This has got to be one of the dumbest things I have done, hence one of the dumbest questions I have to ask now.

I have am finishing up an engine swap. Everything is in and connected and I am just about ready to fire up the motor. HOWEVER. I have completely forgotten where the battery cables go! And for whatever reason, it is not obvious to me. Wiring diagrams are not helping because basically I need a picture.

Positive cable from the battery goes to the starter right? Where does it attach to the starter?

Negative cable has a big bolt going through it. Ground to the bell housing?

Sorry for this really lame question and thanks for any help. :stupid:

Matches:

I will make no judgement about the quality of the question, only assume it to be caused by the excesses which you have likely indulged in over this festive season, or the long hours doing the swap. Or both. Or neither.

Positive battery cable to the starter. There is a large 8mm bolt sticking out of the solenoid on top of it with nothing attached. That's the one. There are two similiar such terminals but one has a un-insulated copper wire going inside the starter. That's not the right one.

The negative goes to one of the bolts that holds the starter to the bellhousing. If it already has two, take out the top one and see if the bolt dangling in your negative cable is the same size. Use the one that fits that best (length wise). Find out where the other bolt goes! Do you have four 10mm bolts in the bellhousing that go in from the trans side not counting the two that hold the starter? Are the two 8mm bolts at the bottom going through the rear cover and bell housing? Go over everything before you try starting.

Make sure BOTH NEG and POS cable ends and hardware (all 4) are shiny clean!! Got a ground from the battery to the firewall?

And of couse make sure the neg/pos on are on the right battery terminal!!

Good luck and best of the season!

Jim

Thanks for taking the time to respond Jim.

I am a decent mechanic actually, but I am terrible about remembering where things go, especially wires. I label everything as a pull it off, but with these I must have figured too basic to bother with! Oh well.

Thanks for the advice as well. Test starting various projects over the years I have: left a wrench on the crank pully bolt, had fuel spray all over, massive coolant leaks, oil leaks, and anything else that is possible to leak do so. Wires caught on fire, beer spills blah blah blah. These days I am very careful about looking things over before hooking up power!

Here's a picture just to confirm.

You guys rule.

Got it all hooked up and a friend came by to give me a jump. Not starting.

Off to the search function!

Describe what you are getting (or not).

Any power at all? Lights? Starter clicking? Spark?

Power; check

Got fuel

Got spark

Oil pressure good

Cranking easy

Spark plug wires connected correctly

Going to try some starter fluid tomorrow.

Any advice?

Timing. Verify TDC on #1 compression stroke, and make sure that ignition fires then while the rotor is pointing at #1 plug wire on the distributor cap. If the oil pump was removed on the engine, the distributor shaft could be way out of whack.

Agreed with Arne, most likely timing.

Alternatively could the carbs be way out of whack?

You say fuel, check. Where? In the bowls? (this seems to be a frequent issue, search the forums).

Can't wait to hear you got her going.

How about something simple like the spark plugs being in the correct order. That has bit more than one owner:

153624, counter-clockwise from #1.

Spark plug wires connected correctly

I understood that to mean he had verified firing order...again a seemingly common problem though...