wiring problems

ok i've got an 82 Chevy long bed. 350 from early 70's swap. i get in the truck one day and no head lights. oh well it's not my everyday driver. well couple weeks go by and it starts dying on me. then skipping a lot. had the alternator checked and its good. and the batt is good. i remember changing the starter, but it was awhile before i needed to use the headlights so i don't know if that happened to be my problem. could changing the starter have anything to do with my electrical problems?

thanks in advance, junk

i don't think it's the starter but you should check all the wires just in case something is shorting. you might have a drain somewhere in the system, you could install a kill switch at the battery temporaily to keep it from getting drained until you have time to trace down your problem. I would start at the headlights though since they are not working. Check the fuse, then trace all the wiring back and look for a something that could be shorting them out.

Make sure all of the fusible links are attached and good at the starter.

Do you have headers? I had the exact same problem; turned out to be a wire from the starter laid against the header, melted and shorted out.

thanks guys. i checked all the wires for the headlights to the fuse block today and all seem good. along with the starter wires (no headers, yet, and there are no fusible links???). but i did find out that there is no power to the passenger side of the fuse block. :confused: so i'm gonna try to figure that out tommorow. i'm really slow when it comes to electronics. i'm kinda dumb, lol.

thanks again, junk

Check the firewall junction block. Poor connections here can drive you nuts.

i'll do that today and see where it gets me. thanks again guys, and i'll keep you updated.

later, junk

oh man, what a mess. i redid the whole ignition wiring today. i found a lot of problems. and i fixed a lot of problems. got the headlights working, and she turns over now. the timing was right when she stopped running, but now that the wiring is right, (i followed the wiring schematic and only did one wire at a time so i know the wiring is right), she's blowing flames through the carb and backfiring really bad. so i guess the timing got screwed up some how. oh well that'll be done tommorow. and i got the passenger side front dropped about 2.5 to 3 inches. finish the driver side front tommorow.

later guys,

junk