FeSo4man Posted July 1 Author Posted July 1 Got the schematic out and this is the culprit wire. On there it says it’s to a circuit breaker that’s only on convertibles and wagons? I was also incorrect, it has power regardless of key position. Not sure where this thing was or where it goes. I tested the horn relay and it worked as it should, so I’m just going to disconnect this wire and can always put it back on if I end up needing hot for something else.  Now to figure out why the tach/ammeter aren’t working… 3 Quote
Scott S. Posted July 1 Posted July 1 Tach and amp ??? Sounds like a bad/lack of ground somewhere. 1 Quote
FeSo4man Posted July 7 Author Posted July 7 T-5 days to wedding- we’re so close you can smell it! (or is that a garage full of exhaust?)   The car’s finally looking like a Monte, and we got fluids in with only a couple minor leaks! The engine ran like a top with the extended run period, and everything worked as it should with the rear on jackstands when shifting. Also got the headliner in before glass- honestly for amateur work it turned out 10x better than I was expecting. The last critical piece left is hooking up the brake booster and bleeding the brakes. Does anyone know what size fitting I need for the vacuum line on the intake? (Edelbrock Performer 2.0)  Body shop guy is picking up the car today to install glass, get the doors/windows set with the weatherstrips and install some trim after final buff. If y’all are wondering, I’ll be calling him twice a day until he gets it back- this is one deadline he can’t miss. Hoping to get the car back by Tuesday night to button things up.  As far as electrical gremlins- @Scott S. nailed it, figured out that the instrument panel wasn’t getting good ground. Also had to disassemble and clean up the light switch, and replaced both the hazard and flasher relays with LED 2 pins. Issues that remain:  -Still not getting anything from the tach. I’m a little puzzled with what the issue is here, the wire out of the fuse block goes directly to the MSD. Is there some change that needs to be made when using this style of plug rather than going into the distributor? -Instead of remaining open with the signal lever on like before, the signal lights in the dash now stay on constant, even with key off. (LED 2 pin relay, LED lights in instrument cluster) Could this be because the turn signals aren’t installed on the front of the car, or is this a relay problem? -Electric clutch- I thought the coil would be an easy jump for keyed power to the electric clutch. Installed it there, and for some reason it killed spark to the engine. Easy fix for right now is just running without the electric clutch, but I’m not sure why jumping off the pos side of the coil would do that- assuming I just need to find somewhere else to pull key power from? -Alternator doesn’t appear to be charging. I’m running a jumper from the pos side of the alt to the F plug to excite the field. What am I missing here? This alternator was on the car before disassembly and worked at that time. (Ground and jumper from pos were installed after this pic) Last question- what should be here for the headlight bezel screws to go into? I’m assuming the body guys took off a clip and didn’t put it back on… Overall after taking a step back and looking at this thing and thinking about what it looked like in May, it’s amazing how much can get done in 2 months with the help of some good friends, sleepless nights, Coors Banquet and folks with some Monte Carlo knowledge. Barring anything crazy happening the next few days, it’s going to make it to the wedding. I have a new relation to all the yelling they do on the TV car shows doing a build up against some outrageous deadline! 6 Quote
Leghome Posted July 7 Posted July 7 NAPA sells the little plastic plug that go in that square or a paint supply store where they sell AuVeCo products, you just neede to know the size of teh holeas those are the same type of clips used on license plate holders but smaller 4 Quote
72 Monte Carlo Posted July 7 Posted July 7 I just bought 20 of those square grommet nuts from Ace Hardware. 2 Quote
Scott S. Posted July 8 Posted July 8 With regards to the turn signals, I'm assuming you're using factory wiring to LED bulbs. If I remember right, the turn signals stayed illuminated to let you know that a bulb was burnt out, so a missing bulb might do the same ??? Had a police officer tell me this many years ago when I told him I was signalling but he "observed" me failing to signal.... Luckily it wasn't my car and he let me off without a ticket. As for the tach not working, are you using the original factory tach ? The "points" tach has issues reading an HEI distributor signal..... Classic industries (Holley) makes an inline resistor (from the tach connection on the distributor cap to the tach). That might be your issue. I have just a standard G.M. HEI connected to the old tach, installed the unit, and it cleared up all my issues. SN-20 is the part number. Quick question, as it's been discussed here before, does your vacuum port on the intake have clearance around the carb for a fitting to the brake vacuum line ? I believe it's a 1/2" npt to clamped hose fitting. You can get them at almost any hardware store or auto parts place. Best of luck making it to the church on time.   4 Quote
FeSo4man Posted July 11 Author Posted July 11 Night before the night before… and things are looking bright. Didn’t have time to get the car home from the body shop after they took it to get glass in, so we went and worked there during the day and night (hence the 2:30 post time). Interior flew in, trim on, and it’s looking amazing! There’s a few small pieces missing here and there but for a 2-month turn around, I couldn’t be happier with where this thing is at. Going to clean a few things up in the morning then it’s time for a test drive!  Still haven’t resolved the turn signal issue. Tried different relays, bulbs etc- got it to not stay on with key off but still just gives constant illumination. Also found that the side markers are also getting constant power- I’m not sure if this is a switch issue or power back feeding somewhere. It’ll work for what I need Saturday but can’t wait to track down that problem… @Scott S. was correct again on the tach issue. Did some digging and I need an MSD tach converter/a resistor like what is pictured above. None in stock anywhere close to me, so I’ll just roll without tach this weekend. I’ll try to give an update after the test drive tomorrow. Thanks everyone for helping get it to this point, couldn’t have done it without you! 11 Quote
GRAY 70 Monte Carlo Posted July 11 Posted July 11 That looks great. You should be very pleased now onto the wedding congratulations again 3 Quote
420ponies Posted July 11 Posted July 11 Just a solid, great story! Â It looks fantastic. We've had others do what you did ( 2 months),taken way longer, but with the same results. You should take a look at Jared Richey"s SS Monte build. I think it was 8mo.? ,beautiful car! Those little things will be nothing to what you went through to get this back on the road and for the wedding! Very well done. 4 Quote
Scott S. Posted July 11 Posted July 11 A "project car" isn't a project car unless there's something that still needs to be attended to...... Isn't that why we're all here ??  5 Quote
Stuckin70s Posted July 13 Posted July 13 Alternator: consider looking at the voltage regulator. The stock regulator was mechanical and the contacts can get dirty. I converted my to a solid state regulator. 3 Quote
FeSo4man Posted July 14 Author Posted July 14 Mission success. Worked flawlessly, got about a 30 foot burnout in front of the church without touching the brakes, and boy did it look great in pictures. Dad got to drive it to the reception and said it’s “cooler than the day he got it”. So glad to have it ready and rolling for another special moment. The “post-wedding” list of work will be next month’s project… I’m ready for a little car break 🙂 15 Quote
GRAY 70 Monte Carlo Posted July 14 Posted July 14 Congratulations on the wedding. Nice car a good woman sounds like the start of a good life 3 Quote
DragCat Posted July 14 Posted July 14 Congrats , thanks for taking us all along on your journey 4 Quote
willie Posted July 21 Posted July 21 Looks fantastic Ed!!! Great work!!! Congrats on both, the car and the other half!!!  💙❤️ 3 Quote
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