The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay 59 electrical / ignition issues.

hello all
i just purchased an all original (no show car!) 59 short and i am suspect of the electrical system. when the car arrived i picked it up from the shippers and started to drive it home, about mid way it just cut out and died completly, not even a click from the starter.i had it towed home and jumped it to get it going the next day. do you think this is just a battery issue? or something more involved?
i am not interested in keeping a stock look, but rather more interested in modern reliability and functionality. if i want to upgrade the electrical/ignition system where should i start and what should i be considering?

thank you all for your help.

make it work stock or "upgrades" will just confuse the defects - brand new [to you], there could be any number of things to cause what happened, bad battery or loose connections would be a first check, especially make sure all the grounds are good, and check wiring to the starter and under the dash

the original design is as reliable and functional as you could want, but the truck didn't just roll off the line, it needs to be gone over well to insure everything is sound and as designed

Bill

After you start it with a jumper look at the amp gauge. It should run over to the charge side when you accelerate the engine. If not you are just running off the battery & as soon as all the curent in the bat. is gone the engine will die. Let us know & someone will tell you how to tell if the problem is in the gen. or regulator.

It could be a loose connection, bad battery, bad generator, or bad regulator (alternator took th place of the generator and regulator in modern cars). Once again the shop manual is a good source for diagnosing problems with the electrical system. I bought a shop manual from Ecklers, but they are available from any of the old Chevy truck part suppliers. Personally, I've used Jim Carter and Classic Parts of America (Chevy Duty). You're probably going to need the manual to help with most of the repairs and maintenance, anyway.

As far as "upgrades" to the electrical system, I recommend a Pertronix conversion kit. It will keep the stock look-much neater, more natural appearance IMO-while providing the reliability and reduced maintenance of an HEI ignition system (modern ignition). If most of the wiring looks bad, you might want to consider buying all new wiring as a kit. I'm doing it the slow way by replacing wires individually, but I'm also not replacing all the wiring.

To a certain extent, I agree with Red58. Changing the ignition system at this time would be a mistake as it just adds one more potential problem (if done wrong). However, if you can get it running, I think the Pertronix kit is a very slick upgrade from points (though I did keep my points just in case ).