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Chasers 66 408 Restomod / ProTouring Coupe

Sorry, don't know where time has gone, just got through slobbering over your wheels! omg! sigh;) I'll be curious on your console, I'd really like a console, but 1000 or so is just hard to dish out, but they sure look nice! I could probably fab something and cover with vinyl, but I'm not there yet. Your project is so awesome!;)
me;) who else!~
 
Ha thanks @Dne' With all the clearancing work I did on the front of the wheel houses, the wheels actually fit really well. I have the 1/4" spacers on now but might just run the wheels flat to the hub. I would have to work a little more on one area of the wheel house to feel comfortable doing that though. Probably get pictures up this weekend.

I was hoping to be a lot further on the console by now but I keep running short on time. I will be building out of 1/2" MDF and vinyl wrapping it. I also think I'm going to run a sheet of brushed stainless through the center...might add black accents to the stainless to better mimic the original console style. Others have done that so i cant take credit for the idea. I also saw a neat thread where the guy designed the console with 1/8" steel rod and then cut the boards to match. I think i'm going to go that route when the time comes.
I'll be sure to post pictures of the progress :-D

In other news, my brother is coming down this weekend. He's been known to push me to get things running while he's visiting...he's also a gear head. I've run through my checklist a couple times but I dont really see anything preventing me from starting the engine tomorrow. Thus, if the conditions are right...might have a video of this monster running (very briefly).
 
Fancy upgraded site!

Well we did not start the beast up this weekend but it wasnt for lack of trying. I had a couple minor fuel leaks stemming from not having the lines tightened (whoops). After that, pressure held solid at 60psi and we started cranking...nothing.

After some troubleshooting there was no spark. Digging a bit further and it would appear the 6AL is dead. Jumping the white wire yield nothing from the coil. The red light on the box acknowledges signal but it's not sending voltage to the coil.

My suspicion is that the old battery I had in for testing was bad (best i could get was 10v). The low voltage and an attempt to crank once or twice probably fried the box. I have a new optima red top in it now so that shouldnt be an issue. Guess we'll see....

I've gone ahead and ordered a new one. I'll probably send this one out to get fixed and put it on one of the other cars or as a backup but, with as fragile as it seems to be, it doesnt make me feel very using these anymore.

Anywho...back to working on brakes.
 
Groan...the MSD issues continue. I just received a new 6A (dont need the rev limiter). Hooked it up, same issue. The box clearly has power as the red light comes on. Cranking shows a signal as the red light flashes.
I did a spark test where you pull the coil wire from the distributor and jump it to a ground on the engine triggering off the white wire on the box. Still no spark.

So, that leads me to believe I may have a bad connection on the wire set from the box to the coil.
I'm also going to try grounding the coil direct to the chassis although, the box is grounded to the battery so I dont really see why that would effect anything. Stranger things have happened.

If all that fails, i'm going to wire the new box JUST to the battery...nothing to the wiring harness so I can completely isolate the ignition system itself.

Regardless...this is incredibly annoying...
 
Before you do anything else and potentially damage the box let's help review where you are at on wiring. It has to be something simple as the hook-up is pretty basic. Sometimes its hard to see what's right in front of you. I know I've been there. So you have the basic 6A box, right? What distributor? How is your ignition circuit wiring done? Stock harness? Custom? I'm guessing it's in the ignition wiring but could also be ground. Let's walk it through if you're willing.
 
Sure!
The 6A is plugged in right now (6AL sitting on the floor of the garage)
MSD Pro billet distributor (locked out, phased, and set for the EFI)
Magnetic trigger wires are connected to the Sniper (in accordance with Holley instructions)
White points output wire of Sniper hooked to the white points input wire of MSD (in accordance with Holley instructions)

MSD main power is wired to a junction under the dash that is a direct line to the battery (with a 100amp slow blow fuse)
MSD main ground is wired to a junction under the dash that is a direct line to the battery
MSD red trigger wire is hooked to the ignition circuit on the AAW harness
MSD orange / black harness is wired to the coil (orange +, black -)

I've been focusing on the MSD box only since it's getting its signal from the sniper.
With the MSD troubleshooting tips, they explain how to false trigger the box off the white wire (or off the green / purple trigger wires). That is how I've been validating there is no spark. I do so by unplugging the white wire, remove coil wire from distributor, phillips screw driver in wire about 1/4" from intake manifold bolt, key on, jump white wire to ground. Doing so triggers the red light on the 6A and, according to their troubleshooting tips, should cause the coil wire to arc...which it does not.
 
