My electrical night mare

[LordMaximo]

I decided to get my old 68 Chevy truck back on the road a couple weeks ago. Since then I have replaced the valve seals and rocker cover gaskets. Duriong the process of checking the rotor settings while dialing in the lifter sequence, I found the rotor missing a screw and carbon burns on the rotor. So I checked it all out and actually started to rewire the ignition system. Word of caution to all you young guns and first time buyers of old used stuff. pay close attention to the electrical under the dash and the hood. I am now into the electrical for the second week of trouble shooting with the DVM and doing complete leg checks on the sub-circuit wiring paths. This takes a great deal of time chasing all the circuit paths to each zone in the ride. Mostly found old nicks and chaffing from vibrations, loose grounds, and corroded links. Never hurts to get the book out and actually do the continuity testing of all those old circuits. This is a major cause in what will fail a car during the emmissions testing. A loose wire or bad connection can cause your ride to give faulty readings during the testing and the engine will run wierd. Hopefully it will be complete this week.

Maximo

 

[Tripper]

I feel u're pain!!!

Maximo,
I feel for ya... there is nothin' I hate worse that wiring problems & runnin' some small little qlitch down... Makes what little hair I have left fall out!!! ; - >

BoB

 

[joehalford01]

rip it all out and start over, i can't stand wiring that's been modified a hundred times over the course of the last 30 years. it's mad scary.

 

[LordMaximo]

That is the game for now......ouch......lol......so far the ignition circuit is now all new, the stearing columm harness is fixed, now I have torn the dash down and doing some heavy mods in fixing the abortion from the install of new function gages. Cutting out all the circles for the bessels to fit flush, repainting the inside housing with the glow in the dark stuff. The plexiglass panel was cut into two pieces to allow for the tach install, this dude was a moran when all this was done. Now I will be repainting the instrument face and adding some touches to the cluster face. Not sure if I want skull faces or the flying reapers on the panel. Anyways, another week in finishing the dash and wiring........lol.....all for the love of rodding. My 8 year old daughter is loving all this work. She is in the shop with as much time as I do just cleaning the stuff up for me and doing the prep work for me. Great kid and a super big help for the old man.

Maximo

 

[The Rattler]

Good help is hard to find!

Maximo,
Glad to hear you're getting it straightened out and sounds like you have a good helper too!

Rattler

 

[gassersgarage]

My 65' Biscayne was an abortion. Got a new harness for dash and rear from Classic Industries. Only had to replace the bulb sockets. Theirs was cheesey.

 

[LordMaximo]

I build my own most of the time. Never have been to much in the store bought isle..........my little 8 year old girl is a great help in the shop, she is always the first to promp me into taking her out of the house and into the shop. The wife is always quipping about her not giving me room to breath when I firsat get home from work, but we usually spend a couple hours a night out there anyways.
My friend down the street brought home a new dragster for his daughter at the age of 16, we happened to stop by and help uncrate the beast. This is when the little one got hooked real fast, a top fuelie for girls.
LOL.......now she has this unquenchable need for the race track.

Maximo