Now that I have my fan wired up correctly, I ran into another problem.

It's my Speedo (not 100% sure on this yet, the car is still in the air), my fuel gauge, and my oil pressure gauge.

I know that the speedo wires are Yellow and purple, they go plugged into the VSS box above the ecm, then to the speedo. Since my ecu is INOP, would I have to splice the Vss directly to the speedo to get it to work?

Second is my fuel gauge. Is it not working because the FP isn't getting any power? My fuel relay is out of the car, to be joined by the fp shortly, could this be the cause? It's not pegged, it just stays at empty the whole time.

Last is my Oil pressure gauge. Before I sent the block off to the machine shop, I pulled the old plug out of its place above the oil filter. Since it had been such a long time since I removed it, I had forgotten where it went, and I put it in a different hole on the block, which I'm guessing led to a coolant passage. Did this foul up the switch? The gauge stays at zero but the oil level is full on the dipstick. Also the orange wire on the socket for the switch is cut, I assume this went to the fuel relay?

Any ideas? I'm taking the oil switch back to AZ for a replacement tomorrow and see if that fixes my problem.

 

speedo:

No, the buffer box is independent of the ECM/Speedo and will supply signal for both regardless of the presence of either. FYI, only TBI cars have the buffer box. If you have a V6/TPI, then the box will have to be added. V6/TPI cars ran the VSS wires directly to the ECM which decoded the signal and sent it to the speedo
http://www.austinthirdgen.org/mkport...F_and_vin8.jpg
http://www.austinthirdgen.org/mkport...SS_V8_vinE.jpg

Fuel level:

Independent of pump function
http://www.austinthirdgen.org/mkport...uges_part5.gif

Oil press:

Bad sender most likely, possible bad gauge. Late SBCs have two possible oil ports. One on the rear china wall like older blocks, and one near the filter. Put your sender in either port. The threads changed over the years but adapters are available for each. You only need the middle tan wire to run the gauge. ORN and GRY(or tan/wht) are for the fuel pump relay bypass. Thats similar to the old IGN enable switches of years past, except its a redundant feature in case of a failed relay, not a safety precaution
http://www.austinthirdgen.org/mkport...uges_part3.gif

I hope for your sake the oil issue is electrical, not that your engine isnt building pressure. Easy way to test is to pull the coil wire, then remove the sender and spin the starter motor over a few times. Oil should spurt out of the open port. No oil means internal issue

 

Yea, It was originally a TBI car, and I knew it have the buffer box, but I didn't know that It supplied to the speedo directly.

I'll check fuses for the gauges, and check the wire leading to the FP tomorrow.

I'm pretty sure that the Oil is moving around in the engine, as it's recently rebuilt, and when I removed the oil sender, oil came spurting out. I don't hear any clacking or knocking that may indicate no oil pressure, but I'll double check everything.

Thanks