Aaron

That's good to see you got it running again.

I can't recall why you got the starter from Summit, but just a note on the $40 dollar OEM one I got from Autozone - I remember it saying use no more then two shims. In my case I used nothing, just pulled it out and installed with only a bit of a whine while starting. Did it come with directions to help with the spacers?

You guys have any close up pictures of what I real 454/402 72 core support and top metal piece look like? I'm trying to figure out how the top metal piece with 3 bolts in it was deep enough to hold rubber mounts that could actually fit over the radiator. I had to rig mine up and still don't have it fully secured with the top piece. The bottom area of the core support must have been a little diffenret also compared to the small block one. I made sure I had no metal on metal contact and it should be good enough till I get back.

The big bunch of wires that is coming out of your firewall in a rubber grommet... if you don't care about making a small notch in it than pull it out, notch a section of it, push the wire inside and into the notch you created so it's not rubbing against the metal hole. That's about all there is to it. I would not start unhooking more things to you at least get the thing started and see if that's even the problem, heck if the wire is long enough run it in your door and plug it in and start the car to see if it works.

I picked up the top one made by ACCEL at the local Advance Auto. Keep in mind you'll have to extend the wire since it's only a couple inches long. The red one is all you need to mess with right now, the other one is if you want to hook up a TAC.

Like I mentioned before, the wire coming from the starter is tied into the old points wire, and if I'm not mistaken only gives 12volts while cranking to boost up the power. After that it goes away and power is less than 12volts to feed the old points. If you have the HEI like I picured just get yourself an HEI pigtail and run a wire from it through the small hole located to the left of your power brake booster, probably have to remove a small rubber gromet, and route it to the fuse box that is right under your driver side dash. You'll see it marked like pictured above, attach a female spade on it, and plug it in... that's it. Turn the key and watch it start, if that doesn't fix it, not sure what you may have did.

If you switched to HEI like I did, which honestly it sounds like we both did the same exact work the last couple weeks, then you need to be providing 12v to the HEI and not be using the wires that were originally feeding the coil. Just got to Advance Auto and pickup a HEI/TACH feed wire and run it from the fuse box where it says IGN and plug it into the HEI cap. Is this what you have? There is really not much to these cars and if the engine is turning over, as in the belts/pulles are spinning, it's probably just coming down to how you ended up providing power to the new HEI. I didn't have time for something fancy, but it worked and I have no issues.

Guess I got lucky on this one. Reply from my email last night - "Hi Sir, The late version of CU165 is aluminum, the picture and specs on Spectra website has to be redone."

Figured I would post some details about the radiator I ended up grabbing from Autozone. The description the store has on file for this product is incorrect, http://www.autozone.com/autozone/parts/S...66534_4648_5281 It turned out to be exactly as this described, http://ecat.spectrapremium.com/produits/specifications/CU165 Now I read all kinds of forums and stuff on the net last night saying some products are not very good quality. I figured I would give it a shot since it turned out to copper/metal instead of aluminum and plastic tanks. There is a strange nipple on the passanger side that I have no clue what to hook to it. Maybe the 454 custom really did have something that went there. I just capped it off with heater bypass covers and a hose clamp. I bent a section of the support core and put down some extra rubber I had. It's not the nicest install, but it will do until I get back. I spent less than $200 and it's a four core.

Did you find a replacement? What's the best place to get one from cause I'm about to order one. I thought mine was a 3 core till just now, looked again, and it is 2 core. I think my BB is going to continue to run warm even after I get the shroud.

I had someone underneath on the rack while I tried to crank and found that a starter I was putting on was not coming out and grabbing the teeth, it was just hitting the flywheel. I ended up getting a new/refurb one and slapped it on and had no need for the spacers. Is the engine even turning over? In my case the stater was making some noises but not turning the engine over.

