My 74 'Cuda

[74 340 4speed]

I posted a thread a while back about starting a 340 after a 25 year hibernation.  Well, today all of my hard work has paid off!   The 'Cuda is back up and running!!!!!!!  I've done a decent amout of work to it.  Before today, I had put a electronic distributor back in it, cap, rotor button, wires, starter relay, battery, battery cables, starter, voltage regulator, ballast resistor, oil and filter, and today, after putting the new fuel tank, line, carb, and fuel pump on I got it to start up and run  I got a vid of the start-up and its open headers.   I didn't adjust on the carb any(to lower the idle) because I didn't want it to run long without having a belt on the motor to run the water pump.  I'll finish up with that stuff the next time and get a clip of the lumpy cam.    Oh, and if anyone notices in the vid, I'm actually tall enough to see over the steering wheel, but we removed the seats about 5 years ago and put them into storage for safe keeping, so I was sitting on the floor pan.
Here is a link to the vid I got and some pictures of my work today.   I'm pretty sure you will need quick time installed to watch the vid.

http://media.putfile.com/cuda-vid
http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=4367952
http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=4367954
 

[MEK-Dangerfield]

Congrats!! 

  It sounds good to hear an engine wake up, doesn't it?   

  Mike

[74 340 4speed]

Heck yea it does, especially when it sounds as good as this one. 

[74 340 4speed]

Okay, after ALOT more work, this is what the car sounds like.  http://media.putfile.com/cuda-1  However, I am still having issues with consistant cranking.  The car has a new battery, starter, voltage regulator, ignition module, distributor, cap, rotor button, wires, plugs, starter relay, and a MSD coil.  I have a new alternator on the car but I haven't wired it up yet.  The problem I am having is sometimes the car will fire right up, sometimes it will just turn over, and sometimes it won't do anything.  What could my problem be???   I am guessing that maybe it could be the neutral safty switch?  Can I bypass this switch and give it a constant ground to see if this is the problem?  If this is possible, how would I do this?  Can the ignition switch(key part) cause this?  Does this car have a ignition starter switch that the ignition lock cylinder connects to?  I haven't pulled off the steering wheel to look inside the column yet, so I don't know.  Please help me out guys.  I'm so close to getting this car back to running, and its killing me not to be able to take it out on the road and play a little.

Thanks,
Andy

[Bullitt-]

  Nice to hear the ole 340 running. I know how you feel as I went thru the same thing about a year ago.
As for your starting issues the no start or no crank should be two different issues. The neutral switch will not prevent the car from starting, just cranking. You can bypass the safety switch at the starter relay, wire that is brown w/yellow stripe crates the ground thru the safety switch. You should be able to crank the starter anytime by shorting across the two larger lugs on the relay, I use a screwdriver.  Does the relay click rapidly when the starter does not crank? If so loose connection at the starter or low power from the battery could be the problem.
On the crank but no start many issues including the ignition switch can be the problem but I suggest you start by checking the voltage into the ballast resistor. Next time the car will crank but won't start leave the ignition in the run position & use a millimeter to check for 12+volts into the ballast resistor. If the power is there the problem is isolated to the ignition or fuel side. If there is less than 12volts the issues are in the wiring/switch. My car would not start sporadically and replacing the ballast resistor solved the problem. If you need wiring reference http://www.mymopar.com/72to76_wiring.htm
Good Luck
Wade

[74 340 4speed]

Thanks alot for the help Wade!  I forgot to mention in my long list of parts that I replaced, that I also replaced the balast resistor, but I may have gotten a faulty one from the parts store.  I will check this stuff out in a few minutes and post up what I find out later tonight.  Thanks again!

[barnfindcuda]

very cool car!, cant wait to hear mine run, ran it over with a breaker bar today to make sure it was good and free, then but a battery in it, i dont even get a light!  nuthin!  then i noticed it has some aftermaret alarm  on it, and a bunch of wires seem to be hacked up, so , i have to get a wiring diagram and start from scratch i guess!, i just eant to see if it runs, your car sounded great!, and i noticed ya have a dana under it!  nice, would love to find a dana under mine ! lol, i want to doa  71 cuda sixpack clone some day, that dana would be a great part to have laying around, anyhow ! great car and good luck, i hope you keep us informed on your progress

[74 340 4speed]

Thanks barnfind.  After doing some more work on the car today, I think it might be the ignition lock cylinder and starter switch.  Now, when I turn the key in the car, I get nothing. None of the gauges move, or anything.  I checked the voltage at the ballast resistor, but I got 0 readings.  I hope that this will fix the issue.  I tried grounding the starter relay with the key in the on position, but the engine just turned over.  There was no fire to the cylinders.

[360 'CUDA]

Thanks barnfind.  After doing some more work on the car today, I think it might be the ignition lock cylinder and starter switch.  Now, when I turn the key in the car, I get nothing. None of the gauges move, or anything.  I checked the voltage at the ballast resistor, but I got 0 readings.  I hope that this will fix the issue.  I tried grounding the starter relay with the key in the on position, but the engine just turned over.  There was no fire to the cylinders.

They certainly do eat ignition switches. 

[Carlwalski]

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Barnfind, I had to resize your Avatar mate, it wasn't doing your car justice.
I think that should be a forum rule - scrolling avatars are banned! 

Use it if you want, looks better IMO.

[Street_Challenged73]

The car sounds nice, 74 340 4speed!   I don't really have any suggestions with your ignition problem, but I've had my fair share of problems with ignitions in the past.  My first car, the '69 Charger I bought off my neighbor, had to be hot-wired under the hood 'cause the ignition system failed back in the '80's while he was at hs so a friend of his cut some wires and got it to bypass what was bad.  That was always fun when I was messing around with engine work...

[74 340 4speed]

Okay, I put a new ignition switch in the car, and a new lock cylinder, and i put dielectric grease in every possible electrical connection that has do do with the ignition system and I still get nothing.   None of the gauges respond or anything when I turn the key.  Only silence and disappointment. What else could it be???   Here are the new parts that I put on the car.

1. Battery
2. Starter
3. Starter Relay
4. Ignition Module (5 pin)
5. Voltage regulator
6. Balast Resistor
7. Distributor
8. Cap
9. Rotor Button
10. Spark plugs and wires
11. Ignition Starter switch
12. Key Lock cylinder
13. MSD Coil

The only thing that is left is the neutral safety switch and the wiring itself, right?  The neutral safety switch will only keep the car from cranking over, right?  I can ground the starter relay out and the motor will turn over, but it never gets any fire.  Its time to be doing a little  instead of this, 

[farmboy70]

From the sounds of things I think you need to check every plug-in connection for corrosion or a break. One area to look at real well is the fusible link. I had one that did the same type problem you are having with a intermittent start problem and it was the link had corroded to the point just a few spirals of the wire were making contact and any movement would break the connection. So unplug all the connections and clean them and then check for power on each side of them.
When you changed the ignition switch were any of the wires burnt? The red and black need to have a good clean connection .
Dave

[mackschallenger]

The car looks and sounds cool.Did you check Your firewall harness plugs Probably some good corrosion there.terry

[74 340 4speed]

From the sounds of things I think you need to check every plug-in connection for corrosion or a break. One area to look at real well is the fusible link. I had one that did the same type problem you are having with a intermittent start problem and it was the link had corroded to the point just a few spirals of the wire were making contact and any movement would break the connection. So unplug all the connections and clean them and then check for power on each side of them.
When you changed the ignition switch were any of the wires burnt? The red and black need to have a good clean connection .
Dave

Where is this fusable link located at?  I looked for one but could not find it.  This might be my problem.