Hi all.

Ive got a few pics below and questions as to what people think.

The first is some sort of thin hose with a T piece at the end.

The second is just the distributor. Does this look like the computer controlled one?

Also I've discovered a hose that seems to go from just above the brake pedal and goes nowhere other than through the firewall and straight into the fender where the power antenna is (mines RHD ).

Cheers.
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Hose with the T-fitting **may** go to window washer system. Just a guess.?.
Distributor is non-computer--appears to be standard HEI.
No idea on hose to the antenna.

 

It's not the washers, cause they are all working. From what I can feel around, the hose seems to go into some sort of electrical connector (for want of a better term).

If its a non CC disty, where would the vacuum advance be as I can't find it anywhere on the distributor?

Yeah the brake hose has me baffled. Will take photo tomorrow.

 

Thats a vacuum hose for sure......does your car still have the vacuum diagram decal under the hood? can make tracking that easier.

 

That is a computer controlled dist; from before 87 I think it was, that they switched to the small one with the separate coil.

Vacuum line going into the fender may go to the "orb of power" reservoir, which is behind the headlight down low.

Vacuum diagrams won't generally have the HVAC on them because they only cover the engine and the HVAC isn't part of the engine, it's an interior accessory. That looks like what the "T" fitting is for. In cars with the "orb of power" setup, there's a line that connects to the engine, to get the vacuum; a check valve, so that vacuum can "go" toward the HVAC, but not "come back"; the "T"; one side of the "T" goes to the "orb" which stores up vacuum for when the engine isn't making any (when your foot has it as WOT); the other side of the "T" goes through the firewall to the HVAC control head.

 

Thanks sofakingdom!!
I will keep in mind about the distributors!! My first time seeing that style for ccdizzy!!

 

Ok. That dizzy is soon to be gone. Replaced with good old fashioned vacuum one. Because its RHD I've no idea where all the sensors are so im going back to basics!

As for the hoses. I reckon they might of had something to do with cruise control which would also explain the hose above the brake pedal.

 

AFAIK RHD has nothing to do with "sensors".

The cruise control is another whole separate interior accesory system; again, not on the engine vacuum diagrams. But yes, it involves hoses above the brake pedal, that being the fail-safe that turns the cruise off when you push the brakes, in case the electrical system stays engaged somehow.

 

I meant because its been converted the sensors could be anywhere. I'll take a photo of the mess of wires :-)

 

That's not necessarily true... nothing about moving the steering column and so forth, inherently requires that any "sensors" be moved.

Most likely, all the "sensors" are in the same place as in any other vehicle.

Now, a rat's nest of wires, that's a different matter... plenty of people seem to manage creating that quite easily, without converting anything.

I'd suggest that whatever hack job has been done to whatever parts of the wiring and plumbing, are largely independent of the RHD conversion, and can be repaired and straightened out properly with very little difference compared to the car's "domestic" counterparts.

 

Fair point. Its just going to be a fun job working it all out.

 

That's for sure. Whenever I consider buying an older car, the first place I look is under the dash at the wiring. I've walked away from more than one after taking a peek there.

 

As promised all, here are a few pics of the wires.
Everything has been moved to the RHS and as you can see in the last photo the LHS side pretty clear.

If anyone can workout whats going on with them, then I'll buy you a beer when your downunder :-)








And whats this hose for?

[IMG]https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/
Sorry for all the questions all, but I'm learning as I go along.

Cheers.

Jonno.

 

I'm not sure what that blue wire hanging from the driver's side head is, but it's probably a temp sensor of some kind and not likely factory wiring. That hose running from the intake to the water pump would have been your heater hoses in the past, but I guess somebody decided to bypass the heater core for some reason. I'm guessing it leaks. Looks like the white wire is now a temp sensor in the water neck. Maybe to run the fan?

 

Dunno about your hacked wiring there, but the hose going from the wp to intake (assume u mean that one) is a heater bypass someone has put in.

You should be able to source a new hei large cap mech + vac dizzy from most speed shops, or ebay etc. Not sure about the Adelaide hotrod scene, but it's a common enough part. I got one from a GMPP reseller up here many years ago, no issues.

