Kevin Wiles

nah the wire from the tank is brown, and the ground from the tank is black the wire for power under the dash is yellow. there are two of these, and i have both crimped together into one eyelet for the right terminal. the gauge is getting voltage when i turn the key on if i place the multimeters red lead to the right terminal and the black lead to the center terminal. So i don't think the problem is with the yellow wire at all. but i could be wrong. I'm a newbie to all this. i'll check the exact model of my gauge when i get home, at work now.

how is there current flowing in the brown wire circuit? if the ohm meter can't measure the resistance with the ignition on, how can the gauge? oh i have so much to learn. whats funny to me is that i can get 114 ohms at the gauge with the multimeter with the ignition off what whats funnier is if you take the gauge all the way out, sit it on the work bench and with no wires attached, measure 114 ohms on the multimeter. KC, you say try grounding the terminal to the sender and see if the gauge will pull down. i have already grounded the center terminal on the gauge to the black wire that comes off the sender. is that what you're talking about? i'm trying to hang in there, but i'm getting frustrated. please bear with me here. it should simply just work. it SHOULD BE just this simple: 1. brown wire from sender to left terminal on gauge. 2. black wire from sender to center terminal on gauge. 3. yellow wire marked "fuel gauge" from aftermarket wiring harness to right terminal on gauge. and thats what I've got. but not working properly here are the directions: Fuel Level Gauge Specifications MODELS 2315, 2316, & 2320 NOTE: For the following installation THE GAS TANK MUST BE FULL! 1. Disconnect negative (-) battery cable. (Wear safety glasses) 2. Gauge uses vehicle's stock sender in fuel tank. Existing wires may be used or route proper length of 18-gage, 2 conductor wire from fuel tank to gauge. Connect one end to terminal post on fuel level sender and the opposite end to the sender terminal post (S) (on left) on back of gauge. See figure. 3. Connect wire from negative (-) center terminal post on back of gauge. to ground on fuel tank. 4. Connect wire from ignition switch to the positive (+) terminal post on back of gauge (on right) .CAUTION: Be careful not to touch ignition wire to the sender terminal (S). This will damage the sender. 5. Snap-in light socket assembly and connect to dash lighting circuit or to other 12 volt light source. If dash is metal, a ground connection for light is made when gauge is mounted with brackets provided. If dash is nonmetallic (or if gauge is cup mounted), a separate ground wire must be connected from gauge case stud to a good ground. 6. Reconnect negative (-) battery cable and check reading. This gauge is designed to operate with the original sender in the vehicle's fuel tank. To insure accurate gauge readings, it is important to measure the resistance (ohms) of the sender with an ohmmeter at full and empty tank conditions. Consult table for proper gauge application for your vehicle. NOTE: Production tolerances in the resistance of some vehicle's tank senders may cause the gauge to read incorrectly when tank is full.

hey mike i admit i do not know much about electronics but isn't the current coming from the other wire to the gauge? (yellow) theres a yellow wire from a switch power source that reads 11.6 volts with the key on and 0 with the key off. this yellow wire goes to the terminal on the right (if looking from the back of gauge) In the instructions it says in bold print NOT to touch this wire to the terminal where the brown wire goes, or else it will be damaged. This tells me that IF any current goes to the brown wire terminal on the left, thats BAAAD. again, the black wire is the center terminal on the back of the gauge and as of today, goes all the way to the ground wire on the sending unit. should i check and see if I have voltage on the brown wire with the switch on? if I do I'm guessing thats bad?

This morning I ran the ground wire all the way from the sending units ground wire to the back of the gauge per the instructions (instead of pigtailing each to the body) ok I took some more readings, this time with the multimeter on the correct setting. heres what I checked. TANK IS FULL 1. with NO wires connected to the gauge, 114 ohms at gauge 2. IGNITION OFF with WIRES CONNECTED, 114 ohms at gauge 3. IGNITION ON with wires connected, checking at gauge -nothing. the multimeter just reads "1" all the way to the left of the screen (it does this when the leads are touching nothing) 4. IGNITION OFF with wires connected, 114 ohms at brown wire that comes from sending unit (haven't dropped the tank, but i'm taking the reading from the wire as close to the sending unit as possible) 5. IGNITION ON with wires connected, NOTHING when checking from near sending unit at rear of car. So in conclusion, i'm getting ohms with the ignition off (which seems normal) but as soon as I turn the key, nothing.

i think i might have found a problem. I THOUGHT that i had followed the instructions when i installed the wiring harness but I just downloaded the autogage instructions (mine are autometer, but that shouldn't matter for this) It says that the ground should go all the way back to the tank at the sending unit.. If I recall correctly I grounded the sending unit to the body, and grounded the gauge to the roll bar. Could this be my problem????

