Hello! I finally got the new 440 into my '65 Fury III. It's up and running, and SCARY fast. Since I got the car running, I'd only take it on 10 minute blasts down local roads. Today I did my first mini "shakedown run" by taking it to the bank, and that's where the trouble started. All was well until just before the bank, a 15 minute drive through light downtown traffic. I was at a light and the idle dropped until the car almost stalled. I goosed it and it idled back up again. I pulled into the bank and did my business. The car was then kind of hard to start. I drove maybe 500ft and it died (in an intersection, of course). I pushed it to the curb and checked the carb for gas...I got 2 strong shots out of the accelerator pump, so I had fuel. I waited about 5 minutes, and got it to start by pumping the gas and cranking the engine for about 10 seconds. As I drove away, the engine started detonating heavily whereas it had not at all before. I babied it home where I shut off the engine and put a timing light on it. Tried to start it, battery would barely turn the motor over, where it had cranked over with no problem a few minutes ago. I used a jump pack and it started right up. Timing seemed ok at first, about 3 degrees advanced at idle, and it ran up to about 20 when I revved the engine. I'm running a factory Chrysler chrome box and straight mechanical advance on the distributor. The distributor and box came from the previous owner, and the engine ran flawlessly. I turned the engine off, and tried to re-start it with the jump pack. NOTHING. I'd blown a 30amp in line fuse the previous owner put on the main power line at the bulkhead. New fuse, started right up again. This time, the timing light showed that the engine was running at about 20+ degrees advanced AT IDLE. I turned the engine off and blew another fuse. At this point, I replaced the fuse, started the car, and pulled it into the garage. Just before I turned off the engine, I realized that my brand new Pro Comp tach was no longer working. This is my 2nd Mopar...my 1st was an OT '68 300C that put me through electrical purgatory because of a bad ammeter. I learned that the current from the alternator feeds the ignition and lights before it went through the ammeter and on to the voltage regulator. The ammeter was bad so the voltage regulator was cut out of the loop and I was feeding unregulated voltage to the ignition and the lights...and that's why I blew every light in the car. I'm thinking that I may have the same problem here. Thoughts as to if I'm right or wrong, and if I'm wrong, what else may be going on? Thanks... Chris
Rusty - I did pull the cap and check under the dizzy. I could gently wiggle the rotor back and fourth about 5 degrees, so it didn't appear as if it was sticking. Also, before it went far advance at idle, it was working fine 5 minutes prior. Does anyone know if unregulated voltage will make a Chrysler chrome box advance the timing? Chris
Also - The ammeter is mounted in a pod to the left of the speedo cluster, and I can remove the entire pod in 2 minutes by removing 4 screws. Will I damage anything if I temporarily bypass the ammeter by connecting the 2 leads that connect to the back? Thanks... Chris
>>>I'd blown a 30amp in line fuse the previous owner put on the main power line at the bulkhead. New fuse, started right up again. This time, the timing light showed that the engine was running at about 20+ degrees advanced AT IDLE. I turned the engine off and blew another fuse.>>> Aside from the advance issues, I'll guess the bulkhead connectors are at least part of the *electrical* issues. Over time the connectors corrode internally creating resistance hotspots that eventually degrade and crack the plastic insulator bodies and cause shorts especially in hi-amp connectors. It was a PIA but I eliminated the bulkhead connectors entirely. Jack E/NJ
Jack - Agreed that the bulkhead fittings are a huge PIA. I had them apart before the engine swap, and I thoroughly cleaned each contact and packed them with grease to prevent further corrosion. All of the wiring appears to be in decent shape, but I will give it another look... Chris
you can bypass an ammeter, which is kind of a common thing to do on old Mopars that have the factory ammeter, since the ammeters are known to fail in fun ways. I think you have more than one problem here....and I second the suggestion to carefully check the advance mechanisms.
Wiring sounds a bit weird. The alternator output goes to the voltage regulator ONLY! The output of the voltage regulator goes to the ammeter and ignition, radio, etc. The other side of the ammeter goes right to the battery. So the only two wires that go to the +battery are the big starter cable and the ammeter lead. (The ammeter lead might come off the starter terminal with the big starter cable that goes to the +battery). The idea here is that the ammeter will measure the current to or from the battery. With engine off, the ammeter will show a discharge from anything (other than starter) that is in operation. With engine running, the ammeter should show a slight charge.
I had a 68 Newport which I think is the same body as your Plymouth and the battery wire from the alternator goes through the amp gauge then to the rest of the car,if there are problems with the bulkhead or gauge which with my 68 there was and rigged by a previous owner so I made a wire to go from the alternator to the starter relay so the charging system would bypass the rest of the car and would keep the battery charged.
When I was towing cars, I hooked plenty of Mopars with maladies like you describe. Some were bad bulkhead connections.
Doing a rewire to my 65 Sport Fury, go to the MADD Wiring webpage. As others have mentioned, the bulkhead is a nightmare and the ammeter bypass is the best upgrade. He will sell you the connections and has the diagram on the MADD site. Real nice guy who will talk your ear off if you call him. Good Luck! Sent from my QTAQZ3 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
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