Just to update this...
I gave up on trying to get the 283 to run right. It was old and tired. I replaced the timing set, a friend of mine played with it for a bit, adjusting rocker arms because the lifters seemed to be pumped up and would not bleed back down making them act like mechanical (solid) lifters. At one point the engine was literally a V-twin, only cylinders 1 and 2 seemed to actually be firing. I gave up and left the car alone for a while.
Last week I had holidays, and my Grandfather's truck had a good running 305 in it, that was destined to be replaced with a Vortec 5.7L that had been installed in the truck years ago but pulled due to a crack in the block for the starter bolt. That's fixed now and using a different starter now that uses different holes seems to have taken care of that issue. So I swapped the 305 out for the 5.7, and then took the 305 and swapped it in place of the 283 in the T-bucket.
So now that it has a good running engine, I reinstalled the MS, and fired it up. It ran ok, then noticed that the bypass wire was still disconnected, I reconnected it and the engine stalled. Tried a few different things, stalled every time. Then used a meter to check the signal on the EST circuit and found there was no output, no wonder the engine would stall when it was looking for that output. Opened up the MS to find that the transistor driving that circuit had failed (small hole in it that had blown out). replaced that and the car runs well. Still needs some tuning but I have driven it everyday since Sunday, because I can and it's fun to do so now, unlike before when the 283 was in it and it would get worse and worse to drive as time went on.
Couple pictures. The wiring will be cleaned up in the winter, it works for now, so it's good until then.
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks