wallaby

You probably had a diode fail in the alternator. Depending on which one fails, it may/may not trigger the gen light to come on. Even if we knew this to be true, I'd still replace both the alternator and regulator as a pair. Most replacement regulators are an electronic type, and work fine but may look different than the large original mechanical type.. I mounted my old cover onto the new regulator and it looks right. As far as the alternator "upgrade" goes, read through this page and get an idea of what's happening: LINKY I did some of their suggested mods (basic larger gauge wire between the alt and regulator buss) and retained the original type external regulated system. I have electric fans, AC, a remote amp for my stereo, halogen headlamps, and the original system works great and has for years. There are several options with "upgrades", and some of them work more poorly than the original setup. Again; read through the link above and make sure that the changes you make are going to improve things.

Well, it's possible that the idle speed screw has been turned up to compensate, and the carb is running on the main metering system. That would explain why the idle screws have little/no effect. Do you have the "MSD ultimate" internals in that distributor? I have that system and the multiple spark feature at low engine speeds confuses my timing light. Lets assume your timing light or balancer is wrong...you can still get a pretty close timing setting by bringing the engine up to 2500-3000 rpm and holding it there while you rotate the dist to get the smoothest running position. (dist vacuum hooked up). Once you have done this, tighten the dist and then you can start adjusting the idle speed and mixture settings. We still don't know what your timing light is going to show, but it should be close to correct nonetheless.

Yep. I went with Hydratech pn 3014. I bought it through Summit Racing. FYI, disc brakes require higher pressure to operate than drum brakes do. Drum brakes by design are "self energizing" and disc aren't, so it takes a smaller master cylinder bore or more pedal pressure to make them work. I had a '70 Corvette with 4-wheel manual discs and they were terrible...you really had to stand on the pedal. This booster mod gives more boost than the stock setup, so it would probably work great with the 4 disc setup. I understand that adding disc to the rear also pushes your tires outward 1/4" per side. Not a big number, but there isn't a lot of room for tire back there.

That could be a long list. I'd start with poly bushings in front suspension, new rubber bushings in back. New sport springs front & rear, and new shocks. Sway bars are a must (front & rear) if you don't have them already. The brake issue was a debate for me: I felt the originals needed improvement, but couldn't decide if I wanted/needed rear disc setup or bigger front rotors, or multi-piston calipers...there are lots of options, and it's easy to spend money. I ended up starting with a new Hydroboost brake booster for mine, and the difference was incredible. I really don't think I need any of that other stuff now.

My local guy charges to evacuate the system, but he pays me for whatever Freon he gets out. Sometimes it comes out even. Then he puts a vacuum on the system to check for leaks. If leaks are found, it's easy enough to open the system and change the seal or whatever. One more vacuum check, then he puts my Freon back in and tops it off. The nice thing is that once he has evacuated the system, if leaks are found I can take it home and do the repairs myself if I want, then take it back for refill at my leisure...or when budget allows. But yea...you don't want to mix R12 Freon with other types. The R12 was factory for our cars and works best, but it was outlawed years ago for environmental reasons. A certified AC guy can still get it, but us consumers can't. The R12 is pretty expensive, so it's worth having your shop collect it instead of letting it escape into the air in your driveway.

Unemployment hits 5-year low? !!

For some reason, I feel good about buying stuff from NAPA. The stuff you got, is it in a tube or a grease gun cartridge? Wow though...you gotta love their "snowflakes in a snowball" analogy.

Looking good! You can tinker with all kinds of different looks with the grille ...so many different looks. Different shades of silver even can alter the entire look of the car. Dark silver, bright silver, black, charcoal....but I vote for the chrome leading edges every time.

I think the idea is to get close to zero lash when the bearing is in use. When adjusting, you can err on the loose side because the bearing will expand a bit as it warms up. As I understand it, having a preload on a tapered roller bearing doesn't lead to long life. When I was taught, I was told to tighten the assembly to a slight preload and rotate the wheel a couple times...this squeezes the grease out of the way and lets you better "feel" where zero is. As you are rotating the wheel you tighten/loosen the nut gently back& forth with a wrench to determine where zero is and set the cotter pin just on the side of looseness. I can't remember for sure, but often times there is a second hole for the cotter pin to pass through. One running vertical, and the other running horizontal. This gives you more control of the nut adjustment.

Use silicone grease. Anything petroleum-based is questionable against plastics. I used a product from the auto parts store called "sil-glyde". It came in a 8oz tube, but a little goes a long way and one tube will do the job. The stuff is great for spark plug boots as well. LINKY Remember that the lube needs to go between the bushing and the inner sleeve. When the bushing gets torqued down, the inner sleeve gets clamped in and is held motionless...the bushing rotates around the sleeve. Adding lubricant to the bolt hole through the center serves no purpose except to aid disassembly later.