Edit: Afremont - beat me to it by seconds . But yeah, bet the temp sender wire is fan related, always seems to be the first thing hacked on these cars.

 

Yeah, but you caught the distributor. I didn't even notice that there wasn't any vacuum advance. I guess they're running the ECM controlled version which is no good in this setup. Well not if you want power and efficiency from the engine anyway. I did see the odd spark plug wire with the points style connector on the dist end.

I guess we'll call the heater bypass a draw. I thought it was odd that one size hose fit both ends though. I've usually encountered different size hose fittings.

 

Yeah the Blue and White ones are temporary ones that I have put in to make sure the fans and water gauge work. I'm going to have to remove the plastic coiling around the other wires so I can try and see where they are all heading.

On the upside... I have managed to workout the pin connections on the back of the instrument cluster, so hopefully I can wire in my temporary wires into the cluster.

TreeFiddy.... Would that be Pontiworld?

Cheers.

 

No, but I'm sure PW would carry them, bought much stuff there. They tend to specialise in exact replacement parts for oem situations though, so look for 2nd gen Camaro's or something else GM from the 70's.

Got mine from Eagle Auto, only because they happen to be on my way to work.

http://www.eagleautoparts.com.au/

Didn't mean to diss you for hacking the fan wiring . Mine's hacked good too - by me

 

I think I got that vacuum fitting/hose......

Is the "T" fitting metal?

If so, I think it's the T-shaped vacuum fitting that goes in the Qjet carb airhorn (passenger side, top, front, angled down about 30*) that provides vacuum to both the vacuum break canister (also on passenger side/front of the carb) and also the the THERMAC system built in to the factory air cleaner (vacuum doo-hickey built into the base of the air cleaner with another line going over to the air cleaner snorkel heat stove flapper vacuum servo).

On early QJets it was just a straight vacuum nipple, but on later 80s-vintage QJets they added another leg off to the side so they could run 2 things off it simultaneously.

Those fittings are just a press-fit into a hole in the carb casting so they can fall out or be yanked out usually with less effort than you think. If that's it, you should be able to just tap it back in place (use a little LocTite so it doesn't come out again).

I'm hoping I get the gold star on my lunchbox today for this guess!!

 

No diss taken :-) Will check that web site out.
Damon.... I'll check that out and see what i come up with.
Aren't these cars fun :-p

 

Hell, you should be able to get an hei dizzy from Robbos - you have them in SA?

Or check out Rocket, they carry pretty much everything SBC you could ever want, massive choice. They're my usual go-to for engine parts:

http://www.rocketindustries.com.au/

 

Just another question. When I get the vacuum dizzy, where does the vacuum hose connect? I have asked before and wasn't 100% where it needed to go? Does anyone have a pic showing me where it goes or should go to?
Or if I replace the carby as well, can it connect to that if I got a Holley (from the youtube clips i've seen this can be done)?

Cheers again.

Jonno.

 

You can hook it up to ported vacuum, or full vacuum. Full may give you slightly smoother idle, slightly lower temps, slightly better mpg. Maybe at the cost of a little ping at throttle tip-in. Full or ported seems to be one of those highly emotive subjects.

Full vac - just find a source that goes straight into the manifold, like at the bottom of the carb. Ported - Holleys and Qjets (I believe) at least, have a dedicated port in the side of the carb above the throttle plates, which shuts the vac off at idle.

 

Can I use this port that has the pipe that feeds back into itself for the dizzy (what was this used for in the first place?). Also whats the Red plastic wire thing that goes in below the Carb and the wire seems to disappear below the engine?

 

That manifold port is a general vac source. Yours has a fitting screwed in (the thing with the looped hose attached), that is most likely a vac or thermo switch. Not sure what it did originally on your particular car, but you'll need to find out if full-time vac is available on one of the branchs for dist use. Or ditch it and install a reducer fitting for the smaller dist hose. My car has that port running the brake booster instead.

Check out this thread, maybe it can shed some light:

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tech...iagrams-i.html

Red wire thingy - hard to tell from pic - electric choke maybe?

 

Should you plug off the vacuum hoses that are just hanging there ? It seems to me that those open hoses would be considered leaks.