First thing that caught my attention was that by the way you detail your connections you are trying to set it up so that the Sniper controls timing. Is that correct? If so, are you sure that everything is compatible? Some EFI systems (mine for example) do not support CD boxes like yours. What is the exact part number(s) of your dizzy and Sniper system? I'm guessing this is were your trouble lies. Would explain why two boxes "don't work". Before we go any further let's confirm they can play nice together in the way you want.
 
That is correct.
I've validated the Sniper should be compatible with pro billet distributors as well as CD boxes...albeit they are not ideal. Holley wants you to use their dual sync distributors which, I'm actually giving some thought to since I dont really trust the MSD boxes for a street car and would want to be able to run it independently of the box. Regardless, i am bypassing that altogether and triggering the MSD manually via the white wire trick with no joy.

It should also be known that I have tried wiring the distributor mag trigger wires directly to the MSD which would bypass the timing control. Same result.

Part numbers:
Sniper: 550-510
Distributor: 85840
Phaser: 84211
Coil: 8202
Wires: 31229

Here's Holley's video that I've followed darn near to a tee on setting this up:
 
Ok, then let's just cover the very basics. Verify your grounds across the whole car. All locked down tight on clean, bare metal. I suggest using a dab of dielectric grease on everything. Helps to prevent corrosion as well as good connections. Next I would take a good look at all my ignition switch wiring to verify it is both correct and well connected. Also verify the switch itself makes good contacts. Bad contacts can cause poor voltage which will not be liked by that box. There should be no connections (butt splices, etc.) from the switch to your box or distributor. Disconnect the wire from the box and verify correct voltage. Since you have an aftermarket harness I am assuming you did not install a resister or use a resistance wire in the connection. A factory direct replacement may have such in it. Look to verify. If all this checks out we are down to your components and any other connections between them.

You've either got a simple wiring problem/mistake or compatibility issue. Easiest to take one basic step at a time to find it.
 
Oh boy i feel like a newb...figured out the problem and, like most of my posts, its going to be overly long winded with more detail than anyone really wants.

I learned something about the MSD boxes this afternoon. The 'trigger' wire doesnt behave like a standard trigger wire which merely tells a relay to allow full power. Instead it actually carries the voltage for the brain of the box. Thus, if you have the trigger wire and a good ground connected, the box will power on and pretend like everything is fine.
BUT, if you manage to say, knock off a loose connection from the main power wire from the junction block when putting in the AC due to some oversights (that will now get remedied in spades), the box will pretend like everything is ok but not actually capacitate the voltage to the coil.

In short, checked voltage on the main lines from the battery and saw nothing. Looked under the dash and saw a hoop connector without its wire on my junction block. Gave a little tug on the MSD positive wire and sure enough, it had no connector. I put a new one on, screwed it to the junction, did my tests which now gave spark! Hooked everything back up and voila...car fired! Had next to no fuel so it promptly shut down. hopefully have some video this weekend!
 
So I had a minute to look up the Sniper instructions and it would seem you have everything wired correctly per those instructions. I will say, however, that they suggest to first hook everything up without using the Sniper to control timing to verify function before taking that step. I agree. Hook it up in the basic manner and see what you get but first check all the wiring as I suggest above. Also take a minute and verify you have the distributor reassembled correctly, the rotor aligned and the wires correctly routed so your base timing is close. Since you did some work in the dizzy I'd make sure that the height of the rotor tip is correct to come in close enough contact with the cap points,etc. You'd be surprised how dumb things can happen even when using manufacture "correct" parts.
Wire it up all with the basic diagram leaving the timing to the dizzy. G Pull a plug or use a spare and connect the #plug wire to that lose plug and ground it against the block while cranking the engine. Do this with the fuel pump off so it doesn't fire. Simplest way yo verify you have spark at the plugs and everything is working.
There's not much there to go wrong this way. Something has to have been incorrect prior, I suspect, because odds are great you don't get two bad boxes in a row.
 
Sure you type that as I was typing that last long winded bit! Good deal. Always blame the basic stuff first. Glad you figured it out
 
Hey. Just re-read your last post. It would seem you were relying on crimped connections for your wires. DO NOT DO THAT. Solder those things and cover with a good heat shrink tubing. ALL of them or you will have problems throughout your electrical system. Guarantee it.
 
Horseplay said:
Hey. Just re-read your last post. It would seem you were relying on crimped connections for your wires. DO NOT DO THAT. Solder those things and cover with a good heat shrink tubing. ALL of them or you will have problems throughout your electrical system. Guarantee it.
Click to expand...