Got my 0 ohm empty / 90 ohm full autometer gauge in the mail. installed it per instructions Turned key, and needle on gauge shoots up waaaaaay past full (imagine empty is 10 oclock and full is 2 oclock) MY NEEDLE IS AT 5'OCLOCK See my problem ?? please note that after i remove the key, the needle comes back and rests at empty like it should. it is getting power, the multimeter reads 11.3 volts if you hold the black lead to the center terminal and the red lead to the terminal on the right (if you're looking at it from the back) the brown wire (aftermarket wiring harness) coming from the fuel sending unit goes to the terminal on the left (again looking at the back of the gauge) not sure how to use the multimeter to read ohms because there is about 5 settings (2000,20k,20 etc.) so I tried to read it from any and all of the settings until I got the desired results (trying to get a number between 0 and 90) and preferrably close to halfway between those numberst because i have a feeling the tank is half full. But no matter what setting, I couldn't get a proper reading. On the middle setting of the multimeters ohm function i got a reading of NEGATIVE 6, and on the same setting with the key out, I get POSITIVE 0.32 I remember after i painted the gas tank, making sure the connection was good for the brown sending unit wire and making sure the ground wire connection was lookin' good, but that has been 3 years ago, but undisturbed since then. I can't imagine that coming loose or anything. Whats going on here? bad sending unit? can anyone shed some light on this or help me by letting me know how to test my sending unit or use my multimeter

sometimes when i crank the coke machine (427 w/ quadrajet) it will spit and sputter and backfire like crazy. when i lift the hood I see that the problem is that the choke is on. I lift the linkage from the little coil that sits on the intake, and it begins to run great. problem is, as soon as any gas is given, it goes back to choke. (1/2 choke or so) So the only way to get it to run right is to tie the choke open, basically disabling it. what can i do to make it operate correctly?

LOVE THE STORY. I'm going to print it out and let my uncle read it, I'm sure he'll enjoy as he was into montes in the early 80's and he can probably relate to your story! Don't worry about the errors. Not many people will notice, the only thing i see is "optional leveling system" was actually standard on SS but sure it was an option as you had to have the SS option so thats no big deal.. But the 15x8 rallys from the factory?, nahh they had to be 15x7's. Not to worry, because the story was awesome and I enjoyed reading it very very much, thanks for sharing!!!!

leo have you ever seen this??

for me stronger isn't really important because its just a mild 350 engine. i'm just thinking why rebuild another t350 when i could have reliability and the advantage of having overdrive. would also consider changing over to a 4 spd manual

i have put 3 t350's in my 70 and some of you may know my current t350 broke and has turned into a powerglide a t350 will not go back into this car.. planning a built 700r4

yeah i think jared's been smokin' some doobies

i spent 60 bucks for food for a football party at my house so I'll be eating leftovers for lunch for a while

call me at work in the afternoon and we'll talk about what day or days you can bring the fenders over and do some work.

how much of your yoke is on the shaft of the transmission including the little bit of shaft that sticks out of the tranny? total touching length?

I'm afraid to spray sealer because it does not allow sanding.. for instance, what if i spray the sealer and it goes on uneven or runs or orangepeels?? hey some additional sealer info: When do you use a sealer? __________________ Bob Williams Houston, TX -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- it depends on what you're trying to seal. Phil V -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In most cases you seal to stop your topcoats from being absorbed by the substrate. The more porous the substrate the more important it is to seal it. Len -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The only reason i seal is to make a uniform base color for my basecoat on new parts.Then depending on the color,i might or might not use sealer,because some colors,metalics esp,light blue,pewter,silver etc..sealer will help fill a courser sand scratch.But like today,i sanded a new hood with 320,and put my base right on top iof it,of course it was white. Chris L -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Len, could you please elaborate. I have on my car now a 2K primer, apllied 2 thick coats and have blocked with 320 and 600. I am preparing to apply a gold metallic bc/cc. Is a 2K primer porous?, should I apply a sealer?, would a sealer help with adhesion?, for a first timer would it give better results? would the sealer provide better long term durability? or am I just adding an unnecessary step? 1 more question, do I apply bc/cc to the roof? even though I am putting on vinyl? Thanks for all your help, this is a really helpful board. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ If the entire car is covered with 2K primer then sealing it isn't going to make the color any more consistant but it can help make the surface less porous. Some 2K primers are more porous than others and the difference between sealing or not sealing is like the difference between painting on cardboard or painting on glass, one will absorb the coating and one will not. The safe answer is "yes" seal it but it's not always absolutely necessary and, in many cases, I would rather not add the extra film build. So using sealer will depend on the characteristics of the 2K you're using and the stability of the primer, sealer, color and clear. When I'm afraid or uncertain of the absorbtion rate of my substrate I seal my paint work. Len -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- =============================================== I agree with Len here but I'll go further to say that I've never felt the need to apply any form of a sealer over perfectly good 2K primer. In my opinion, it only adds to the millage buildup and reduces the overall durability of the final product. I only reserve it for small areas where I accidentally sanded through to bare metal or filler in which case it is very useful just before topcoating. Jon E -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks Len and Jon E. The entire car is covered with the 2K primer so I will not use sealer as the surface is uniform. FYI, I have used RM products, first the Epoxy then the 2K (DP 20) and will continue with the RM line with their bc/cc. Thanks again, Tempest -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Metallic colors, high metallics especially are very sensitive to showing sand scratches. If you don't plan on using sealer, make sure you've removed all of your 320 sand scratches with the 600. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks for the tip Hurst. I sprayed a black 'guide coat' over the grey primer down both sides, and after wetsanding with 600, the black almost completely dissappeared. I've never painted before but I think I'm getting close. From all that I have read, I think the clear is the most difficult part, But I figure if I put on 3-4 coats, that should give me enough to work with to fix the problem areas. Thanks again.

