The problem is this... Battery wont stay charged. The car will only try to turn over when hooked up to a power charger or with jumper cables. Took alternator to Autozone and it passed all tests, but when we disconnect the battery negative while running it instantly dies. Brand new battery, but just took it in and they said it was fully dead, they are charging it now. What else could it be?

That is the problem I am having, now maybe it has to do with wiring...

What do I need to do wiring wise? Only thing I've done with the wiring so far is put everything back in the little bundle next to the battery that the positive wire runs too, wired up the starter like it was before, hooked up the tach and power wires to the new dizzy, and hooked up the old oil pressure sender on the back of the block. Do I NEED anything else hooked back up?

Specific questions:

*The plug that goes to the tranny.
*The plug an inch or so above the oil filter. It seems the one on the back of the block made the gauge work, do I need both?
*Ground wires that go from the firewall to the back of each head.

Thanks for any help!

 

You need all that plugged back up to drive the car - well - maybe not ....

The plug in the tranny locks the TC - I guess you don't have to have it plugged in, since you no longer have an ECM to control the lockup.

The hole above the oil filter - that was an oil pressure unit that runs the fuel pump in the event that the ECM or fuel pump relay doesn't work - since you have no ECM,. then I'm not sure how you have the fuel pump working - but as long as you have a fuel pump working, I guess that's not necessary (as long as there is a plug there to keep the oil in).

The grounds are definitely required - make sure all those are right. You need:

Neg battery cable to block.
Groundstrap from head to firewall.
Smaller (10 gauge) ground wire from battery neg to fender.

Starter wiring - you should have every starter wire connected to the large connector, including the pos battery cabale. Then, yuou should have JUST the PURPLE wire on the smaller terminal, all by itself.

 

Thanks for the info. A few clarifications:

The tranny is manual. What's the plug on the tranny for on a manual?
We removed the in-tank fuel pump and now use a regular mechanical pump on the side of the block.
Do you happen to know, specifically, what the ground strap from firewall to head is for?

 

You have to ground the entire electrical system. Some of the electrical system is engine, (like starter), and thus needs grounded to battery (via the neg battery cable). Some of the electrical is body (like lights), thus the need to ground the body (via the wire from battery neg to fender). You have to make a complete circuit (connection), as with anything electrical - thus the groundstrap from engine to firewall. Thus you have battery to engine, engine to body, body to battery - a complete circuit.