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You might want to purchase a 1974 Chevrolet Service Manual and a copy of the Assembly manual (The AIM has illustrations of how to put things together).
Did you install your new lugs nut yet?
Are you in North Carolina?
Keeping all your receipts is a good idea.
I def do need to find where I can purchase those manuals from! I was hoping to find some in the car under seats or in the bins but no luck.
I am still waiting for the shop to get the new lug washers for my wheels in (supposed to be yesterday but still no arrival???)
I am currently in NC, Ft. Bragg area.
And thanks all, this forum has been great to help learn things.
That really does! Even down to the wheels; those look like ET also (which are on mine). I will be putting the luggage rack back on once I buy those rubber screw grommets (I am missing one completely and another is jammed with trash, I have a 6 hole rack IIRC).
Welcome! I always like the look of a white C3 coupe.
White C3s with Black or Red interiors were a slam dunk safe color for Chevrolet dealer to buy and sell on spec.
When I was shopping for a new 1977 C3, in the Fall of '76, two of the dealers I shopped had base engine/rally wheels White with Black interior leather M4s, Unfortunately, both dealers wouldn't deal, , so, the 3rd dealer discounted a light metallic blue L82 A3. Bought it.
I did some research and over the years E.T. had several owners.
Mine have F.D.I. 75 cast on the inside, so it's possible they were on the car since it was almost new.
They are showing signs of early stages of rot and unfortunatly have to be replaced.
Made a little progress over the past 3 days that Ive gotten to work on the car!
1) I ended up buying a new battery
2) changed the negative battery cable and cleaned off the frame where it grounds to (the pic clearly shows how bad of shape it was in)
Because I could hear the starter click but not turn, I:
3) dropped the starter and started taking it apart
4) cleaned off all the terminals and wiped down the starter getting rid of the oil glazing the entire thing
5) sandpapered and cleaned each wire terminal from the harness that connects to the starter
6) cleaned the mounting surface of all the oil where the starter mounts to the xmsn housing
She turns over now!!! which was a huge success. The engine wont fully turn on though, now I think I'm on to messing with the carb since I dont think fuel is squirting when I manually move the throttle connection thing. I went and got some starter spray and when I got back and rehooked up the battery....the POS cable is now sparking when I crank it and then the car "dies". I will see the fan turn and hear the engine turn for roughly 1/2 a turn and I saw a spark shoot from the positive battery connection. This occurrence was a new one for me today, since I was turning the motor over with the key in ignition multiple times earlier today after I got the starter reinstalled. I was going to replace the POS (to match the NEG one) battery cable but just not yet...also trying to figure out where it goes to from the battery! For fear of setting the car/garage on fire, I quit trying to start it for the evening and focused on taking out the passenger seat and carpet instead. (anyone have ideas on this positive cable sparking, let me know. If you can tell me where exactly the POS battery cable goes that'd be great too, as I traced it from the battery, to the underside of the car, but it goes back into the floor board and I just took the carpet out and didnt go back and try to retrace it as I'm sure its probably visible now. But how long of a power cable should I get since I want to re-run a new, fresh one???)
***EDIT: I should also add, after I was trying to see if the car would start once I reinstalled the starter, I did notice the POSITIVE battery terminal was quite hot at the battery. The battery is an "Autocraft Automotive" part number 75-1, 550 CCA at 0*F, 685 CA at 32*F, RC 75.*** I just purchased it from Advance Auto yesterday. I do not keep the battery connected as I know there is a parasitic drain somewhere since the battery that started the car before I bought it was already dead the next day when I came to pick the car up.
Also got the wheel washers in but found out the hard way that 2/5 oval holes on the wheels wont let my new lugnuts fit; they are just BARELY too narrow so Im gonna have to widen it slightly, but just on 2 of the 4 wheels. . . ??
And lastly got the main carpet out so I can re-glass the driver side foot-well area.
And a look at the driver side with kick panel removed
Last edited by Skootter14; 02-21-2019 at 11:31 PM.
I think I am going to start with cleaning the POS terminal on the old wire and make sure I am getting a solid connection to the battery. It would appear (after some google magic) an arch/pop like I saw and heard would come from the POS terminal if there is a gap between the fitting and the battery.
let me know what you guys think
Last edited by Skootter14; 02-21-2019 at 11:47 PM.
