....flashers are all working now.
Installed all new LED's into the dash console. Without a Tilt wheel that thing is a pain in the ***...never could get it all the way out, but was able to get it turned enough to change the lamps. Did discover that my speedo cable is broke, so now have a new one on order and will have to dive into the dash again...drats.
Picture of LED's and interior lights (turn signal on)
New fuel pump installed. I also discovered that the fuel sender unit wasn't working either. Disassembled it, and most of the contacts/pickups were coated in varnish. Sanded down the pickup arc, the low fuel pickup, and the wiper and readjusted and now it's working great. These units are really pretty simple, and unless the wiper has broken can easily be repaired.
Sold my aluminum finish edelbrock 1405....In buying stuff off of CL a few months back I luckily met the Quality Manager at the Edlebrock plant near me. He's getting me stuff at cost, so I sold my manual choke 1405 and getting a new black finish 1406 (electric choke) for less than what I sold my carb on CL. Should be here tomorrow.
About have all my electrical gremlins solved. My battery was going dead because I didn't realize the vanity mirror lights were staying on as well as the right kick-panel lamp. Note to self...before chasing down all the grounds to the door switches, make sure the headlight **** isn't turned all the way...D'oh! I did find that someone in the past disconnected the driver's side door switch connectors. There are two...one for the courtesy lamp and one for the key buzzer. With some needle nose I was able to get the lamp one back on, but it seems I might have to disassemble the entire driver kick panel to get to the switch to put the buzzer wire back on. My turn signal issue was because I hadn't put in lamps yet....flashers are all working now.
Installed all new LED's into the dash console. Without a Tilt wheel that thing is a pain in the ***...never could get it all the way out, but was able to get it turned enough to change the lamps. Did discover that my speedo cable is broke, so now have a new one on order and will have to dive into the dash again...drats.
Picture of LED's and interior lights (turn signal on)
As I recall, the instrument cluster is easier to remove if you loosen the two bolts that hold the steering column to the underside of the dash. Seems like I remember backing them off as far as they would go without coming off completely which dropped the column enough to allow pulling the instrument cluster.
The 'vert is looking real good! That red looks very close to the red I put on mine. Every time I look at the pictures you posted I think I'm looking at my truck - except you engine has better looking parts on it! Where did you find that red?
Last edited by ragged89; Apr 14, 2017 at 11:38 PM.
As I recall, the instrument cluster is easier to remove if you loosen the two bolts that hold the steering column to the underside of the dash. Seems like I remember backing them off as far as they would go without coming off completely which dropped the column enough to allow pulling the instrument cluster.
The 'vert is looking real good! That red looks very close to the red I put on mine. Every time I look at the pictures you posted I think I'm looking at my truck - except you engine has better looking parts on it! Where did you find that red?
The red is a custom mix....I can get the ppg mix if you want....what you cant really see yet because of the dust and lighting in my garage is that it has copper pearl in it....when in the sun it has a subtle sparkle of copper.
That truck is really coming together nice!! Can you dim those LED lights?
you cursed me I doubt they dim but I went to check and now they don't work at all! Can't be a fuse because the headlight bright indicator is fed from the same hot and it works....so has to be my headlight switch. Boo hiss.
you cursed me I doubt they dim but I went to check and now they don't work at all! Can't be a fuse because the headlight bright indicator is fed from the same hot and it works....so has to be my headlight switch. Boo hiss.
If that switch has gone flaky now might be a good time to install separate headlight relays. That'll save the next switch, make it last forever, plus boost the voltage to your lamps.
Don't you just love all these suggestions involving more time and effort just as your getting close to a milestone
Last edited by ragged89; Apr 15, 2017 at 10:54 AM.
I doubt they dim but I went to check and now they don't work at all! Can't be a fuse because the headlight bright indicator is fed from the same hot and it works....so has to be my headlight switch. Boo hiss.
