Help a brother out here !

[Tennman]

Trying to help a friend of mine who restored a 57 Chevy car !!! Its awsum too. He put a 350 vette engine in it,all fuel injected with painless wireing harness.The whole car is flawless. The trouble hes having is when he turns the switch on to start it it won't start till he releases the switch !!! I have heard of this problem before many years back on somehting somewhere,but don't remember the fix for it !?!?
Got any clues here guys,get them brains working and "help a brother out "

[BigBlockBurris]

Tennman,

I wired my father-in-laws 56 with a new "stock" harness with a HEI. I asume your friends car has a HEI also. I had this same problem. The problem is on the back of the ignition switch. You have the one post (Ithink it was igniton 1) that is hot, key on, while cranking or turning over and you have the other hot terminal (I think ignition 2) that is hot but it goes cold while the car is cranking. Make sense? Both are hot but the one that runs to your HEI goes cold when you are cranking. So it is not getting fire til you let off of the switch. My father-in-laws car would crank but you had to get it spinning good and then let off of the switch and boom, it would fire right up. Simple fix. I got on the 55-57 boards and asked the same question. You have to make a jumper that connoect both. I.E. you have to connect ignition 1 and igniton 2. I made that jumper it has not had a problem in several years. I know this sounds confusing but if you wwill pull the ignition switch out and cycle it(hot) with a test light and look at your wiring diagrams it will be perfectly clear. I hope I helped and e-mail me if you have any more ????'s

MBurris@carolina.rr.com

BBB

[John Fabris]

I can't remember all of the details, but when you have your ignition witch in the Start position, it is giving power the coil and the starter. Then when you release the switch to the Run position, you are now providing power to the coil via a different contact.

So, it is possible that there is some wiring that is not hooked up, and for some reason something that needs power during the Start is not getting it, and because the engine is spinning when you release the switch the engine starts up.

Could be possible....

[MAC67]

msimple fix for this was to run a wire from the battery slot on the hei to an unused slot in the fuse pannel that became hot when the key was turned on ,, never have another problem

[jamie72]

i bought a blazer with hei and it was wired in the wrong fuse on the fusebox.it was just as the car is, the hei wire wasn`t hot when the key is in the cranking position just in the on position.
he needs to wire the ingintion swicth so it is hot in the cranking and the on position.

hope this makes sense....
good luck

[BigBlockBurris]

That is a easy solution, buuuuut, on a 55,56,57 Chevy stock fuse block there isn't a spare hot switch on terminal. I explored that route but I wasn't butchering a new harness. All the tri-5 guys make the "jumper" at the back of the ignition switch.


BBB

[Warbones]

My fathernlaw has a front bumper for sale if he is needing one of those.

[MAC67]

yeah burris you are right , on one of my 57's someone had installed a pianless kit in it , and i think all they did was plug in what ever fit , i had to pull it along side my one owner 2 door and go through it that way, goodinfo to have about the jumper wire on the ignition , thanks , here is a pic of my 2 door,, i sold the 4 door hardtop on ebay this summer , this 2 door is a one owner with 80,000 original miles, had been sitting in dry storage since the mid or early 70's if my memory serves me correct, factory sun visor and spotlamp , and dealer installed 56 hood bird "YUCK" ,, BUT IM NOT GONNA CHANGE IT

[da-burb]

I vote for the jumper wire Danny. It sounds like the ignition switch is for a points type ignition. The yellow wire from the starter would have provided the juice to the coil while it was cranking over. As soon as you let off the key that yellow wire would stop being the feed and it would come from the switch/fuse block/resistor wire. Now I know you don't have the resistor wire in this harness, but the switch is still wired that way.

[Tennman]

Thanks guys ! I printed all this off for him and i'll give it to him this evening. I knew i could count on ya'll !