chevyv8guy

did a 2.8l to 350 swap on a 84 firebird it was carbd with the v6 and i swapped it to carbd v8 i got it to fire and everything but then i had to pull the engine again and and distributer ect. so i put it all back in wired it up. and when i went to put the distributor back in it sparked at the bottom where the gear is and hit the intake because the battery wire that goes to the distributor hit the vaccum advance causing it to spark. i wento fire it and nothing my lights turn on but dont go up my indicator lights dont work either and it wont turn over. i checked my fuses none of them seemed to be burnt out or broken(i didnt use a meter i just looked to see if it was broken on the inside) and the big silver fuse for my power acc. i figured was the problem so i replaced it..still nothing...anyone have any ideas at all? im not sure if this should be in the engine swap thread or not

chevyv8guy

ALSO IF THERE IS ANYONE IN OR CLOSE TO NIAGARA FALLS ONTARIO MAYBE YOU COULD STOP BY AND TAKE A LOOK OR SEND ME A PM THANKS

regal301

i looked at the alldata schematic,the distributor wire comes right from the ignition switch,and the ignition switch is protected by a fuseable link,i think its on one of the inner fenders near the battery.

Omerta88

I hate alldata but i looked arc and its showing the same...good luck but all i can say is lesson learned unhook your battery next time

chevyv8guy

yeah i usually do but why would it be in the fender its not fuel injected so wouldn't the link be on the steering Colum? or is that the neutral safety lol i really don't no what I'm looking for I'm still very new at this and still learning lol

camaronewbie

The fusible links attach to the starter - red wires with white or black pieces in them about the size of a fat pencil and 1 in long.

regal301

they are not all at the starter.there are 6-7 around the engine compartment.

chevyv8guy

i found the one and my dad tested it and it was no good then it was good then it was no good again..lol

i've found 2 so far one on the battery wire and one on the starter wires that feeds the car power. i have also been looking at the wiring diagram in the hanes manual fr the carburated cars and only see 2 unless they dont show them

chevyv8guy

OK so the problem is solved and it was the fusible link on the starter wires so i got it to run but it wont idle for more then 5 seconds and now i have to stop because im leaking a large amount of oil and i have an intake leak...so now i have to fix that and get this car finished in 2 weeks lol and its kinda hard with no money so wish me luck if anyone has an idea if why it wont idle for a long time without me giving it gas let me know i know the oil leak is from my oil sensor oil cause its not plugged properly and obviously the gasket wasnt done great either but thank you for the fusible link problem

Omerta88

it would most likely be the intake leak

chevyv8guy

loss of compression through the intake? its not a big leak but a noticable one lol but it shouldnt be leaking at all

Omerta88

how do you know its loss of compresion? you siad in ur post you had an intake leak fix that first bad enough vacume leak will kill the car due to fuel starvation

chevyv8guy

i dont know that i asked it in a form of a question lol

Omerta88

well you put a ? at the end showing as a question...but newho what i would do is fix the issues first oil leak and intake leak then start it and see what happens i still think the intake leak is a big issue. that is where i would start if you think it may be a compresion thing get a tester and check er out.

chevyv8guy

sorry i meant to say i dont know thats why i asked in the form of a question my computer screws up sometimes and doesnt write everything im typin lol the oil leak and gasket leak ill be fixing in 2 days and im also gonna hook up the brake booster to the carb. cuz its blowing white smoke that also might bve an issue i will see by friday lol

SeriousGearhead

The massive amount of air the engine is sucking in through the intake leak and the open brake booster connection is more than likely the reason that the engine is not running properly and blowing so much white smoke. It may be breathing in coolant through the faulty intake gaskets (i'm assuming that's where the leak is...), if this is the case, you'd better hope it hasn't damaged anything internal. I recommend you have a good long heart to heart with your Haynes manual and read any and every other bit of literature you can find on this car so that you are better prepared to repair it in the future. Small block Chevy V8's are a simple engine to work on, your best tool is going to be common sense my friend.

chevyv8guy

the leak is on the front two bolts on the drivers side and it wasnt leaking much just enough for me to notice it right away and the engine has been completely rebuilt and when i first went to start it it locked up on me from a bolt being ontop of the piston but only damaged the piston so ive had the engine out and rebuilt again this was maybe 2 weeks ago lol and ive been bringing my manual to work and reading it over lol

Omerta88

if i came off a little harsh i am sorry jus try to fix those issues then if its still a nogo well start looking into other options....im just a believer of making sure all is done before you can trouble shoot a problem...well keep me posted

chevyv8guy

nah nah its all good ive read alot of annoying questions so i can see why people get frustrated i try and figure it out beofre i ask but now im on a time frame so trin to get it done fast..but rushing just causes problems lol

