Check the plug wires you might have some in the wrong position. Make certain the dist cap isn't cracked. Having to jack around moving the dist retarded to start and moving it advanced after starting sounds like the vacuum and mechanical advances aren't working. Could also be a loose timing chain.
Thanks, new cap but I will make sure no hairline cracks. I need to go through the plug wires again, have you ever heard of swapping the 7 and 4 wire in the firing order? Im pretty sure I'm running the 1 8 4 3 6 5 7 2 order.
Drove the truck on Friday for the first time, only had to go about 3 blocks to make it to the muffler shop but it felt good. Added new exhaust, dualed it out. Just running some Walker/Thrush small glasspacks for now. Went with 1 7/8 pipes so should make some good low end with the small block. Picking it up in the morning. Got some wiring issues to work out though, replaced headlight switch, headlights still won't turn on. Replaced parking/turn signal harness and they are working but seem a little dim like they are not getting full power. Brake light fuse keeps blowing instantly too. Something is crossed or I got a short somehere...?
Got my headlights working, turns out the wire harness ends were a little loose. Push the prongs in on the headlight bulbs and they snugged right up. Brake lights ended up getting solved by sanding and cleaning the drivers side taillight housing and replaced a bulb. Also readjusted my brake light switch a tad. Now on to the turn signals. Parking light housing were installed and parking lights are nice and bright. Need to figure out why my signals aren’t working. I noticed on my fuse block that this part is missing...http://www.bobschevytrucks.com/1955-76-chevy-turnsignal-hazard-light-flasher-two-prong-l6400.html Do you guys think this would affect the signal lights?
Thanks, I went and bought one today and added it. They work now but only in the front. Back taillights aren’t flashing when engaged.
Too cold and wet outside today to work on the wiring. Ended making a bracket for the throttle return spring. Guess it came out alright. Went to Home Depot and bought a door support, drilled some holes out and cut it in half. Found a bolt to fit the head and added a few washers for a solid mount. Fixed the pic...
Well I had a little time to take a look at the rear tailight wiring before I came to work. I think the trailer hitch wiring and body was creating some grounding issues. Earlier in the week it was just resting on the frame and not bolted down. After moving it off to the side from the frame and just letting it dangle and sanding the tailight housings and screw mounting points (they had a little buildup of oxidation) which is to be expected from over the years I guess, my brake lights began to work. So getting back to the turn signal issue of them only working in the front,I ended up removing a rat's nest of black dried up electrical tape. The trailer hitch wires were just spliced in to the original rear tailight harness and the plastic spice connections were in pretty bad shape along with the wires too. Wires were brittle and even cracked in a few places. So I got to thinking and decided that for now I'm not going to be towing anything soon, so why not remove the trailer connection and it's wiring harness? Which I did. Anyway I just ordered a new front to back wiring harness and a new tailight harness from Classic Parts. The "new" front to back comes with the additional backup light wire which is a project I want to do maybe over the upcoming summer. So all I will need is the additional hardware like the actual reverse lights and housing plus the one additional harness. Oh and the nuetral safety switch when I do get ready. Probably some more items I might be missing. Anyway I figure it's the best move for me now instead of chasing things. I also added another ground wire from the neg battery cable to the inner fender. Here are a few pics of the setup before removal.
I actually use those type trucks for daily drivers. What I always do is run a ground wire from the negative battery post all the way to the back of the truck and attach it to the frame then Y off and run to each taillight housing and solder the ground wire to the housings and to the truck frame. I do the same to the front turn signal park light housings. The brake lights use the same element in the bulb as the turn signal. The brake light's make a circuit thru the turn signal switch. And the factory switch is pretty fragile. Any grounding short will damage it.
Running of that ground wire to the back of the frame sounds like a good idea. Then to the tailights as you decribed. Looks like I'm gonna have to boworrow a buddy's solder.
