HEI and 12V

[magwakeenercew2jh]

My truck starts like clockwork since the build de-bugging.....At least that's what I said until this morning.

Went out to set up for a headlight adjustment I'm going to do later tonight.
Crank, crank, crank. No fire. Moved the HEI to a little more "retard". No fire.
Crawled up and checked the carb for "squirt". Had "squirt".

Decided to check the connecter at the HEI for 12v. Who knows? Pulled the connector and checked with the key on.
12.65v. Checked the line back at the fuse block at the engine side of the fire wall. 12.56v +.

Checked both places while cranking. Got somewhere around 9.5v DURING the cranking, jumping back to 12v or so with
the key on after I stopped cranking.

I made a jumper and went direct from the HEI to the battery and it started right up. So, I didn't get a chance to check
the voltage during that cranking.

For the purpose of the test and diagnosis, I was concerned that I may have made a better connection at the HEI with the jumper than the stock harness had.
So, I went back and re-connected the stock harness. Fired right up. Of course, I could have made a better connection that time with the stock harness, too.


Here's the question:

Should I get a lower than 12v reading WHILE CRANKING at the HEI connector (while disconnected from the dizzy for the test)? I also got roughly the same drop
from 12.5v + to 9v + during cranking, checking at the fire wall connector while everything was first hooked hooked up and she wasn't starting.

Maybe I'll have to start carrying this puppy....