rob, it WILL be ready for indy, i've just gotta figure out how to get it there. don't really want to drive the beast that far, only has 2 seats and i want my wife and daughter to come with me... my dad has a big truck and trailer right now but who knows they might be sold by the time indy comes around... i'll find a way though.

Tony, as for what is under the basecoat: I have stripped to bare metal and used RM's Metal conditioner, then RM's Epoxy Undercoat Primer. On top of that I have Limco's 700K High Build Primer. Jared, hope you can make it, Saturday is fine. We only leave the house on Saturday to go to the inlaws at about 5:30 for supper. Anyway, I might even do some more priming (if weather allows) and of course sanding that day.

Well folks the good ol tax refund came in so I decided to go buy my paint, seeing as the Coke Machine is dangerously close to being ready for it. So heres what I got: Limco brand Urethane Basecoat 2 qts of red/ 1qt+1pt of gold, and one gallon of urethane clear. (the red was sampled up to the door jamb of an actual 1960s/70's coke VENDING machine, the gold was just something I picked out, its a 99 pontiac trans-am color. I had used RM Diamont on my black cherry 70 monte and was happy with the results but this time I decided to use Limco because its less expen$ive. and believe me red paint can be expensive (in fact in my case I could buy 2 quarts of gold for just about the same price as 1 quart of red) I've used Limco before with great results too. Limco and Diamont are both made by BASF. I have been block sanding for what seems like ages, and there is plenty more to do, but its all coming together and will be painted soon. Not soon like 2 weeks from now but soon.

My TH350 has also become a powerglide: My experience from the 2006 eastern meet: "Rewind to Thursday night. Checking all fluids readying my car for the 3-1/2 hour trip to the Eastern Meet in Bristol. Transmission fluid was nice and red. Fast Forward two days, Saturday night. Now the transmission Fluid resembles the last few drops of your Yoo-Hoo chocolate milk that you forgot to shake up. Oh, and one other little thing THERE ARE CHUNKS OF METAL IN YOUR YOO-HOO beverage. This was the case this weekend for me. 2nd gear is shot. The good news is I now have a rare powerglide 2 spd monte. I tell ya, it shifts from 1st to 3rd just as pretty as you please. It gave no real trouble really. A non-car type wouldn't even know something is wrong. I wonder how long a cheapskate chisler can make this last?" Update, Feb 17, 2007 its still going strong in its new life as a powerglide!!!!!

My Wife Jennifer, daughter Leala, and I

I did this for the coke machine project. Had to have a z bar (this was made for me, not the same as chevelle, its different) had to have the frame mount for the z-bar made (also different from a chevelle) don't know where you could find these though, sorry.

I think that anyone (who really knows what the heck they're talking about) would accept the mouldings.. especially on an early car... but my 70 has them and it is a late build 70 with a non-halo roof. The car has been in the family since the early 80's and was an unmolested original. It had and still does have the mouldings. I believe it to be original.

I have broke a th350 too many times. going with a 700r4 now. hope its an improvement.

after tearing up my th350 for about the third time, I am going to a 700. I'll get better mileage and a better trans (in my opinion) but i've gotta save up to buy one or get lucky and find one cheap. also going to convert my monte to floor shift bucket auto with the kit. i already have the floor gauges, the floor column (tilt!) the console, the seats, all the wiring and linkages. Just need the kit and the trans. with all the hubbub of the coke machine its easy to ignore my other monte's needs. Its especially easy to ignore it because it actually drives fine it just skips 2nd. Which is a miracle that its actually still going as much metal chunks as I removed from the pan in Bristol.