Rebeldryver's '65 Impala SS Black Betty

[TheSilverBuick]

Alright Lohnes.

[Scott Liggett]

Alright Lohnes.

Weisenheimer! And, I do not resemble Lohnes. I am shorter, skinnyer, and younger looking.

[TheSilverBuick]

But you snowball just like he does

[CDMBill]

Ah yes the snowball effect, 'as long as I'm doing this, I might as well do that and that and that... to save time'. Easily one of my five worst habits.

That is how I ended up "porting" the coolant cross overs in my last two manifolds as the as cast passages were restricted by casting flash and I needed to to do exactly what yoi are proposing to do with the sensoe. That then becomes part of every manifold change in perpetuity.

[Scott Liggett]

Well that pea sized snow ball just sitting at the top of the steep hill just got kicked over the edge. Damn Craigslist to hell!!

[Monk]

Were you having cooling problems?

[Scott Liggett]

Were you having cooling problems?

Not with the new radiator and fans. The old RPM intake is tiny compared to the massive Vic Jr. heads. They were always mismatched. I'm using this small problem to upgrade. Or, I am thinking about it.

[Scott Liggett]

That little snowball is picking up speed and size. It's quickly growing from golf ball size to baseball size.

Besides getting rained on today at Pomona Swap Meet; I found this one. In excellent condition and I paid $80 for it. I can't believe how hard it is to find a Victor Jr. intake that wasn't butchered by a hack with porting tools; or some bozo who thinks an impact wrench is needed to install heater hose fittings.

[SuperBuickGuy]

nice score.... and really, that sound you hear is my sympathy at you getting rained on

[Scott Liggett]

nice score.... and really, that sound you hear is my sympathy at you getting rained on

We did much better than NorCal otherwise I would've been canoeing the rows at the swap meet.

[SuperBuickGuy]

my whine is we're getting that warm rain rather than the snow from the north...

still, while I rust, you tan

[Scott Liggett]

In order to try to find my periodic back fire issue, I delved into some electrical work. But, first I checked the timing. I wanted to know if the fans kicking in pulled enough juice from the MSD box to mess with the ignition. My timing light flashed three times before quitting. Just enough time for me to see that the timing was way, way off. Somewhere around 0* and 4* retarded. My dist was loose. I advanced the timing somewhat, but left the car until I got another timing light.

I got another timing light from Sears, but before I cut open the package I tried my old one once more. It worked. I reset the timing to 18* and tightened the dist. The MSD box didn't show signs of losing the timing when the fans kicked on, so I went on to other things.

First was the battery cables. The negative side has two other wires connected to it besides the cable. One is the negative wire that goes to the MSD. The other, the red 10 ga. goes to the radiator support. I used fine strand wire for that years ago. It fell apart as soon I touched it.


I made a new wire for the radiator support ground.


The negative wire for the MSD box connector was all corroded. So, I put on a new one.


I moved onto the positive side of the battery. Besides the 2 ga battery cable, I have a 4 ga wire that powers all the stereo amps. The wire that powers the MSD, power for the fans, and the 10 ga that goes through the horn relay on the way to the alternator. That last one was original to the car. I replaced the external regulated alternator with an internal one. I moved the wire from the regulator over to the horn relay to charge the battery. I probably should have a wire directly from the alternator to the battery, but everything is powered through the horn relay.


This is where the horn relay and the battery connect. The red wire runs the stereo. Very little draw, just the memory and the power on the stereo alone.


I followed the power wire back to the MSD box and found this connection. Yes, this is not good. So I replaced it with a new solderless connector that I soldered and covered with heat shrink.


The MSD box wires go through this radio noise suppressor. The radio is literally on the other side of the firewall from the MSD box and without this all you heard on the radio is buzzing.


Following DG's advice, I moved the power wire for the MSD box off the battery right next to the fans' power supply to the back of the alternator. I then fired up the car and it ran smoother and quieter (weird) than it ever did. Then I discovered the alternator wasn't charging because I forgot to reconnect the wire to power the regulator. I reconnected it and the car sounded back to normal.


The car ran fine, up to temp, then kicked the fans on. There still is a noticeable change in idle when the fans kicked in, but it wasn't the 200 rpm drop like before. Improvement, yes. Fixed, who knows?

[malc]

Your MSD should be installed "stand alone" like connected to the battery positive and ground.
It should not "share" with the rest of the electrics.

[TheSilverBuick]

I have my MSD box hooked right to the battery and the ON/OFF wire hooked to the old HEI coil power source.

[Scott Liggett]

I have my MSD box hooked right to the battery and the ON/OFF wire hooked to the old HEI coil power source.

Mine is something similar. The switch wire for the box is connected to a separate fuse box that is ign/on hot.