I took my 68 Vette in to get sidepipes and to have the Vacuum hoses for the headlights and wiper door hooked up correctly along with some other things like getting the horn to work and putting the turn signal rod back in the steering wheel. I took the mechinac a copy of the diagram for the vacuums system. He said no problem. Four weeks later he finally starts bolting on the side pipes (he can't find a way to hook them to the headers). Today he tells me he can't hook up the vacuum system because There is no vacuum hook up on the Holley dominator intake. He also said the Cam was so big in the car that it would not be able to pull enough vacuum to open the lights or the wiper door.
I caught him in a couple of lies one was about the vacuum system lines not being there and I told him I had seen the lines and if they were not all there most of them were ( I then went and pointed them out to him). I really think he just decided he didn't want to mess with it now. I paid to have it towed and it looks like it was for nothing.
Does any of what he is saying sound right about the wiper door and headlight system and if so what do I need to do? Can I put on another hood to by pass the wiper door? I can open the headlights manually and it all works. I want to start driving this car and I need to find a way to get the wipers working. I have seen people talking about putting on a long hood. Any help will be greatly appreciated. This car has been setting in a garage for 12 years and it is time for it to hit the road.

 

If theres no port to measure vacuum then how did he come to the conclusion that it doesn't have enough vacuum to run the lights and wiper door?

If he was able to measure manifold vacuum then there is certainly a port to connect to the lights and wiper door.
The question: Is it enough vacuum to operate them.... Who knows without a number.

Is the camshaft stock?

 

The Car has a big cam (not stock). The intake is a high rise and it has a spacer for the carb also. I didn't even look to see myself if there was a vacuum port. I was getting mad by this point and I couldn't think straight.
The guy that had the car before me had started fixing the interior so the door panels are off and he had put a new steering wheel in it and had not put the turn signal rod or a horn kit in it yet. The motor was built up and new Intake Holley Carb and Hei distributor put in. The mechanic just kept saying that it looks like the guy before you was doing a frame off restoration and he didn't finish anything. I said what?
All the lights work, all the gauges work, the interior looks like brand new and I have the new door panels at home that I am going to install myself later. He also asked me how long the car had been setting and said he had noticed the brakes were leaking and it probably needed all new lines and calipers. I have had the car for a couple of months and I have driven it around my yard quite a bit and it was been parked in my garage and has never dripped a drop of anything. I really don't know if he is trying to set me up for a big bill or if he just doesn't want to work on the car and is discourage me so I will take it home. He got the sidepipes on the car today but he couldn't come up with a way to hook them up to the headers. If the pipes were hooked up I could just drive it and have someone else look at it but it is so loud that I wouldn't make it a block before I got pulled over. I just can't stand the thought of paying another towing bill to take it to a muffler shop.
I don't know where to go from here. Anyone have any advice?

 

as Bob has already said, if there was no vacuum port how could he have measured to know it doesn't make enough vacuum to run things?
At the very least the carb will have one you can "T" off of. Or you can drill and tap to install a vacuum fitting right into the intake manifold itself.
Depending on the cam, he could be right about the vacuum level though. a radical cam produces less vacuum although it's going to have to be pretty radical of a cam to not make enough vacuum to run the lights and wiper door. Find out what the vacuum level is though so we know.

 

I agree with Bob and Barry.Can you post a pic of your carb and manifold?There must be a port in the manifold.If not you can make one.Side pipes and headers are a challenge and you will have to go to someone with a tubing bender.Usually a big looping S-lots of heat right under your feet.

 

If it wont make enough vacuum there are auxiliary pumps that can be used to cure this problem.

It does sound like the guy is either trying to set you up for the big $ kill or he doesn't want to/know how to complete the repairs.
Personally, I would get it out of that shop after your reading your posts on this matter.

Dont give up! Post any pics of all areas that you can and let the forum tell you what it needs.

 

I'd find a new shop. I would be very surprised to find that it made no vacuum at all, there is a vacuum storage box sort of under the brake booster/master cylinder. Even if vacuum is low it should eventually build up enough to open the headlights or the wiper door. There must be somewhere on the carb or intake to get manifold vacuum.

 

Another question on low vacuum. If the cam is radical enough that there is not enough vacuum to operate the lights and wiper doors, will there be enough vacuum to operate power brakes?

 

The guy I bought the car from told me he put the spacer on the Carb to create more vacuum for the Brakes. The brakes work great. If there is enough vacuum for the brakes surely there would be enough for the lights and wiper door?

 

This is a good example and one of the reasons why I do as much as I possibly can on my own vehicles. If it took him a month to look at it, he doesn't want to do it!

Rescue that car, before you regret it!!

 

The vacumn troubleshooting guide I have says the a vacumn gauge should read about 18. My car has a pretty healthy cam and it only reads 12, but the headlights work perfectly. It doesn't take much vacumn for them to work. Oh, the power brakes work fine too.

 

Correct little vac. is needed. Besides the intake, most carbs have vac. ports.