I am Screwed!!!!!

[D's350GP]

OK, im finally doing the 350 swap in the GP and up until this point things have gone "fairly" well. The problem is that i need to basically wire the engine from scratch. I have my 69 c-10 to use as an example but im still getting my *ss kicked. I have a diagram that i made just for a general idea of how i should wire the motor so i can start it and break the cam in, if anybody can take a look at it and let me know if i overlooked anything it would REALLY help.

 

[ss4ever]

Are you going from a V-6 to a V-8? All the wiring you need should be there just going to be on the wrong sides.

The wires should all reach(maybey shorten a few like the distributor power) but should still be a pretty straightforward wiring job.

Pretty much ignore any wires that come out of the passenger fender.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

You basically only need a few wires to run the engine. A switched power wire to run the distributor ( if you have an HEI, DO NOT RUN A BALLAST RESISTOR!!), a power cable from the battery to the starter, a switched power wire to the starter solenoid, and a charge wire from the alternator to the battery with a fusible link in the line. The alternator will also need an exciter wire run from the post to the 2 wire plug (the red one, orange is the alt light on dash), otherwise the alternator will not start charging until the engine exceeds 2000 rpm or so. This is of course assuming the use of either a 10si or 12si style alternator-common to all GM vehicles from the early 70's to about 1986 when it was changed due to feedback spikes which were not good for EFI cars.

 

[srercrcr]

Now I'm confused. Supposedly the reason we went from generators to alternators is generators would discharge at low rpm, while alternators would charge all the time.

 

[joe_padavano]

Now I'm confused. Supposedly the reason we went from generators to alternators is generators would discharge at low rpm, while alternators would charge all the time.

It's a "feature" of the internal electronic regulator used in these alternators. They require the resistance of the GEN light in that circuit to allow them to "turn on" at low RPM.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Now I'm confused. Supposedly the reason we went from generators to alternators is generators would discharge at low rpm, while alternators would charge all the time.

It's a "feature" of the internal electronic regulator used in these alternators. They require the resistance of the GEN light in that circuit to allow them to "turn on" at low RPM.

Actually, it's not the orange wire that's needed, it's the red one and it just loops from the plug 3 inches to the power post on the back of the alternator. The orange one is for the idiot light and does not need to be connected for it to function. In fact, if you blip the throttle at start, you do not need to use either wire off the plug on the alternator and can just run a wire from the charging post to the battery.