SeriousGearhead

The front two bolts should be on either side of a cooling port, which like I said before would explain the white smoke. Like Omerta88 said, fix that and the oil leak and then go from there. Hopefully it will take care of the rough idle and stalling. Best of luck and keep us posted.

chevyv8guy

i really appreciate all of your help im sorry if im frustrating lol but im learning ive not had any mechanical background i just have a basic concept of things i know how some stuff works but dont know names kinda thing
thank you very much i really appreciate it

SeriousGearhead

That's what this forum is for my friend. We all started somewhere and I for one am tired of seeing people who don't even know what their engine compartment looks like. The only stupid question is the question not asked.

chevyv8guy

very very true at least ive done this swap by myself now its just the stuff i dont have knowledge about but i take it in like a sponge and use it in the future

Omerta88

at least you seam to have a path to follow and a lil common sense those two things will most def be the most important things to get the swap done.....fix the issues and let us know whats goin on then

chevyv8guy

ok so today i fixed the intake leak the oil leak and connected the brake booster to the carb and put in my front sway bar put the key in fired right away and idled with no leaks or any problems but when i turned the key back to shut it off it continued to run and i pulled the key out and it was still running lol so im thinking i used a constant 12v power source for my distributor to make it kepp running where i should have used a 12v power source that is only avalible when the key is turned if that is correct please let me know lol

tank you for everyones help

Omerta88

I have seen that on a 350 in a suburban it was the the fireing order never seen it before or since but extreamly wierd

chevyv8guy

that is weird I've never ever heard of that

SeriousGearhead

Well, I dunno about the firing order part, Small Block Chevy V8's run a firing order of 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2. Yeah, I have had my dizzy out so many times I have memorized that. Anyhow, your 12V constant comment sounds about right to me. I have seen cases where an engine will continue to idle after the key has been shut off but its a chugging rough idle due to carbon build up on the spark plugs. Based on the previous work you have done I'd say that's not the issue here. Check your power wire to your distributor, if its a constant that you wired in, install a toggle switch in an inconspicuous place inside the car or rewire the power to a location that runs off of the key.

chevyv8guy

i was planning on doing the switch lol i just have to cut the wire put the switch in the middle and ground it right?

SeriousGearhead

You definitely do NOT want to ground that wire at all. It is a power wire only, it grounds through the distributor after it has gone through the coil. That wire is only half of the circuit.

chevyv8guy

i have a toggle switch that has two prong's on the back and one with 3 the one with three i would have to ground the switch right? or should i just use the 2 prong

SeriousGearhead

Use the two prong switch. If you like the three prong better, just use two out of the three prongs.

Omerta88

the three prong prolly lights up if it does thats why you would ground it

SeriousGearhead

I have a three prong in mine for the ignition wire, I didn't ground it only because I didn't want to run into any problems. I didn't care if it didn't light up, I know its on because my Trans Am fires up after about half a crank.

camaronewbie

Whoa Whoa!!! How did we get to a toggle switch to control the distributor anyways?

You said you chose a wrong wire - so why not just go back and choose the correct wire? Just look at the wiring diags, find the right wires you need, and make it right. There's only 2 wires to connect to a vac advanced HEI distributor anyway - a white and a pink (pink is power, white is tach) - they should have been right there on the factory harness.

Why does everyone want to wire in a toggle for every problem? Toggle switches were not invented to fix the world's electrical issues. We just don't need another 3rd gen in the world full of toggle switches controlling everything. Modding is keeping a nice clean car that's functional and driveable and remaining at least close to stock appearance, 15 toggles all over the dash is called hacking IMO.

SeriousGearhead

I agree with you, only reason I have my one switch for my distributor on my car is because I have retro-fitted my car to a non-computer controlled setup. I did this because it was the most inexpensive and logical solution to a previous owner's brainlessness. That one switch is hidden away so that it does not affect the appearance of the interior. Every other electrical doodad and thingamajig the car was equipped with is operated with factory switches and wiring. Just fixed a bunch of wiring mishaps on it today actually. I gotta post pics yet. This guy is in a different situation.

chevyv8guy

my car doesnt have a tach from factory and it was originally a v6..i know toggle switches are ugly but this one will be very well hidden and it takes about 2 seconds to put it in instead of trying to hunt down my wiring and its the only thing i have a toggle for i dont have electric fans or any of that other fun stuff lol i agree toggles are bad i am on a time line and it will be hidden anyway i go on vaca on next sat and by the time i get back there will most likely be snow and i have no garage lol

chevyv8guy

thank you for everyones help i will keep you posted if the toggle works lol if it fails THEN i will hunt down the pesty wire haha

chevyv8guy

OKKKK soo i wired in the toggle switch turned it on car turned over but didnt fire so i stopped gave it some gas went to try again and nothing lights work and everything car just wont turn over any ideas?