1968 chevy 327 not starting

[6.5dieselman]

Recently my 1968 chevy c50 327v8 has not been starting. We have narrowed down the problem to the wiring. For some reason it is not getting fire from the starter to the coil. Is this a broken wire or is it something else?

 

[towcat]

do a diagnostic first.
jumper from the battery to the coil. if it starts, then you need to trace the wire from the starter solenoid to the coil.
GM's give the initial juice directly from the starter to the coil(12v)
then once it fires up, the main electrical takes over and that wiring has a resistance wire to keep the coil from burning out prematurely.

 

[6.5dieselman]

we ran a wire straight from the battery to the coil and it fired right up.

 

[PackRat]

Uhm. Yeah, what he said.


Dang, you gotta be quick, with a guy like Calvin around.

 

[subway]

we ran a wire straight from the battery to the coil and it fired right up.

dont leave it there, you will burn up your coil quickly. they are only supposed to get the full 12 volts when cranking.

 

[6.5dieselman]

we took the wire off was just trying to see if that was the problem. Weird thing happened. I put a new starter on it yesterday and just to see what would happen i tried starting it and it started. It only ran for about 30 seconds because it had sat for about 6months without starting and the only fuel it had was what i dumped in the carb. But i kept trying and it kept starting and dying. Then the battery went dead so i put it on the charger. When i put it back it back in and tried to start it, no fire. It was getting nothing to the coil.

 

[towcat]

you positive the "ignition" wire is hooked up to the small terminal opposite to the terminal to engage the solenoid? purple wire one side, yellow(iirc) wire to the opposite small term? if so, check of 12v on the ignition terminal. if you do, you then have a problem in your wiring.

 

[opusd2]

It means the 327 needs to be sold! I will take the hit for you...

 

[PackRat]

I'm thinking it would solve your problem, plus an upgrade, to pull the old point-spinner, and drop in a HEI.

 

[65sixbanger]

So you dont burn up your points, run the wire from the battery to the coil in your fuse panel, so that it only gets a charge when the key is on. Another problem could be your distributer gear is stripped on the cam. That might explain the starting and dying.

 

[6.5dieselman]

i have the HEI kit for it but the truck is in a field right now and i ain't the best at not losing parts. A couple of hours ago we ran a wire from the starter to the coil and she fired right up. I got so happy hearing this truck run cuz it was my grandpa's and mine since i was born and he passed away a year ago and this is the first time that it has run correctly since.

You can't beat the sound of a small block chevy through a cherrybomb glasspack

 

[Chevyboy_0]

I'm thinking it would solve your problem, plus an upgrade, to pull the old point-spinner, and drop in a HEI.

Did this on my chevelle, the thing was the HEI needs a full 12V to the coil, you need to bypass the the resistance wire or remove it and replace it with a stranded 12ga wire from the bulkhead to the coil, or you could just run a wire to the IGN terminal on the fuse block

 

[sle2115]

If you have an HEI upgrade, run 12 volts to it and drive it to where you can work on it...it's not going to burn them up in minutes. Hell, I've got a 6 volt system wired with a 1 wire Delco alternator and still run the original points on my tractor...I've never changed the coil and run points all year, then change them, but they've never failed...and I mow with it, 6 hours a week or more!

 

[6.5dieselman]

Does anybody know where i could get a carb for the truck? it has the vaccum operated governer on it and i can't find one with that on it.

 

[towcat]

Does anybody know where i could get a carb for the truck? it has the vaccum operated governer on it and i can't find one with that on it.

best suggestion is getting yours rebuilt.
these guys are the only ones I trust now.
http://www.recarbco.com/index.html