Managed to get the rear blinkers lights to work on both sides after cleaning up the butcher job on the wiring. Pretty cool that the old wiring is still working. Still waiting on new harness and will replace once and for all when it arrives. Ready to get her on the road, hoping that it comes in by end of week. If so I should be driving her by next week.
Just out of curiosity, will these rims fit with the standard 4" backspacing without any mods. I'm thinking they should fit fine. If so probably will run em until I go with the 5 lug conversion in a few years. http://www.jegs.com/i/Wheel-Vintiqu...qCgkJ_tPr4dTIbDyJKatlC4Jw6XyQyPQaAvCVEALw_wcB
Well got both new wiring harnesses installed but it didn't resolve my issue. Tailights were blinking but were not very bright. Took Old Wolf's advice (by the way thanks) and I ran a ground wire from the neg battery post to the rear frame and then added the additional smaller gauge wire to the rear body. It got the brakes lights to work and also the tailight signals are very bright now. Only probelm is both rear blinker lights light up when engaging the turn signal. Doesn't matter the direction, it's like the hazards are on. Now the front ones work as they should, they only blink one at a time. Something has to be crossed because when I do turn on the blinkers the RPM gauge light blinks.... I could not locate a hazard switch? I don't think these trucks came with one..?
Run a ground pigtail from your hood to your firewall. Your original ground path is through the hinges.
Got her on the road, still have a few issues to work out. She was a little dirty when I took the pic last week. It was raining for a few days. Cleaned her up over the weekend. Need to adjust the rear brakes (Drums) they seem to be not catching as strong as they should, front bowl on the m/c was low today. All hardware was replaced so hoping it's just an adjustment. Added some more fluid and will see if the issue repeats. Haven't been able to locate any leaks so it might be just from the first initial use of the truck. Just waiting for the weekend to jack it up and see what I got.
I have never seen the level of the brake fluid in the reservoir decrease if the brakes are properly adjusted and there are no leaks. Congrats on getting it going!
Yeah same here so I'm hoping to delve into it a little further. I might have forgotten to fill it up after bleeding them, it was so long ago and I was doing so much that day I really don't remember. Thanks!!
If both turn signals blink on the rear its a indication of a bad turn signal unit. The turn signal uses the same side of the bulb that the brake lights do. and the brake lights make a circuit thru the turn signal switch. its supposed to open the brake light circuit on whichever side the turn signal is turned on. The front park lights the bright side of the bulb are used for turn signal only. no brake light on the front. So it is not effected by a bleed over thru the stop light circuit. Its common to add a second set of tail lights that work the brake lights only. Thus bypassing the turn signal switch for brake light activation.
Ram into a little brake issue early in the week. Brakes started to skip or act like they weren’t catching. I was puzzled because all hardware, shoes are new and I had all the drums turned. They just didn’t seem to brake as strong, anyway took off the one drum that I suspected might be causing the issue and behold there was the problem. A brake shoe basically split in two and chewed the drum up a bit. Never had this happen before, got a new set and replaced them. Took for a test drive and they are back to normal. Strong braking and a solid pedal. Don’t remember the brand but it was in a gold lettered box from O’Riley’s. Went with Duralast this time from Autozone, lets see how they hold up.
This may come in handy, has photos and step by step text : Highlander's Turn Signal Replacement Page How to Replace your turn signal switch in your 64-66 Chevy truck. dunno, haven't done that job yet, myself. -W
Thanks, still working out the bugs, remodeling my home after Harvey and just trying to make a living. Hope to get it all sorted out very soon, Spring and Summer around the corner and I plan on doing some serious fishing and plenty of visits to the beach.
I always liked riveted shoes on my trucks. The old bonded Grizzly Tru Guard shoes were good, doubt those are still around.
Well I think my starter is suffering from heat stroke. Gets weak to start once engine is warmed, cold starts have plenty of cranking power. Any ideas on how to prevent it like a replacement starter that comes with a heat shield? Does anyone know of any different years that are interchangeable like a Camaro SBC 67 - 81 ?
The Jalopy Journal