Hi again,
On your second picture - fix the terminal end properly.
3rd picture do you have a nut on the top (positive) terminal?
At the starter there is a small black wire, it is a ground and connects to a starter BOLT or bell housing bolt.
Changing the positive cable is NOT easy.
Hello! Thank you for reaching out.
On that second pic, that is the OLD, original NEG battery wire. I replaced that completely since it looked like garbage to me. The new one is the left black wire in the 1st pic.
In the 3rd pic, yes I put the nut back on, that was taken as I was removing the wires to get the starter out, so I knew which wire end connected to which terminal haha
As for the starter, I got it to turn the engine, so it should be all good to go as far as that concern I think the black small wire (if it is the same one I am thinking of) stayed screwed in from the harness to that ground on the bell housing. All the wires I disconnected and cleaned were all on the starter (1 on the "R" stud, 2 on the "B" stud (I think its B, or N) and 1 on the "S" stud, 4 wires total).
I had no idea the POS cable was that long nor do I know how many positives split off of it, thank you for the visual. I also got the '74 wiring diagram from another member on here and thoroughly followed all those wires in you close up pic of the starter, thanks for including that though since if I didnt have it, that would have been crucial for me!
My new concern is that battery POS sparking. I hope just cleaning the terminal will make the difference. I think I may cut some of that wire back and re-crimp a terminal fitting on it may help freshen things up too and make better connections.
You said the engine only turned over a little and the + battery cable got hot.
You may have a bad starter. Disconnect the battery and remove the top wire from the starter solenoid connect the red and the battery cable together and then reconnect the battery and see if it still gets hot.
You will see a small spark as you reconnect the last battery cable because power will flow to the courtesy lights but the cable should not get hot.
Did your car run before? If yes then don't mess with the settings.
I'll guess that you have a Quadrajet carburetor if so then pour an ounce or so of fuel into the float bowl tube which is sticking up at the front/center of the carb. That will 'prime' the carb.
Last edited by Peterbuilt; 02-22-2019 at 09:29 AM.
Thanks, that drain check will come in handy here in the near future.
I ended up cutting about 2 inches off the tip of the POS cable and cleaned the cable tie that was essentially the 2-screw clamp connector with the circular end for the battery terminal (with a wire brush). Reconnected the battery and the motor turned with no issues from the starter nor sparks from the battery. For the time being, I am going to assume I just had a bad connection between the terrible greenish/dusty old wire end and nasty terminal connector.
I sprayed some starter fluid in the carb and gave her a crank...and it started right up! Ran for about 4-5 seconds then died. Huge plume of greyish smoke spit out the rear (to be expected) but she came alive for a short period of time! Now I just gotta see about the carb and fuel situation to make sure the car will get what it needs to run!
Ive been meaning to ask: when I removed the seats, there was a 2-wire connector (driver side had 1 yellow and 1 black wire) that had a male connector attached to the seat. The wires looked stock/factory and I was just curious, what the heck in 1974 would need a wire in the seat???
In '74 if you didn't buckle up the car would not start.
Those wires are part of the 'seat belt interlock system'.
There is a switch in each seat bottom, another switch in the seat belt receiver and a relay and a buzzer under the shifter console.
Back in the '60s and early '70s seat belts were a 'new thing' and only a very small percentage of people used them so the government had the car makers come up with a system that made consumers buckle up first or the car would not start.
1974 was the year the system first came out. The public protested and the 'system' was removed at the end of the '74 model year.
@Kie so I will say, initially, I was going based off what the guy said who sold me the car, told me. Now I am not naive enough to necessarily believe him at face value haha but after my own inspection, I COULD believe it was true. Since then, I had a family friend of mine come and inspect the car (he has been restoring 60's and 70's era cars since the early 90's (his forte is mid60's mustangs but hes done a few C3s, including a '75). When he went through the car from bumper to bumper, he fully believes that it is accurate based off how things looked to him and the overall condition and originality of the car. So I am more relying on his decades of experience than anything else. But as far as saying for 100% i KNOW FOR A FACT that they are original bc the car has been in my famliy blah blah blah....then I cannot say that I do believe though it is accurate (and this is the interweb so take it for whats its worth haha. (I'm def not trying to pass something off as something it's not, to the best of my knowledge; it'd serve no purpose)
@Peterbuilt Thanks for the explanation. I figured it was some sort of seat belt indicator, I just didnt know they had that device that early!
