JackCooper

Alright, since my motor build (which is running quite nice BTW),
I've been having some problems with my 79's electrical system.

For some reason, since I installed a mechanical temperature gauge
(So I can be absolutely certain of my motors temp) which I mounted in
the glove box, my heater/ac fan has stopped functioning (this would be
a good thing in the summer though LOL!). Also, my CD Player, CB radio, and
the light in my electronic temperature guage are staying on even after I
remove the key from the ignition!

The radio is wired with the origional ground, power, and ignition wires. The CB's ground, ignition, and power are spliced off of the radio, and the guage light is spliced off of the CB's ignition and ground.

But now, even if I unplug the light and turn the CB and the stereo off, my battery dies after a few hours.

Also, this morning the windsheild wipers ceased working and the headlights
no longer go up or down (though they still function otherwise)

Right now, I am I am keeping going by unhooking the battery whenever I park
the car, but this is very annoying. This car is my daily driver, so I need those
wipers working!

Everything was working fine right up until my engine build and the temp guage installation (both the guage and the CB are in the glove box BTW)

How can I go about fixing this mess?
And while I'm in there, should I install some sort of a kill switch so that others
than myself can't crank the car?

JackCooper

Bumping to the top, hoping for an answer.

Pete79L82

First thing you have to do is figure out which curcuit the draw is on. To do that unplug the negitive battery cable fron the battery. put one end of a test light on the negitive battery terminal and the other end of the test light on the negative battery cable. Be sure the doors are closed so the dome lights are not on and the ignition is off. If the test light lights up you have a draw. If it does not light up you do not have a draw. If you have a draw then pull out one fuse at a time until the light goes off. That fuse is on the curcuit causing the problem.

Let us know what curcuit it is and we can go further.

Do the head light go up and down with the manual valve below the dash? They are vacumn operated so it is probably a vacumn leak somewhere.

JackCooper

Sorry for my stupidity, but what manual valve below the dash??

I haven't had my vette very long.

I got it in december from a used car dealer for $5500. It needed a paint-job,
but had a nice red leather interior.

It had a bunch of little things wrong that I fixed (power windows, door locks, ect)

Then I discovered that the heads were cracked and were rigged with block sealer (Too bad I can't prove that it was before I bought it, or I'd go after that
car dealer), and the radiator had more holes in it than Enron's defense.

So I replaced the radiator with a modine (the three-core, radiator shop said
it would cool just as good with my setup).

Then I installed an electric cooling fan (Advanced Auto Parts copy-cat of the 16' Permacool...same design, but not brand name).

I built the motor with 64cc Sportsman II heads, flattop hyperutectic pistons,
clevite bearings, Crane Cam, and headers. I kept the stock intake, Q-jet, ect.
(I rebuilt the whole thing, replacing oil-pump, water pump, ect with stock type units). I also bored it to 0.030 over.

The headlights were going up and down on their own before the build, but
aren't now. They weren't going up and down very well though. One would
operate quicker than the other, and they always took about 2 minutes to go up and 5 to go down.

I now have approximately $7500 in the car (and still haven't painted it).

But one of my best friends happens to own a body shop, so I'm going to get
a good paint job (base/clear-coat, ultrafining, high quality paint) for only 800
bucks.

Anyways, I'm going to check out the fuses and see what circuit its on.
But what could be causing the radio, ect to be coming on by itself at
odd intervals when the key isn't even in the ignition?

Pete79L82

There is a manual valve to open the headlights just below the steering column. Pull the valve down and the headlights should go up and stay up regarless of the headlight switch. Have the engine running when you do this so there is vacumn there.

As far as the electrical. It sound like you may have more than one problem so lets take that one step at a time.