Ok, wow...it sounds like you have some backfeeding going on. It does sound like you might have a poor ground somewhere. Do you have a pigtail on your negative battery terminal going to the fender? This is where your body sheetmetal gets its ground signal from... otherwise the body can be isolated by all the rubber mounts it sits on. Another good place for an added ground is from the engine to the frame somewhere. I used a braided ground strap from one of my fuel pump bolts to a nearby bolt in the frame that holds the battery cable in place. The engine is probably already a good ground, as it has the negative battery cable going to it, but does that ground extend beyond the engine to the rest of the car? (The frame needs to be grounded too). The engine sits on rubber mounts and electricity has to try to ground through your driveshaft and rear end or something. Adding a good large-gauge ground from the engine to frame can be a big help. Here's a pic of '68 Corvette, and you can see all the braided ground straps connected to the valve cover bolts: The engine, frame, and body should all be connected to the battery negative terminal somehow.

I'm a little confused with what your turn signals are doing. From what I am reading here, your rear signals are working ok, and the dash indicators are working ok, but the bulbs up front aren't responding? And the same result when you turn on your 4-way flashers? I'm curious...at what rate do your working lamps flash? Are they blinking slow, or fast, maybe? Don't forget that your side marker lamps are involved in this too...they blink with the turn signals. The lights facing forward in your bumper have two filaments, (like a high and low beam), one for parking lights and the other for turn signal/hazard lamp. It's possible that the parking lights come on just fine, but the flash filament is bad. Another test is to turn on your parking lights, and turn on your hazard lamps. Now step on the brake. This should stop the flashing and have all 4 corners fully lit with all filaments...like all bulbs on high-beam. It's another way of checking. Of course everything goes through the turn signal switch. It's a scary looking thing made of plastic with multiple contacts buried in the steering column. It can go bad in a multitude of different ways, but I'd make sure everything else works before tearing into that.

My big block so effortlessly pulls the car around, it has high vacuum unless my foot has the secondaries open. I tried adjusting the modulator to delay the 1-2 shift, but it really only changed the 2-3 shift point...I was a little disappointed. Keep in mind that the modulator adjustment will do nothing for full-throttle shift points. Most adjustable modulators list a 2-3 mph adjustment range. I'm trying to remember, but I think I went like a full turn clockwise.

Thread sealer for sure. An interesing aside, is that you can't pull the heads with the engine in the car if you use studs.

Or from Home Depot: "Fits all doors 3' wide x 7' tall. Easily attaches with supplied fasteners. Psuedo-vinyl look adds years to your wallet. Handsome gray color. Pattented semi-seal keeps even large bugs out, while gentle on glass. Also fits '70-'72 Monte Carlo w/wide belt moldings with ample modification."

Take a close look...my '71 has a fusible link on the positive battery cable. There is a pigtail coming from the positive terminal that goes around in front of the battery between the battery and radiator support, where it connects to a small stud terminal. That pigtail should have a fusible link in it. Check that terminal and see if you have voltage there. This is the main feed line.

Year one has one that works correct, but looks a little different from the original. https://www.yearone.com/Product/1970-72-monte-carlo/rf788

Your problem probably isn't the Q-jet. If the float levels are correct, then the rest is usually ok. The Q-jet is a pretty clever assembly...even if it has the factory rods/jets, it should be pretty good on any engine you bolt it to. You may have room for improvement on your timing. With an aftermarket cam you can pretty much throw out the factory timing numbers and dial in what the engine wants. Because the cam overlap of hiperf cams bleeds off cylinder pressures at lower speeds, they idle poorly, and tend to like more ignition timing to make up for that. Maybe it's just me, but i tend to do my ignition timing bacwards: I rev the engine up to about 3000 rpm, hold the throttle constant, and then rotate the distributor back & forth to find the spot the engine likes best. (I use the distributor as if it were a high-speed mixture screw). Often times I can eliminate a choppy sound from the tailpipe this way and it runs like glass on the highway. Once the engine slows down you "have what you have" for initial timing and carb adjustmant can usually iron out any idle issues.

Ok, it's not this guy:

I have a nice set for Monte...the neighbor gave them to me. He bought them on Ebay for his Corvette, only to find they were the wrong type. He found what he needed and gave these to me. I took them because he was trying to help me out, but I don't have a need for them. I guess they aren't too rare... is there a market for them?

Or these look nice: LINKY

Trying to remember here, but the wiring is kinda weird with the wiper motor... there is a second switch in the motor that keeps the motor running and puts the wipers down in the park position before it shuts off. You can turn off the wipers in any position and they don't simply stop there...

So what do the series numbers mean? The 30 series are too loud within 30 feet, and the 40 series are too loud within 40 feet? Maybe it's just the average number of neighbor complaints. LOL I'm too old school to like the open echo-sound the flowmasters make. I grew up with glasspacks and turbo mufflers. For me the perfect sound is what comes out of a Cobra sidepipe. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjqA75zFgOw

With all this talk about the compressors, I had to go look. My '71SS has carried this compressor unit since it came to our family in 1977...everything else on the car seems unmolested, but I have the smooth canister type without the added cap on the end. The can itself measures 10 1/4", with a 1 1/4 stud at the end. The head date code reads: 076-1 It can be seen in this photo: