I finished puting the 350 in today. Boy, did it sound good... until the fire started.

It was in the battery cable from the starter to the battery. It must have been a short because the whole cable melted in half.

On the starter I have the battery cable connected to the big terminal on the starter. On the small terminal I have two other wires. I thought they both came off the original starter, but I could be wrong. What wires go on the small terminal???

Also, on the alternator I have the ground cable and the second wire from the battery cable. I'm sure that belongs there because I labelled it when I removed it from the alt. when the 305 came out.

Any help?? Another thought just came to me. I had the headers open (shorties). Could the heat have started the fire and all the wiring is okay??

Thanks for any help.

 

I found that the tubular heat shield on the wires to the starter is there for a reason. I sure gets hot in that corner.

The fire I had was started by the open headers melting the battery cable. I put the heat shield back on just to be sure and re-routed the battery cable along the top of the oil pan and retained it. Everything is fine now.

 

If it was a wiring issue then it should have shorted upon start up. If you were able to hear it run I'm guessing it took a little bit to burn up, so the exhaust possibility is more likely.