The SAGA Begins - '66 300 Convertible

As some of you may know (from my postings in another thread regarding battery charging issues), I have had a problem trying to diagnose the cause of my no-charge problem. I have attempted to perform a couple of tests @Big_John and others have suggested. And being the spaz that I can be, I inadvertently allowed the hot batt lead at the alternator to go to ground. This caused a lot of smoke to occur in the firewall area where the starter relay and and voltage regulator are located. Looking at the photo below, I assume I have fried the fuse-able link (big blue wire) that runs from the starter relay to the bulkhead connector.

My questions: What is the best way to accomplish a repair of the fuse-able link? I assume I'll hafta disconnect the bulkhead connector and somehow disconnect the blue wire from it. I just can't figure out how to get the bulkhead connector to disconnect. There are four rusty metal clips (one at each corner of the connector), but pressing them or poking them, etc. has no effect. Is there a trick to this? Also, there is a black wire that I should also disconnect and replace that runs from from the fuse-able link to a connector that plugs into the voltage regulator, and again, I can't figure out how to get it loose from the plastic connector. Is there a special tool I should use for these connectors? Here is a photo of the whole mess:

IMG_20190216_140041156.jpg
 
Ripinator said:
As some of you may know (from my postings in another thread regarding battery charging issues), I have had a problem trying to diagnose the cause of my no-charge problem. I have attempted to perform a couple of tests @Big_John and others have suggested. And being the spaz that I can be, I inadvertently allowed the hot batt lead at the alternator to go to ground. This caused a lot of smoke to occur in the firewall area where the starter relay and and voltage regulator are located. Looking at the photo below, I assume I have fried the fuse-able link (big blue wire) that runs from the starter relay to the bulkhead connector.

My questions: What is the best way to accomplish a repair of the fuse-able link? I assume I'll hafta disconnect the bulkhead connector and somehow disconnect the blue wire from it. I just can't figure out how to get the bulkhead connector to disconnect. There are four rusty metal clips (one at each corner of the connector), but pressing them or poking them, etc. has no effect. Is there a trick to this? Also, there is a black wire that I should also disconnect and replace that runs from from the fuse-able link to a connector that plugs into the voltage regulator, and again, I can't figure out how to get it loose from the plastic connector. Is there a special tool I should use for these connectors? Here is a photo of the whole mess:

View attachment 260867
Click to expand...
Those rusty clips hold the inside housing to the firewall. There are three removable connectors on the engine side of the firewall that all run horizontally across the housing. Squeeze the clips on the ends of the top one and wiggle it off so you can see the clips on the next one down, etc. The clips I'm mentioning are part and parcel of the black plastic connector itself.
 
Polara_500 said:
Those rusty clips hold the inside housing to the firewall. There are three removable connectors on the engine side of the firewall that all run horizontally across the housing. Squeeze the clips on the ends of the top one and wiggle it off so you can see the clips on the next one down, etc. The clips I'm mentioning are part and parcel of the black plastic connector itself.
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot. I figured it was something simple about the clamping setup, but I just couldn't see it. The FSM was no help at all. . .
 
Well, Rip....I don't know what to say. Took me a few nights of reading here and there to catch up on your project. All I can say is - wow! I mean, your "parts car" looks to be as nice as your project? How does *that* happen??

The 440 transplant looks beautiful, as does everything else you've done with it. I'll be glad just to get mine back out on the road and find a #@$%@! bumper set for the back of it!

BTW - you're probably long past it since you posted it back in Feb, but whenever you pop apart any of those electrical connectors, be sure to give them a shot of DeOxit then cycle them together/apart a few times to clean up the contacts. WD-40 will work in a pinch but won't give the lasting contact protection that a true cleaner will.

Will holler next time I head up to Mt Airy to see if you're gonna be around!
 
Well. . . I finally repaired the fusible link and I resolved the no-charging issue (I went through two DOA alternators right outa the box). So I'm back where I started two months ago, and am now attempting to tune the engine, so I can put some break-in miles on it. I set the timing at 12 degrees BTDC (with the vacuum advance disconnected), and I diddled with the mixtures screws on the AFB, so as to get the highest RPM and best vacuum reading. The dwell meter says 23-24 degrees. The vacuum gauge indicated 20-22. In the garage, the engine runs fantastic: really good throttle response and pretty smooth idle at about 750 RPM.

When I got the car out on the road for a test run, however, the engine pinged a lot when accelerating, so I stopped the car several times and gradually retarded the timing; but I could never totally eliminate the pinging, and the timing was now so retarded, the engine ran like chit.

At this point, I'm not sure which direction I should take, but I strongly suspect my (rebuilt) distributor. I know the distributor in my Parts Car is in good shape, so I'm thinking I'll swap distributors next weekend to see if that has any positive effect.

What do you guys think?
 
Ripinator said:
Well. . . I finally repaired the fusible link and I resolved the no-charging issue (I went through two DOA alternators right outa the box). So I'm back where I started two months ago, and am now attempting to tune the engine, so I can put some break-in miles on it. I set the timing at 12 degrees BTDC (with the vacuum advance disconnected), and I diddled with the mixtures screws on the AFB, so as to get the highest RPM and best vacuum reading. The dwell meter says 23-24 degrees. The vacuum gauge indicated 20-22. In the garage, the engine runs fantastic: really good throttle response and pretty smooth idle at about 750 RPM.

When I got the car out on the road for a test run, however, the engine pinged a lot when accelerating, so I stopped the car several times and gradually retarded the timing; but I could never totally eliminate the pinging, and the timing was now so retarded, the engine ran like chit.

At this point, I'm not sure which direction I should take, but I strongly suspect my (rebuilt) distributor. I know the distributor in my Parts Car is in good shape, so I'm thinking I'll swap distributors next weekend to see if that has any positive effect.

What do you guys think?
Click to expand...

What's the compression ratio? What octane fuel are you running?
 
Yeah your up there Rip, is that measured C.R. or should be?
I would plot the timing at 500 rpm intervals to see how fast the curve is coming in. Anything less than ~3000 rpm with full advance coming in would be suspect. Then Halifax shops would be the man to speak to. Also I have seen more than one aftermarket dist with the tension in the vacuum advance can at zero spring pressure making all sorts of weird crap happen.
If you have a hand vacuum pump I would check how easy it is to advance
 
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