Success at last. Ever since this time last year when a local disreputable corvette shop SEIZED my 427 :shocked: when performing an oil change (denied responsibility then became nonresponsive) :mad my vette has been out of commission. Well, as of yesterday it lives again and in even better form. This time with a 496, even beefier roller cam, aluminum heads, an RPM air GAP and a set of 3.55's. The car sounds awesome!

Bit of a shock when it fired up as it wasn't anticipated to do so yet, had a remote starter hooked up with the ign off, wanted to crank it over a tiny bit to prime the fuel lines to ensure no fuel leaks when it INSTANTLY fired. Crossing the starter contacts obviously energized the MSD which I didn't anticipate would happen. Died the second the start button was released but it scared the "Be-Jesus" (new word of the day) out of us given it was the last thing expected. After a short moment of recovery, fuel lines were checked and this time started her up intentionally

The next several hours were spent chasing a fuel pressure problem. Really odd, the fuel pressure would start off strong but then slowly diminish all the way to one pound. After tearing into the pump, checking the lines, removing the fuel tank sock, tearing apart the pressure regulator (twice) we finally got smart and replaced the freshly installed fuel guage which was the only remaining component. Sure enough, it was the #$#@% new guage all along that was deffective and there was no fuel problem whatsoever. Just a couple last touches to wrap up for safety measure and I will be on the road again.

Sorry for the length, just too damn happy not to ramble on a bit.
Will post how the initial ride goes. This thing is a monster for sure!

Cheers
-Andre

 

Sweet man, now post some pic's

 

Congrats! Sounds like your patience and hard work paid off.

 

I'll have to take some decent new pics and get them posted. It has been a long haul to get this done. I was afraid I was going to miss the Seattle summer entirely which can end up being short.

I noticed an interesting thing, I rewired my pusher electric fan to the ignition this time rather than constant power. I believe a side effect of this is when if I shut the motor down seemingly when the fan is kicked on the ignition runs on for a few seconds. I think perhaps the still rotating fan may be producing power back through the circuit for a second or two keeping the msd energized? Not a big deal but a curiosity nonetheless. Anyone else experienced this?

Cheers
-Andre

 

:thumb:

 

Hhhm, im intrested in that myself since i wired my fan to my HEI.
Sounds like you finally did it, congrats, and go out there and enjoy her

 

Sweet! Have the same problem with my F/P gauge, starts out at 9psi then slowly drops to 0 but can still feel pressure in the line.

 

If you have an HEI or a stock style distributor I can't imagine you would have the same problem. I think the MSD must have a built in relay which when being backfed frojm the fan even with a small amount of juice gets confused and remains on for a bit longer until the voltage drops further. I just know a lot of people run MSD's and the fans seem to be very popular and wiring to the ignition is the smarter way to do it.

 

I feel like a bit of a twit now after spending the amount of time that I did chasing it down, just foolishly never expected the new component to be at fault but I suspected possible fuel issues in the past. Also being a new engine and the break in process I am very sensitive to any fuel problem that could create a lean condition and damage it. I know someone who burned a new motor in their boat inside of 20 minutes given a fuel starvation problem. Can you say "Paranoia"

 

Can you say "smart". Post those pics.