First off, I would like to mention that bubba got a hold of my car before I bought it. Most the emissions equipment is missing, air-conditioner compressor is gone, and and the wiring situation depresses me a little. At least the body is straight. Now that I got that out of the way, I'm in desperate need of help. Just bought my first vette, its a 76 l-48 orange. My dad always talked about his 76 orange vette he owned in the 70's, and I've always dreamed of owning one. Ok, so I've got the radiator hoses hooked up, and fuel pump/lines installed now. The car is still not wanting to start. I pulled out the starter on Thursday and manually ran it. Its spinning fine. I'm going to double check all the wires to it and make sure they're hooked up right. It seems like the starter is not getting power once I turn the key to start it up. With the key in the ignition, the buzzer works, and the vacuum system comes on. As soon as I turn the key, nothing happens. I'm pretty sure I'm experiencing a wiring problem, everything else seems ok. I'm posting some pics below of the wires that I'm concerned about. Mostly from or around the distributor. I'd appreciate any help, I really want to get this thing fired up. Thanks




I would like to know what these wires are coming from the distributor.




This has been tampered with. I believe it goes down to the starter.




I'm hoping these have something to do with the air conditioner since they aren't hooked up.

 

hello, is there a small box mounted just above the a/c ducting on the firewall. it should have a black bubber button faceing the engine. it is the seatbelt interlock. i had to bypass mine to get it working.!

 

Is it a 4 speed or an automatic. A four speed has a safety switch on the clutch pedal. the switch is connected to the clutch pedal with a small diameter rod. Occasionally this switch is or can be jumpered out. If it is not working correctly it will not allow the starter work. If it is an automatic there is also a switch that will prevent the starter from working correctly. The car has to be in park or neutral, I am not sure where that switch is located, but the connector is in the center console. The white wire on the distributor is for the tach signal I think and the large pink wire is the ignition wire. It looks to be in need of a better repair, too many stake ons. The other wire on the distributor I am not sure of. Make sure your grounds are clean and tight, there are several, one is on the engine to the frame. Good luck in getting it started. Roger L. Gibbons

 

Thanks for the replies. It's a automatic transmission. I'll definitely look into for the shifter, see what I can find. I guess first thing would be to fix that wire thats been messed with. I'll check the engine ground again, it looked pretty good the first time. Don't know why the pics aren't working, I'll try getting that fixed. Anyone know of an good free pic hosting site that has plenty of bandwith?

 

That's a 74 only thing


On the Distributor in the first picture there should be a plug with 3 wires that goes into the distributor. The large Pink wire (#12 I think) is the power to the dist. The other wire should be for your tach.
Check the fusable links at the starter and the neutral safety switch.

Steve

 

Hi Steve. Thanks for the info. You guys are definitely giving me some good info. What would be the third wire going to the distributor? It looks as though I only have 2. Thanks

 

The white wire plugs into the distributor connector, that is the third wire. One thing that you can do as a quick test of your starter is to ground the small wire (purple) that goes to the starter solenoid. That will start the car if the ignition is turned on and it will bypass any safety switches in the system. Be careful that you do not ground the large lug on your starter as it will create many sparks and scare the daylights out of you. Don't ask how I know.
Roger L. Gibbons

 

Ok, so apparently I did have the purple wire on the R when I re-installed the starter. I tried grounding the wire, and nothing happened. Then, I slipped the purple wire on the S terminal (didn't bolt it down) and the starter kicked. I also got some sparks. So, I've tightened down the purple wire to the S, and now it won't kick. Any suggestions? I don't know what happened when I had it just sitting on the S, but the starter definitely tried to kick over. Thanks

 

You need to jumper the "S" terminal to the large "BAT" terminal not ground to get the starter to turn. The "S" terminal is the "+" side of the coil and the other side is grounded.

 

Good news guys, the car finally fired up. It has run for at least a few years. I'm experiencing a fuel leak from the pump, the fuel pipe to the carb is leaking. I guess I'll have to address that next week. I know theres still a lot of work ahead, but today was a big day. Thanks for the help, you'll be hearing more from me.