I know :-(
I have soldered damn near everything in this car. I cant for the life of me figure out why I didnt solder these connections. Regardless, that's top on the to do list. I'm also going to review every connection on those junctions to make sure everything is soldered and heat shrunk.

Btw, this thing sounds like it wants to eat my face!
 
I ran into complications with the brakes and clutch that set me back quite a ways. I think i have them sorted out now but, since the car was back up in the air I decided to do a couple more fastener checks on the undercarriage, get the rear fully setup (pinion angle was wrong), and I found a bunch of other things that required some tweaking.
I now have a driveshaft though so it's inching ever closer to a maiden voyage!

That and my wife said i was working on it too much so I had to take a break.
 
Well the car has been being a jerk lately. It's fighting me on everything I try to do but with, patience and persistence, I'm moving the needle forward...just very slowly.

I got the climate control system installed for real. What a pain that was. I ended up having to bend the heater core tubes back a little as there was not enough room for the heater hoses. Possibly because I moved the engine back about an inch or so. Regardless, that seemed to do the trick. Running the ducts was...interesting. With next to no room to work and not really enough ducting to run it the way I wanted I had to make some concessions on the routing. They are now attached but space behind the dash is at a premium...I also zip tied some of the ducts to the outlets since they kept trying to pop off. I have it about 70% wired. I discovered a rather strange issue where, with the key off, the blower runs but when I turn the key on it shuts off. So i have to run that down. It's very confusing but I'll get it sorted.

I have all the radio components as well so I tried to wire that in. As luck would have it, wiring it up to the AAW radio wires...it doesnt work. However, I 'think' thats a fuse issue. I ran the 3 RCA cables for the amps, trigger wire, and backup camera wire under the carpet...just need to hook them all up. My little prototype underdash console isn't going to work at all. The radio is a little too wide for it. I tried to use some flat steel (14gauge) to mock up what will later be stainless which was just infuriating. It's not nearly rigid enough to be able to adequately hold the weight of the radio. Thus, i'm pretty close to abandoning trying to make that work.
What I 'think' i'm going to do is make a form of what I want the console to be shaped like out of some 1/8" steel rod. Then build it out of fiberglass. I still intend to have a stainless insert but it would give me a LOT more rigidity and flexibility in how I want it to look. I know it's going to carry its own set of challenges but, i'm much better with fiberglass than I am with wood. So there's that. Plus, nothing ventured nothing gained.

Lets see, I tried to lower the front by cutting the springs but now it sits too low. So i put my other set in and it sits WAY to high. Going to have to revisit that as well. I'm getting pretty close to hitting the "f-it" button and ordering the coilover kit from SoT that I should have done in the first place. Lessons learned i suppose.
Lastly, the wing windows kind of scratched the top of the doors (even with judicious amounts of tape). Its not terrible but it's enough to p*ss me off. I do have some touch up paint so it's not the end of the world. I have a couple spots my painter is going to touch up anyway so I might just see if he can work some magic.

Anyway, thats where things are. I'm pretty frustrated at the beast right now but I'm so close to driving it I'm going to soldier on. Hopefully I can get some victories this week...
 
The power issues you have are likely related to where you are sourcing power, for one thing. The radio needs its power source to be direct from the battery. The blower needs to be on the "key on" circuit. One of the best things I can recommend to anyone wiring a car is to include two separate power posts on the firewall under the dash that are easily accessible. One for direct battery power and one for "keyed" power off your ignition switch (or better yet) a relay powered off the ignition switch. Most stuff needs to route through a fuse block but there is plenty of stuff where it makes more sense to pull the initial power this way. It allows you to at the minimum test circuits out before final wiring very easily.

Don't be too hasty to judge ride height by the way the car looks sitting in your garage. You need to let things settle in first. That typically means driving it a bit. My car settled an EASY inch at this point. I'd bet your springs you cut would have been just fine given a chance.

Everything on a project like this goes better if you take the time to really plan things out. Sometimes that means you have to learn things the hard way first to know better next time. Treat some of your current headaches as just that, learning opportunities. Now you know what not to do next time. Even failures can be victories that way!

Sorry about the paint damage. Next time use something more durable than tape. I use very thin (and I mean thin!) strips of plastic for times like installing wing windows. Allows me to get things just about perfect before I have to remove for final tightening. The plastic not only doesn't tear, it helps thing shift around too without damage.
 
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