Today was an OUTSTANDING day! A friend and I got the car running and idling on its own and starting up with no issues! Ive had it on 4-5 times, each one for about 10-20 minutes trying to get as much of the old fuel out as possible (see pics). We have been toying with the carb getting the idle to "sound" right, as the tach is not connected due to the distributor side of the cable being rounded off and unscrewed.
I have also mounted all 4 wheels since the washer came in so its looking and sounding like a car again. I have the center carpet out so I can re fiberglass a crack on the driver side floorboard. The battery has given me no issues since cutting the corrosive ends off and cleaning the connector (doesnt heat up anymore either). Alternator is activating on the dash when on so I can only assume right now that its doing its job. The coolant temp gauge seems to be working as it rests around 160* currently (will def swap in a new thermostat but atleast the needle moves from 100). Oil PSI sits at around 40 (straight up) and flucuates a little so the gauge is "working". Fuel gauge isnt active, nor clock. We plugged into the vacuum system and the PSI read around 18 (between 15-20 PSI pending idle or revving which the guy helping me said was crucial and that it was great that is was in norm ranges. I guess vacuum is super important I'm learning, for the engine to operate correctly). We hit it with a timing light but I am going to have to clean and find the mark on the harmonic balancer side to match with the stationary gauge so we can make sure its 8* for timing (but the idle is really smooth and sounds great where it currently is). Siphoned out about 2 gallons of ORANGE fuel that has been sitting for probably DECADES in the tank. Gonna have to drop the tank for sure and clean it out but we put 5 gallons of fresh fuel in and as soon as we got the old stuff out, she stayed alive and gave us time to work the carb screws to get it to idle on her own without having to rev it.
Great day working on the car!
This pic shows that with 3 lugs improperly installed, damage results haha. Not the end of the world but I'll get around to replacing a few calipers later down the road. (you shouldnt see the bolt through the caliper; the inside of the wheel has ground it down.
The nasty fuel in the tank
Tested the lights, got 1 low beam (and the lights tried to open. . .and started to but were VERY slow. To me, this says the vacuum system there works atleast, but I am sure will just need to be cleaned up and maybe a refresh kit for the rubber grommets and stuff on the big round metal things with the diaphragm inside
The wheels you have could fit different bolt patterns so the inside is very close to the rim, put a washer or two on the cotter pin side to get the other (head) side flush with the caliper.
For the headlights:
You may just need new seals (grommets) in the actuators.
Here's how to test all the parts:
Tested the actuators out and looks like the close seal on both lights is good, but the open seal on the driver side may have a crack in it. You can see the closed side holds pressure on both and the open side of the passenger light opened fully. Diver side would not open fully. Also with the lights "up" and i started the vehicle with the light switch off, both lights closed.
Last edited by Skootter14; 02-26-2019 at 03:01 PM.
so.....not sure how this happens. I did not notice it while the weight is on the wheels, but after being lifted on jacks, the passenger driveaxle (rear) seems to move out of place???
Anyone have thoughts on this??
driver side below (for comparison)
Just scratched the surface for the timing piece. that will be soonish on my to do list
when I went to put the luggage rack on, found it odd that the 2 center holes drilled into the body does not match the rack???? (yes, I received the car like this, rack was not mounted and I counted the holes in the body and ASSUMED they matched up haha. Not a big deal. I am going to paint the car red after the interior and engine compartment are done so when I take the paint off, I'll reglass the holes and then drill new, correct ones.
Last edited by Skootter14; 02-27-2019 at 10:35 AM.
That's not good. The retainer for your yoke is missing, perhaps eaten by your differential. You may be able to fix it in the car. There are lots of experts on the Forum that can help, or search for an example. You may want to start a new thread on this question, as this is a critical safety issue.
EDIT: Here's some of the procedure to do it in the car. I didn't try this with my 80 (the Batwing complicates it, but your differential rear cover can be removed more easily), but I do need to replace the yoke seal at some point.
02-19-2019, 06:26 PM
I think the black small wire (if it is the same one I am thinking of) stayed screwed in from the harness to that ground on the bell housing. All the wires I disconnected and cleaned were all on the starter (1 on the "R" stud, 2 on the "B" stud (I think its B, or N) and 1 on the "S" stud, 4 wires total).
