wsr1961
Member
My "crate" engine is a 1974 block, 1970 intake manifold and Edelbrock Performer RPM aluminum heads, with Hedman headers. I have had it about 10 days. It ran well at first, then one day I went to start it and it had gone from starting at the first turn of the starter to not starting at all. I had just bought the car 3 days before. I had driven it hard, but not too hard, a couple of times. I am talking about 3/4 throttle starts and such.
Anyway, when it would not start, I spent my first quality time under the hood. I found that a plastic spark plug wire restrainer on the 2-4-6-8 side had melted to the headers. The wires were clear, though. Then I walked around and #7 was all wadded against the head (not the header). I pulled it away from the heat source and checked the distributor. I found that it and another wire were disengaged. So I suppose I was n't starting because at least 2 wires were unplugged.
It is a beautiful engine ( visually) with some obvious quality parts. But the headers are damn hot and those plug wires are dangling. A little manipulating got everything running again. However, I could not find a way to restrain the plug wires from the heat sources with confidence, given the aftermarket heads and headers.
It ran well for two days. Then it choked out when stopped one day, which was also the day I had driven it the most. It has electric fans, a Be Cool radiator and a happy temp guage. This time it started easily, but it clicked all the way home, and I could feel the decrease in power. I spent more time under the hood, and saw that, in addition to a couple of plug wires with insulated boots, some were wrapped in foil and I even have a clotheshanger holding #4 and 6 away from the headers.
Any ideas how to stop this problem? Also, is it safe to assume it is ignition related? The clicking bothers me. However, I unplugged #7, my perennial problem wire and the clicking stayed exactly the same. That is also one of the wires that does not like to fit tight into the distributor.
I want to wrap or replace the headers, as they put out heat like an aluminum version of the sun. I think they take away as much power as they add by heating up the air going into the three deuces. I haven't dealt with header heat before so suggestions will be appreciated....they appear to be very thin, uncoated long tubes.
Then I have plug wires laying all over heat sources......any ideas? I can figure something out but would prefer it to be showworthy. Finally, I have to deal with wires pulling away from the distributor cap. Should I assume the cap is OK unless another set of wires fails to lock-in?
Anyway, when it would not start, I spent my first quality time under the hood. I found that a plastic spark plug wire restrainer on the 2-4-6-8 side had melted to the headers. The wires were clear, though. Then I walked around and #7 was all wadded against the head (not the header). I pulled it away from the heat source and checked the distributor. I found that it and another wire were disengaged. So I suppose I was n't starting because at least 2 wires were unplugged.
It is a beautiful engine ( visually) with some obvious quality parts. But the headers are damn hot and those plug wires are dangling. A little manipulating got everything running again. However, I could not find a way to restrain the plug wires from the heat sources with confidence, given the aftermarket heads and headers.
It ran well for two days. Then it choked out when stopped one day, which was also the day I had driven it the most. It has electric fans, a Be Cool radiator and a happy temp guage. This time it started easily, but it clicked all the way home, and I could feel the decrease in power. I spent more time under the hood, and saw that, in addition to a couple of plug wires with insulated boots, some were wrapped in foil and I even have a clotheshanger holding #4 and 6 away from the headers.
Any ideas how to stop this problem? Also, is it safe to assume it is ignition related? The clicking bothers me. However, I unplugged #7, my perennial problem wire and the clicking stayed exactly the same. That is also one of the wires that does not like to fit tight into the distributor.
I want to wrap or replace the headers, as they put out heat like an aluminum version of the sun. I think they take away as much power as they add by heating up the air going into the three deuces. I haven't dealt with header heat before so suggestions will be appreciated....they appear to be very thin, uncoated long tubes.
Then I have plug wires laying all over heat sources......any ideas? I can figure something out but would prefer it to be showworthy. Finally, I have to deal with wires pulling away from the distributor cap. Should I assume the cap is OK unless another set of wires fails to lock-in?
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