I ordered this negative battery cable from Rock Auto knowing the hole size was a tad small for the 7/16" bolt. I have reamers so I reamed it out to 0.4375" to leave the maximum material. I would not try this with a twist drill but a step drill should be fine if you go slow.



To get the grommet off I had to cut the cable in half. To get it onto the new cable I warmed it up and put some 0-ring grease on the end of the cable... then the fight was on but as you can see I won that time.


Nice and neat connection under the car.


Back in the battery compartment there is an orange wire with what looks like a fuse holder that comes off the positive cable from a terminal on the side. Following my wiring diagram as far as I can it is a hot for the fuel pump relay and the oil pressure switch then it goes off the page. In my case it does nothing because there is no fuse in the holder. Does anyone know where this orange wire comes out at the firewall?

JT

 

This is the wire I'm wondering about.



There was a larger red wire also on that terminal but it was cut off and the end taped up so I removed it.

JT

 

The heavier red wire you removed is probably what's left of the original charging wire that ran up to the alternator. It had a fusible link in it that would open and many people just got rid of the wire and ran a new one inside the engine compartment right to the hot lead from the battery by the starter.

That smaller orange wire powers the fuel pump circuit and also keeps residual voltage to the ecm so it remembers codes and etc. with the ignition off.

60

 

So far using my DMM I've not found the other end of that wire... there are several orange wires in the center console but none are connected to that wire. I guess my next step is to make a way to lay down and take a close look at the fuse box and see what I can find there. The radio has a red wire that's not part of the wiring harness and it goes toward the fuse panel I assume Bubba put that in.

JT

 

Looking at the wiring diagram there should have been 2 red wires and an orange wire on the terminal in the battery compartment. One red should have gone to the alternator. Does the larger red wire run down the center console? I'm not sure where the second red and the orange wire go, my wiring diagram is not very clear.

JT

 

The picture in you original post shows the one red wire coming off the battery terminal. The other red wire or charging wire runs under the seat, comes out the firewall under the main fuse panel connector and goes to the alternator, this is for regular 82's. On the CEs, the charger wire comes out of the battery box, into the frame and comes out just inside the engine compartment to the alternator, this is because of the type of radio and sometimes CB used in the collectors edition. They wanted to keep the RF interference down..

Not sure where your are going with this...do you still run the crossfire and electric pump? Since there is no fuse in he orange wire I suspect you are not so it doesn't matter..

BTW: Good move dumping the LEDs, nothing but needless trouble in my opinion, and thanks for the PDF on bulbs...good to know...

60

 

Crossfire is gone and I'm just trying to get the electrical back to where it should be minus the ECM and crossfire. The electric pump is still there but Bubba put a regulator in line with it. I assume at this point that the alternator charge wire is connected to the starter hot wire but have not confirmed that. I really would like to remove all the wiring that is not needed if possible...

JT

 

If you are still using the electric fuel pump with a carb then bubba is correct...Or do you have a mechanical pump. That pump puts out 11-15 lbs of pressure which is too much for the needle and seats of carbs. I'm using the electric pump and have a bypass regulator dialed down to 5.5 lbs., you want the bypass because without it the pressure stays on the seat with the power off for awhile. Mine came to me without a regulator at all and the fuel would eventually overflow into the manifold causing issues similar to percolation. What is supplying the fuel to your engine?

60

 

I have I assume the original electric pump with a regulator about mid way down the passenger side next to the frame.

JT

 

So, this is not really making sense to me...If you have the original pump then that orange wire should have a fuse in it, or someone did some other king of wiring which is weird. When you turn the key to run, not start, do you hear the fuel pump run for a couple seconds? You said the regulator is under the car? That is also weird, someone would have to cut the hard lines and plumb the thing in, adjusting it would be hard unless it has a gauge right on it. Regulators are almost always under the hood somewhere. Your car came with two fuel lines, supply and return on the passenger side...I take it the return is not used and just hanging there?
Is the ecm still in the car, I suppose they could have powered the pump right from the fuse panel, and not used the sending unit circuits .IDK without seeing it.
can you take a pic of that regulator under the car and maybe what the fuel lines are doing under the hood...

60

 

Even with my hearing aids turned up to 100% I don't hear a sound when I turn the key to run.

This is the fuel lines after I cleaned up Bubba's work and threw the golf tee away in favor of a bolt with the threads cut off to plug the return line.



Here is the pressure regulator, it's on the passenger side behind the front wheel.


I did put a T in the line in front of the carburetor with a pressure gauge when I put the Holley on there to make sure the pressure was within the range for that carburetor and it was fine (don't remember the exact pressure).

JT

 

I took the ECM out of the car... but have not started it since so that might have been a mistake.

Edit: I just started the car and let it warm up until the idle was 800 RPM so it runs fine without the ECM. And I tested the shift lever sensor and it won't start in drive or reverse so that's good.

JT

 

Well, can't argue with success... The way it worked originally is the pump would cycle a couple of seconds when the key was turned on and then shut off until the ECM sensed the engine turning. That way if the engine stops with the key still on the pump would stop pumping to reduce a fire risk. Not sure how yours is wired now but I think I'd check that the pump does not keep running while the engine is not, but the key is still on. I'd also look into cleaning up your fuel delivery, all those rubber hoses, clamps and etc, the ones under the fender look old. I have my regulator on the passenger fender in front of the overflow tank and the pressure gauge is right on it, both the hard lines are right there so hooking it up was simple and I use the return line as well for a bypass.

60

 

@1860army Do you have a photo of your regulator setup? One thing I noticed is that if you let the car sit for a couple of months the gas evaporates out of the carburetor and it either takes a shot of starting fluid or a lot of pumping the accelerator. I assume running for a few seconds when the key is turned on would eliminate that issue.

And cleaning that up is on the list but getting the center console back in and getting a 4 wheel alignment and getting new tires is ahead of that...

JT

 

JT,
Not sure if that sitting for a couple months thing is pump related. The pump has to work when the key is in the run position and also when starting or the thing would never run. Since you have a gauge on the carb, it should read zero now with the engine off, just turn the key to run and see what the pressure reads, then switch off and see if it drops to zero in a timely manner...while you are at it, see if the pressure drops down after a short while with the key still on run-that safety thing I mentioned earlier...



I had fuel percolation from a too hot carburetor, vapor lock, and also the stock fuel pump would hold pressure on the carburetor bowl for hours after the engine was shut off...add that all together and I had raw fuel in the manifold causing hard starts-flooded- and also fuel in the oil. I used a bypass regulator which I have set to 5.5 lbs., the rest-(the pump puts out 14 lbs)is just sent back to the tank via the stock return line keeping the fuel cool and the pressure drops to zero when I switch off. I also used a heat shield and phenolic spacer under the carb for the manifold heat as well as insulating my fuel lines and keeping them away from heat...

And I totally understand your priorities, I had a long list when I first started on this car...

60

 

Thanks for the photo, neat installation. The gauge was just a temporary thing. What pressure regulator is that?

I'm guessing the pump takes a bit to fill the bowls up, after it sits for a few months you an pump the throttle and nothing shoots out into the carburetor bores .

Yeah, I've been working on this car for over a year trying to get it ready to drive safely down the road. Lots of work on suspension and brakes and steering over the last year.

JT

 

The regulator is a Holley, don't have the model but it was 90 bucks and I installed it 4 years ago. The gauge is a Moroso, 35 dollars, don't cheap out on a gauge, a leak could be a real problem..
Gauge

Looks like the regulator,,

60