BBR's 83GT - 552 BBF version 3.0 (at least)

[BBR]

The no crank with the key problem is fixed!!

I traced wires and traced wires and finally found the problem. There were two wires over on the driver side fender well that were originally spliced in a connector and they had both broken free of the connector and were just loose.

Check continuity on both of them, twisted them together and voila we have crank again.

This thing is turning out to be what I feel like is the best version of this car so far.

[DanStokes]

Crawled around on the floor under this thing today. My favorite place. Nope.

I re-routed the fuel lines away from the muffler and wrapped them with a heat wrap sleeve.

Afterward, I fired it up just to make sure it still works. Haha.

I found it won't start with the key... I suspect a neutral safety switch malfunction.

We don't need no stinkin' key!

[BBR]

Crawled around on the floor under this thing today. My favorite place. Nope.

I re-routed the fuel lines away from the muffler and wrapped them with a heat wrap sleeve.

Afterward, I fired it up just to make sure it still works. Haha.

I found it won't start with the key... I suspect a neutral safety switch malfunction.

[langleylad]

Well done James !

[BBR]

That was the ticket!!

[BBR]

It causes it to trigger on the wrong side of the reluctor, which ends up throwing your timing off up to 20-30 degrees.

I knew it was something to watch, but didn't expect the wire colors to be completely opposite.

[SuperBuickGuy]

I'd be interested to hear how a magnetic pickup could be wired backwards. On my Corvette, the pickup wires from the timing wheel I'm using are both black....

[BBR]

I 100% have the magnetic pickup wired backwards.

I was confused yesterday because everything is set up right and it was kinda acting weird. It would act like it wanted to start when cranking, but just wouldn't light off.

That sent me down the path this morning to verify stuff was wired correctly. Then I noticed it.

The Accel's wiring:

PURPLE (+)
ORANGE (-)

Duraspark distributor wiring:

PURPLE (-)
ORANGE (+)

I verified this using the MSD 6AL instructions. It also has the MSD purple (+) wire attaching to the Ford orange wire (+) and their green wire (-) connecting to the Ford purple wire (-).

So today i am going to swap the wires around and see if that improves things.

[BBR]

Got it all buttoned up yesterday. Got a few ka-chuffs and a brief run out of it before I ran out of time. It definitely has spark now. Getting closer.

[BBR]

Distributor tech and a look at the tool I made with my 3d printer.

[DanStokes]

No video this past weekend. I just did a bunch of random stuff. I did a bunch of shop cleaning and stuff like that. Biggest thing I did project-wise was run bigger, brand new battery cables from the battery (+) and (-) just to cover that base. Still waiting on my distributor to arrive.

I did design a new tool to measure the mechanical advance of distributor. It clips onto the top of a distributor in place of the cap with degree marks. You just hold the shaft solid and cycle the rotor and measure the movement in degrees. Double that number and you have crank degrees of advance.

Pics please!

[BBR]

No video this past weekend. I just did a bunch of random stuff. I did a bunch of shop cleaning and stuff like that. Biggest thing I did project-wise was run bigger, brand new battery cables from the battery (+) and (-) just to cover that base. Still waiting on my distributor to arrive.

I did design a new tool to measure the mechanical advance of distributor. It clips onto the top of a distributor in place of the cap with degree marks. You just hold the shaft solid and cycle the rotor and measure the movement in degrees. Double that number and you have crank degrees of advance.

[BBR]

Ignition upgrade continues.

[Captain]

Just something from a old shop instructor....
If something went wrong,
What was the LAST Thing you Changed or Worked On? Even NEW parts can be Defective!!

[DanStokes]

I bench tested the distributor and prove that I'm not going crazy. Then I do the logical thing and begin installing a completely different ignition system.

Not sure that testing the distributor proves that you're not going crazy (hey, we're both doing this car stuff which is not the sign of a healthy mind) but I'm thinking a different ignition seems like a good move.