I have an electrical problem the occurs about once every 6 months. With the engine running, and warm, the car completly looses electical power and stops running. The battery is good and I cannont find any obvious wiring problems. If I let the car sit for about 5 minutes the power will come back on and the car will start again. Could the starter cause this? The starter really stuggles to turn the car over when the engine is hot and the problem only happens when the car is warm.

Let me know if you have any ideas.

Frank

 

Have you cleaned up the wiring at the starter?

 

Pull the battery cable off one post....under the battery on the frame should be the negative going to the frame...pull it and polish everything till you see naked shiney metal, stick a lock washer under the bolt, secure tightly, and bury it in RTV for weather proofing....do the same with the one on the pass side engine mount, especially on the frame end....short 6-8" cable there, connecting engine to frame/batt negative....obviously check the starter wiring and secure with shiney metal, and same for the battery, obviously.....then from under the car....you have that main plug from engine harness through firewall/bulkhead connector which is behind your fuse panel....pull it out by loosining the hex bolt in the middle....3/8 I think....check that all the connectors seem happy and secure nicely .....while this is out, pull the two mounting ears off the fuse block inside, and pull the connector from the block assy with loosening the plastic tabs.....then check the backside of the fuse block for RUST and any overheated/melted wiring....this is from poor connections in the fuse block itself whre the spring clips for the fuses were stamped onto the backside conductors, and then to the wiring....they get hot, and compromise the entire setup.....seen this from '63 through'79 in my experiences....any of them....

IMO, a permanent fix is to change the fuse block to the flat spade later style fuses and holder, cut and splice the wiring as necessary to accomplish the task, and SOLDER all connections....a time and tedious task for sure.....

 

assuming you have checked the basics, battery cables and all gnds.
I would pull the fuse panel apart and clean all the connections,
the fuse panel is like 1 big connector with fuses on it.
Its a bear to get to... and be sure to dissconnect the battery first,
good luck... 69VETT