While the engine is out I Thought I would do some house keeping. Since my numbers are not matching I thought I would moderize my fuse panel. I looked at Ron Francis & American autowire but neither seem to be "Olds sensitive"....anyone have better guidance?

 

Yeah, unless either your stock panel is completely rusted and non-functional, or you want to add dozens of additional circuits, this is a major undertaking for virtually no benefit. You'll essentially be custom building the entire dash harness and major parts of the rest of the harness by the time you are done. None of these aftermarket wire harnesses are "plug and play" - all of them require you to terminate the other end of the wires.

 

Yeah, once you take that first step, you'll be doing the whole car. Mine was either missing, messed up, or needed improvement for all the additions I was making (efi, electric fans, new gauges, 140 amp alternator, etc).
You can do it and have it the way you want, but you'll be tearing apart the whole car.
Is this something you need or a "while I'm at it" project? If it's just a lot of messed up engine, front end wiring, order some weather pack connectors, crimpers, and wire. Make an engine harness that yoou can plug into the main harness. It makes installation really easy too. Same for front end harness.

 

I think the main question is how is your current harness? If it's still in good shape you can replace bad terminals rewrap it with new harness tape and it would look good as new.

 

the car is in really good shape. I did some rewiring some years back and I used marine style wire with heat shrink terminal connectors. The car from time to time has blown fuses for some interior components and I have found night time running with the A/C the alt can't seem to keep the battery up to charge so I was thinking of putting on a hi amp alt. I also have the slow creeping engine temp in stop & go Fl daytime driving with the A/C on so I thought I might add a electric cooling fan. You guys have convinced me "ain't broke, don't fix". If I could figure out the freakin photo thing I would post a few pic's

 

Do you have any added equipment that draws on the charging system? At night the lights do tend to dim at idle on most older cars, if thats what your talking about.

All engine temps creep up at idle or stop and go traffic, it all depends on what temp it gets to.

On the pic's, click on the go advanced button, then click on the paperclip up top, and you can down load from your own files. Or you can copy and paste from anywhere.

 

You can wire an electric cooling fan directly to the alternator, no need to upgrade the entire harness. Upgrade the wire to the starter with a bigger alternator though.

 

wow not sure how to handle all this love. 1st oldcut: no new accessories that would add additional draw. at night the alt light would lightly flash on at idle at a full stop. The belt is tight. The alternator is an aftermarket rebuild & I don't have real gauges to provide actual amp & temp readings. On the pic's, I am a computer "e"lliterate so you have to slow down for me. I have pic's on my droid platform phone...help me from there.
Gary68, I have a new marine grade heavier gauge + cable to the starter & it runs through the stock insulation tube bolted to the back of the head. I rerouted it away from the header up on the fender, not sure what you mean by "starter with a bigger alternator".
As long as I have a captive audience I want to better insulate the floor as the heat transfer is a bit much with the headers. My carpet is in great shape. The guys at Muscle Express recommended a 2 part spray that comes with an applicator but a bit rich at $400. How is the peel & stick stuff as an alternative?

 

I forgot, the temp creeps but I never let it get to the point of no return. It seems if I left the AC on she would just boil. I refuse to be one of those stuck on the side of the road with smoke signals coming from the hood. I shut the A/C and the temp seems to settle in and return to what is normal on the gauge. I tried a larger fixed blade fan instead of the factory clutch, definitely not a cure.

 

Can't help you get pics of your phone, as I am 1 of I think 100 in the world who does not own one and not familiar with all that.

I like the peel and stick stuff.

Get one of those decent 3 gauge units (volts, temp, oil pressure) and hook it up. This way we can deal with real indications and not guesstimates. I use a Sunpro set, it was not very expensive and somewhat accurate. Your gen light issue can be as simple as low RPM setting.

The older A/C units did put a strain on the engine, there was some compensation with an idle solenoid that would engage with it on.

By the way whats your setup?

