I guess I jinxed myself with my last post. I was getting ready to turn around the Travco to stage for the camping trip to Devil's Den this weekend. It started on the first try, but died and would never start again. I got out the Voltmeter and checked for power at the coil, coil resistance and they were both good. I got out the O-scope and checked the output from the module and only was getting 3V. I checked the input from the pick-up and got a saw-tooth like pattern, so assumed it was good. I decided that the HEI module was bad. The PO had installed the upgrade and had soldered the connections and mounted the module on a small piece of aluminum on stand-offs from the frame. I assume that the module went bad due to overheating.
I bought a new module from Larry the parts guy and installed it directly to the metal frame around the doghouse, with thermal grease between them. Since the module was soldered in, I decided to cut the wires off and crimp-on connectors for each. One of them is the smaller 3/16" size. From the photos one of the websites from the previous post, I decided the pick-up wires were reversed as installed by the PO, so I corrected that. After doing so, I had to adjust the timing as it was back-firing. I didn't check the timing with a light, I will do that later. But after the adjustment it ran great!
Here is a picture of Ben and Jack in the back of the Travco. This weekend was a little cold, but no precipitation.
On the second day at the camp, the furnace blower started having fits. It would not spin-up without a little help. From previous posts you would know I have an old furnace and the motor has brushes. I suspect the brushes need some work. I just ran the furnace for a while before going to bed, shut it off, then used my electric heater for the rest of the night and all was well. I will post later with what I found-out. Let's hope it is not three months till my next post.
BTW, I got 6.43MPG on the round trip, it was hilly, going about 45MPH, RT was 54.8 miles. (I have a 440-3 with 727 and diff. from the original set-up with the 318.)
2 comments:
I'm also converting over to HEI and I was wondering how you determined the polarity on the distributor pick up and let me know which wire is + off the pick up.
BTW, checking timing is a pain. I recommend you use a mirror to get the marks to TDC then go under and make new marks on the damper and block somewhere as you cannot see the original markings as there is no line of sight
Bill (HeyBill55 on Travco group)
I determined the polarity from multiple sources on the internet.
Orange (at the pick-up, may not be orange on harness) is the positive lead and should go to the "W" connection on the module. Remember that you cannot use the stock coil without a resistor. You can switch to a higher performance coil, just make sure it can handle the low resistance.
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