Flatheads are famous to vapor lock - only engine ever made with the fuel pump above the gas tank. So if there is exsistive heat and weak fuel pump you end up vapor locking. Electric fuel pump on the frame just in front of the back leaf spring front shackle helps out getting the gas to the carb. I had mine wired up to a toggle switch under the dash to turn it on just when I needed it. Some guys run them full time, if you do that you will need to install a fuel regulator so you over load the carb with too much gas.
Thank you very much guys for the info. I going to put the posi flo fuel pump back in. On a related note, while digging deeper into the re-wire that was done, looks like I'm going to start from scratch and save what I can, someone spent a lot of money on this painless wire kit. There is a lot of cut wires that are just tangled in this spider web. This is not my strong point and feeling a little intimidated by the mess. I'm going to have to get schooled on wiring to fix this the right way. There is a lot circuits that i will probably never use. There are 7 connections to the add on fuel gauge, That doesn't seem right to me.
They might be using the gauge as a wire block for dash lights or grounds. I would undo it as much as I could without unpulling things. Trace everything it should be labeled. Clip what's not in use like electric fan or reverse lights and remove fuse. When I bought my car it had a pep boys 4 fuse harness running the whole car. I since put in a new harness. Wiring a car is way easier than you think. Especially if you aren't wiring a ton of stuff just take your time. You can print out a copy of the instruction manual it will help big time. Don't over think things. It's way less trouble then you think. Most things just take power and ground themselves or power and ground to body or frame. If you have questions message me I'll try to help out! Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Thanks Chris, very nice of you. Downloaded instructions and will check all wiring from front to back. Front section and engine bay are pretty clean Looks like the brunt of the mess is where (under dash) gauges, stereo-(glove Box), electric fan and additional fuel pump was added down the road and same color wire was used (red). I'm thinking also about adding ground straps frame, body and a fuseable link to starter relay. Again, appreciate all the help and advice.
My wife's whole car was wired with red wire including grounds or speaker wire! So it could be worse! They make a wire chaser. They have an adapter that plugs into the fuse block and you can trace a wire from block to end. I have use it for houses to trace lines. They make ones for $40 all the way up to $900 Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
It's a tracer. You hook to one end of a wire or plug the adaptor into the fuse block and there is a thing that beeps when you pass it over the wire it goes thru walls in houses. For cars you can do it two ways hook to end of wire or get one with the fuse adaptor that plugs into the fuse block and you can go along a wire and see where it goes or doesn't go easier. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Maybe a silly question, if all these connections are grounds or for gauge illumination can they be hooked up somewhere else to eliminate this what looks like an overload and just a general mess?
I have been reading a lot of threads about ground straps. Seems like a lot of different ways to do it. So I was going to ground neg batt cable to motor, (was grounded to radiator support previously) found unused threaded hole on front of drivers side head up front. Then strap motor to chassis/frame and bell housing to firewall/body. Will that be sufficient and correct? 8BA Flathead
Stock was battery to block. On my shoebox I have a 302 but have it from battery to lock and also block to frame. It was just the stock flathead ground when I bought it from block to frame and had the battery in the trunk but it wasn't drawing enough amps and was hard to start. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I will just add one from block to frame and block to body. Should be covered then. Thanks for the response.
After shaving my trunk awhile back I finally decided to use a manual popper to open trunk using the factory latch. Just keeping it simple. Latch pin exposed. Tab welded to latch pin Set latch in, good clearance. I put in a weaker spring as the one it came with was a little tough to push up on. 1-popper, 1-hex head coupler 1/4-28, 1-machine screw 1/4-28 I can adjust height after new trunk seal. So far it works real nice.
Looking good. I use gravity for my deck lid and a rake handle . But then again I am a hillbilly by blood! Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Thank you, sorry about the late reply, hurt my back pretty bad and have been down. It takes a little longer to recoup now that i'm getting old.
Well it's been awhile since I posted any progress on my ride/project. I wasn't able to get pictures to load for some reason on new forum format. So I got a newer hand-me down phone from the wifey and she loaded up software. Between being older, injuring myself more frequently, it's been slow. Got some stuff done though. She runs pretty good now and is mobile. Put her on the driveway today and took some pics as I need to figure out some beauty treatments, nothing fancy. My son hates the white whale stripe down the side. So he just shot some flat black on the side just to show me. I tend to agree it would look better just black. Also I need to address front grill situation, someone modified it. If I go back to original grill, upper grill parts will not work as hood was also modified. Also shot one wheel with some copper paint to compare. Maybe just grill middle section might be alright. Any suggestions or critique's are always welcome.
I agree - looks better without the white sides . I like the rounded hood corners . Maybe just try to clean things up a bit & come up with a creative grille solution .
Yea ... that sucks . I'd make the body part look nice , then make the hood to fit (since it looks like that needs help as well) . Either way you attack it , take it a bit at a time .
Thanks Allen, I've become a pretty good body man on this project. This fix is going to be a little tougher though. Maybe just run it without hood. It looks better without one anyway to me. This is just a putter around town. No shows or long trips. I still have to do the interior glass, door panels, headliner. Never ending project.
Not a big deal, but I received my K&N air filter today. Just thought I would throw out part # in case anyone wants to change theirs. # E-3120 K&N fits on my holley 94 with 2 5/8 OD filter housing.
She needs something. I replaced steering box, front springs (Aerostar), rear 3" lowered leaf springs. The ride is great now, but the stance is bugging me. Maybe some different wheels.
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