 

I was going to remove the CD player which i put in place of the 8 track. I'm going to use the frame and custom make a bezel and go with the 60's style SW gauges. All in good time....[IMG]1 Attachment, 1.8 MB[/IMG]

 

is this real life?

 

Nice rig! That's a great idea for the gauges.

 

here we go, some choice language and a rescue call to my oldest and wha la

 

Sweet looking car - I like that color combo!

Lets try to troubleshoot the issues before you spend a lot in modifications that may not be needed.

For your alternator issue, were you sold the correct alternator? Is the regulator and all wiring good? Do you have a volt meter you can use to test the output? Should be 13-14.5 with all accessories on at idle.
The stock setup works fine, as long as the amperage matches the config of the car. If you had AC or rear defrost, you should have a 55 or 63A unit.
I got good readings on my stock system with high beam lights, high speed fan and both sets of seat heaters on.

As for the slow overheating at idle, is the fan blowing a lot of air? There should be a distinct roaring sound of airflow if the clutch is engaging properly. Many times they fail and never engage - just freewheel.


And I am #2!

 

Thanks for the complements. The alternator has in internal regulator and as I recall it was putting out good amperage. I'm thinking that because the car would sit for weeks at a time the battery would loose amps and when i did run it the alt was not be able to catch up. When the engine goes back in I will be driving her on a more regular basis and I'll throw a meter on & check to volts before driving. As far as the fan I took the stock fan out & put a flex fan on. I know the previous fan system was working correctly as I had replaced numerous bad ones during my time working in a gas station. I've read numerous forums and no one seems to have the silver bullet. Funny I bought a 35' Intrepid several years ago and had it trucked down from Virginia. The boat had 250 2 stroke merc's and when I first ran the boat in fl I was blowing hubs. Winds up a $5 fin on the raw water intake slots cured the problem. One of the "old guys" at an off site merc racing shop made the call. the boat didn't need the part in Virginia as the Ocean water temp was much cooler up there. I'll apply that theory to the 442 when she gets back on the street.

 

Let us know when you get it back together and we'll go from there.

 

Will do....
BTW I have a few other things like fuel line & engine paint, do I start a new thread or just carry on here?

 

Nice looking car! What is your plan for that engine?

 

Beautiful car! I use a battery tender and it works great! My battery is older and tends to weaken over long periods but the tender keeps it hot and ready to go. A little hassle but better than having to jump start!

 

BTW, I use Year1 engine bronze. It's a little pricey but I happen to work near them and can just run down at lunch...save's shipping and ordering hassle. I think it is pretty close to correct color too, though not real shiny, a little flatter look. Also count me in that 100 too (lol).

 

Start a new one with a generic title under major builds and projects that describes what your doing in this particular endeaver. That way you/we can keep track of everything you did for this project as a whole.

 

Nice looking car. You already have most important part perfect. The stance / tire / wheels combo it just right.

 

hey Miked, can you post a pic of the color on the engine. Year one is double the price of Brothers & Fenchic....I always get these discount emails from year one but it's never for the stuff I really need!!
OK as per oldcutter I will continue this saga on "major builds & projects" maybe change the name to "major bills".

 

Be glad to. Trying to find some of my new uninstalled rebuilt engine. It will be the most accurate. The one below looks kind of coppery due to the light.

 

I just wanted to thank the forum. I am replacing the original fuel lines and was looking for options. Bouncing through the forums I discovered "inline tube" (sounds like a **** site). Called this morning & ordered up main & return lines in ss. Thanks ClassicOlds forums.

 

'slam', here are a couple more pics of the Yr1 color. It's hard to get good color under garage lights...still looks a little shiny but close. Please excuse the clutter...got engine stored in the corner where everything accumulates!

 

18" Magnum 500's?

 

Last week I took a ride to Weaverville NC to see Brad Wise's shop. I thought I would post a pic of his head and an aftermarket Olds head and let the debate begin.

While my heads are being made I thought I would do a little general maintenance. I pulled the front seats and put dynamat on the floor boards and up the inside firewall. pulled the radio and decided there is nothing worth listening to so I am using an auto meter angled mount for a mitsubishi triple and putting that in place of the radio. Today I painted the firewall & deck cowling and ran some new conduit for the wire runs. I also ran wire for 2 new 12" perma cool fans which will replace the stock fan.

