Alright so the long tube headers slid in the passenger side no problems (no A/C 79 L82 ) however something I noticed was a wire or hose or something that goes to the starter is now RIGHT up against which i can’t imagine is very good (second photo/middle photo)...Should i be concerned and if so what do I got to do to make it right. Also was I supposed to keep the heat shields on the vette there were pretty crusty and got pretty bent and banged up through the whole ordeal but Im sure I can bend them back into place. I removed all the spark plug hoses as well and looking at it now it seems like is a pretty close fit .

 

As i understand thats one of my battery cables and it would be quite bad to have it against the header! Any ideas on what I could do to fix this :/

 

Go to Summit and in the search box enter: Starter Blanket or Starter Heat Shield Wrap.

Its a silver flexible, insulated cloth material that can handle 1,000* and will protect not only the starter but the cable & solenoid too.
Comes with stainless straps to secure.

You may also want to add a silver insulation sleeve around the POS cable from the solenoid on down. I believe those come in 3ft lengths, cut to desired length.
And look for stainless Zip-Ties for that.
You may or may not have to remove the cable at the solenoid to install the sleeve. Some are pre-slit. (disconnect batt)

 

Reroute the cable and replace the end.....it should not be coming up the side of the engine like that......it should up a little bit and straight back down the trans tunnel.
The cable and is in poor condition and the insulation is exposed at the end....replace it.

Jebby

 

okay i get all of this but im just now remebering bubba installed these starter solenoid in the back and i dont think that battery cable thats aginst the header is actually leading anywhere hence why someone obviously has tampered with its orignal location. How should I approach this? Both of the battery cables that actually go to my battery are connected to this ford style solenoid.

 

Bubba installed a Ford (style) starter solenoid...check
Bubba bought a length of Red cable, attached one end to + side of Battery and to one side of the Ford solenoid...check
Bubba cut and spliced into the Purple Wire or "S" wire of the Neutral Safety Switch...check
Bubba omitted using ring terminals on both of Ford solenoid coil posts...check
You have a Red length of cable from + side of battery to 1 side of Ford solenoid...
You have what looks like the original side post cable on the other side of the Ford solenoid...
Why wouldn't you think the cable that's up against the new headers is NOT the original side post to starter cable?
At least you wont get much solenoid heat soak with the new solenoid relocated...That's a plus...

 

Remove the bent up metal they are not needed.
The cable has to be moved to not touch the starter.
It should be going straight back without that outward bulge.

 

To me it looks It like the photo you took was from the top of the engine pointing to the ground?
So the Battery cable would have been installed running over the top of the starter...photo below...
How did Bubba attach the battery cable to the original Starter?

 

Okay I’m not gonna lie I’m a little confused about the netrual safety switch thing and ring terminals I am unaware of these things and if there a safety hazard and need to be fixed at all please direct how to do so. So the negative battery cable on the starter needs to be re routed and moved to not be touching the headers. Got that. Someone mentioned I should replace the entire cable should I do that right away or can I just move it for now? About this bubba setup and “ring terminal” things…Should I add those? is there some kind of risk if I don’t have those? Sorry for some reason I just thought they had just bought a positive battery cable like you mentioned and a negative cable and hooked it up to this solenoid and the battery but I am now realizing that wouldn’t be possible. I also have detached the metal heat shields as @MelWff advised.

 

See the bare copper wire just wrapped around the Ford Style solenoid coil posts?
Circled in red...
Just crimp on the correct size for wire and post eyelet size...easy fix

 

Now, to energize the new Ford style solenoid you need a "trigger"
I'm just guessing here, but if I installed the new solenoid I would have used that purple wire at the neutral safety switch.
Seeing how they wired the solenoid...At some point I would remove the side console covers just to inspect how they did the splice.

 

That's the positive cable almost touching the header. Disconnect negative terminal on battery so you dont create a short and loosen the nut holding the large wire to the starter and see if you can rotate it so it is further away from the header tube.

 

yes i took photo from top of engine. The cable is running over top of the starter....Idk how bubba attached the battery cable to the original starter how could I find out... Also the battery cable almost touching my header im confused is it my negative or positive battery cable??

 

okay going to go down right now and try this!

 

i beleive they spliced it into the ashtray lighter thing cuz thats were the kill switch is located

 

It's your positive cable...promise...

 

Can you start the car when the shiftier is in drive 1-2-3 or in reverse?

 

One good trick when working with cables of that size is to "Tin" the wires before crimping the connector on the cable. On cables like that you can heat them up with a torch and then apply lots of solder to it to make the end virtually solid. You don't want to burn the wire's insulation but you should put some Heat Shrink over the end of the wire onto the connector. I use a "Solder Pot" that heats up about 1 pound of solder that I use when I am working with wires that large and you simply dip the end into the liquid solder to tin it properly.

This will make the wires become solid and when you put a crimp connector or whatever on the end it will be tight and secure. You won't have issues with it getting loose or corroding over time if the wires are tinned.

As for a good cover use "Marine" type heat shrink as it has a "heat activated glue" inside and will ensure that the connection is not exposed to any air which could help oxidize the connection compromising it. I stopped using automotive heat shrink thanks to the much better seal you get with marine heat shrink. It does cost a bit more thanks to the word "Marine" on the label. It is available on Amazon or your local Marine parts store.