I swapped in a mostly stock 454 a week ago. I left the factory 3 core in and had to bypass my heater core for now since it started leaking. The 454 has a stock 7 blade clutch fan on it and as of yet I do not have the fan shroud installed since it's still in route. I installed a gauge in the passenger head and so far the highest I've seen is 220 after putting around. I figure this was high and mostly due to the shroud, although at speed it still seems to run hot. I changed out the coolant, replaced the 195 with a new 195, and made sure I got all the air out. I don't think it's overheating, but than again I could be wrong. I'll find out this week how it performs after the shroud is installed. I would be worried about 250 if that is a correct reading.

I learned a pretty good lesson today and thankfully I caught it pretty quick. Make sure you tape up that wire or put it back on the starter. I left mine loose yesterday while working on the starter. Today I was messing around under the hood and saw smoke coming from some wires on the firware. I ran around and shut the car off and pulled the coil wire away from the others. It was super hot. After thinking about it for a second I realized that it had juice going to it and that the other wire that was attached to it going to the starer was left unhooked and touching metal on the starter.

From that link I gather I have the dual pattern transmission with non lockup convertor. Maybe it was dealer installed as a repair under warranty if it wasn't factory installed.

Thanks Bob - went and looked up TCS and traced the wire. Looks like it was plugged into the solenoid on the pass side of the SB. You mentioned the Unicase didn't come factory installed, but what about a BOP type tranny? I've been looking at pictures on google and the previous picture I linked to. I can't really tell by my one picture if there is extra holes towards the outer edges, only thing I remember was two extra ears towards the 12 position.

I think I need to do some more research or read the page better I linked to. The plug I saw was on the right hand side of the tranny and not the left. Anyone know what that plug/wire is for? I guess I just have the BOP type transmission, but it sure looks like the one in the photo I found.

Found a better picture here, http://www.novak-adapt.com/knowledge/th350.htm "The top dog of cool TH350 transmissions is the TH350C Unicase version, featuring both a Chevy / BOP pattern and a lockup torque converter. Note the letter "C" cast into its front face adjacent to the pump bore." Would this be factory for a Monte Carlo? Something to note, I do have a factory looking black wire coming from the firewall somewhere and plugging into the passanger side of the tranny. I looked up this TH350C and it talks about a lockup type converter and plug located on the trans. I guess maybe it came factory like this.

It's hard to see in the photo, but if you look above the typical chevy pattern there is like two extra ear horns. I thought maybe it was one of those Buick/Olds/Pontiac type trans.

Turns out the 350 that I just pulled out is in fact a numbers matching engine. I went over to the shop and cleaned up the numbers and after research on line and comparing to my VIN on the car it looks to be the original engine. I'm not sure about the tranny, it had the universal style bolt pattern so maybe it was replaced at some point. I'll hang onto it incase some day I want to go back to a small block or incase I ever sell the car.

Anybody ever use this? http://compare.ebay.com/like/37058555345...gsi=y&cbt=y I have the small block tunnel/mount and now need the BB part. I can take the staples out and reattach as necessary if that is all that's needed.

The diagram I had found showed the two ring connectors being linked together. http://www.firstgenmc.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=359023#Post359023 Just link them together like it shows in that diagram.

I have both a thick red wire and the + battery cable hooked to the single fat post on the starter. I also did the mod I found, same as you posted, to the alternator with some wire and connectors I had laying around. The Gen light is now off and I believe the electrical system is working proper. I drove 15 minutes away with only exhaust manifolds to the exhaust shop and had no issues, so I guess I got everything hooked back up right.

I'm using basically the same diagram to make a switch today. I'll just make my own jumpers for now and see how it works.

I think I'll just wire it up like this for now,

I just ran into this yesterday while swapping my engine. I ended up putting the old starter back in place and hooked up all the wires. Sounds like I can go back and put the newer starter and disconnect some wires since I'm running HEI now with 12v from the fuse box ignition section. Maybe I missed it in a previous post, but what is the reason for leaving the bigger red wire unhooked? Does that red wire go to that junction box looking thing by the brake booster? I thought it was needed. I see why the extra smaller wire is not needed if you are not using points. Thanks