For those that were curious the wheels are American Racing 18" with Nitto 555 9.5 rear 8.5 front. Years ago I did the Camaro front spindle swap when I changed the drums to disk. Hotchkis all around + the new fox shocks

 

And a plan is born...

 

I think I'd prefer hatched not born....no comment on the head???? the spark plug entry, the cosmic air flow, the nice meaty area surrounding the valve guide....gotta admit Brad the absent minded professor is hard at work.

 

engine: I have decided to stick with old ironsides. Brad Wise is working a pair of C heads, new e performer, gonna rework the Qjet, Voodoo 268/510 112 cam. I took out the 10 year old dinged & rusted hookers. Any suggestions for the replacements?
Did the wiring for 2 new 12" permacool fans, cleaned up some wire runs, moved the vacuum reducer off the firewall & hid it by the ww arms, decided to paint the radiator support to match the crimson red. I had a quart of ppg in the paint locker from the guy I bought the car from dated 1989, amazing still good.

I bought the gauge mount & wanted to go old school with S/W gauges. After messing with the thing all weekend the compression fitting for the oil press line cracked & no I did not over tighten it. I tried to call S/W...their website says under construction, got S/W Canada who gave me US sales & got V/M. Called Summit, they said their service has been sub par. screw that shipped the 3 gauges back & sprung for the Auto Meter muscle series. I did cutout the radio plate with a dremel so she will be ready to install when the new gauges arrive.

BTW: for all the old farts go to "old photos of carolina's dragstrips" ...great stuff

 

since my last post I have gone down some dead ends, had to make a few u turns. I am pleased to report my jet black 400 is headed for the dyno next week and I will post the results. In short the top end has been renewed with BERNARD Mondello pro comp heads, performer intake (which I port matched) stage 3 Qjet with 1" plastic spacer. DUI ignition & wire set. Howard roller cam,lifters,rockers & push rods. Cloyes timing chain & gear, Dick Miller cam button,felpro head gaskets, ARH stainless headers. Aluminum water pump, 100amp alt. & chrome Chinese holley knock off fuel pump. Going with 2x12" electric fans and keeping the A6 A/C intact. doubled up on the valve cover gaskets & modified the baffles. Ground the A/C & Alt brackets to fit. photos to follow along with several major thank youz & a list of who is naughty & who is nice.

 

4 tires on the ground, fluids full, brakes bleed, P/S pump aerated, clutch pedal adjusted, new electric fans temp checked & working perfect...

debating removing the old original hood insulation & going with the more modern thinner material.....any opinions????

 

Looks great!

 

Slam, for my floor pan after I put por15 paint down I used FatMax peel and stick sound deadener and then a product Called EZ Cool it came out nice. Here is a link. Much less than the spray on stuff.

http://www.lobucrod.com/

 

Thanks 501....I used the peel & stick for the firewall and floor. Summit had an instant rebate on the under hood peel & stick so I just hit the send button for that. I may use use your Texas guy to re insulate the engine box on the boat. The guys at Musclecar Express use the 2 part epoxy spray thats around $400. per pail!!!

 

I used the EZ cool inside my A/C box and even around my water heater. Check out the link to some of my pictures I have the EZ Cool in a few and also the engine paint. I used Rustoleum Aged Copper, they had it at Lowes but I have not seen it there lately, it is available on line too.

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...0&ref=gnr-prev

 

engine parts look perfect. hurry up & get it runnin. I'm lookin for a vintage 60's/70's Chevy/GMC tow truck for my next project.

 

Just thought I would close out this thread...kinda dated title since I wound up leaving the fuse panel alone. Really happy with the way the car is driving. Thanks to all the input on this site. I'm glad I found it as it's been very helpful throughout the process. My apologies for the majority of you freezing your butts off. Tomorrow is take the dog to the beach day with the top down.