GQ with Chevy 350 V8 gets a major electrical ovehaul

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Anthony Forgey
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GQ with Chevy 350 V8 gets a major electrical ovehaul

Post by Anthony Forgey »

So fransvd contacted me to sort out electrical issues on his GQ which he had purchased.

The previous owner had done the conversion.

As a previous owner of a conversion I have first hand experience in what so often happens with conversions like this.

Somebody realizes that they can get a v8 for cheap at R6k and they don't consider the (very, very) many peripheral issues. It pays to have conversions done by experienced builders who can help you through this maze. Honestly, a R6k motor is only about 5-8% of the final cost.

I've had the vehicle for a few weeks and have not done much (relatively speaking) besides removing all the door panels, dash panels, switches and starting to strip all of the tape and sleeving off of the wires in the engine bay so I can see what goes where.

I'll load a few progress pics as I go....

This morning I removed the bonnet and started stripping, identifying what wire is for what, what relay operates what, cutting out a lot of redundant cable and starting to get a handle on whats happening.

there are cables which are routed all around the engine which could simply have gone through the grommet in the firewall close by

Frans just wants the car to be reliable. He uses the vehicle for towing and launching boats and touring. He's already had a few things sorted out, like the cooling system shroud and fans.


Here are a few pics of the wiring in progress...


This is an overview of the engine bay as I start. At this point I had already done a lot of stripping of the sleeves and tape, but it gives a good Idea of the work to be done.


1. Engine bay to start.jpg
1. Engine bay to start.jpg (71.13 KiB) Viewed 3028 times

The next 2 pics are of the passenger side of the engine bay, also stripped of sleeve at the start of the day

2. Engine bay passenger 1.jpg
2. Engine bay passenger 1.jpg (57.42 KiB) Viewed 3028 times
3 Engine bay passenger 2.jpg
3 Engine bay passenger 2.jpg (55.17 KiB) Viewed 3028 times

scary spiderwebs behind the grille :surprised:

4. behind the grille.jpg
4. behind the grille.jpg (52.79 KiB) Viewed 3028 times

the next 2 pics are of the drivers side of the engine bay before i really got into it

5. Drivers side firewall.jpg
5. Drivers side firewall.jpg (68.18 KiB) Viewed 3028 times
6. drivers side engine bay.jpg
6. drivers side engine bay.jpg (65.98 KiB) Viewed 3028 times

This is the fuse and relay panel next to the window washer bottle. I wanted to re-use it, but it has been badly molested :rolleyes:

7 behind the relay and fuse panel.jpg
7 behind the relay and fuse panel.jpg (73.78 KiB) Viewed 3028 times


So here are some pics at the end of today.

In many ways it looks worse than the pics before I started but I have to tear it apart and rewire most of it. I also pulled out a lot of redundant wiring and marked up many of the wires


8. engine bay After a day of stripping.jpg
8. engine bay After a day of stripping.jpg (75.26 KiB) Viewed 3028 times
9. after a day 2.jpg
9. after a day 2.jpg (69.39 KiB) Viewed 3028 times
10 After a day 3.jpg
10 After a day 3.jpg (80.35 KiB) Viewed 3028 times
11. after a day 4.jpg
11. after a day 4.jpg (65.67 KiB) Viewed 3028 times



Tomorrow's progress to come.... in the next installment....
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ricster
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Re: GQ with Chevy 350 V8 gets a major electrical ovehaul

Post by ricster »

Nice !!!!!..... Going to be quite a challenge I see
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Anthony Forgey
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Posts: 466
Joined: 07 Apr 2016 09:46
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Re: GQ with Chevy 350 V8 gets a major electrical ovehaul

Post by Anthony Forgey »

I've been busy with the wiring and it looks worse now than what it did :lol:
I havent taken pics of it, but its a mess still, but with labels.

However, in the meantime Frans has elected to change carbs from the Edelbrock to the more economical Quadrajet. He got his Quadrajet carb back from Wolf in Walkerville where it had a bit of an overhaul, repairs and calibration

The Quadrajet is a spread bore and the dual plane Wieand intake manifold is for a standard 4 barrel carb.

1. Dual plane manifold.jpg
1. Dual plane manifold.jpg (86.53 KiB) Viewed 2897 times


Heres a pic with the spreadbore gasket in place showing the problem.


2. spread bore gasket.jpg
2. spread bore gasket.jpg (91.91 KiB) Viewed 2897 times

Heres the solution: a standard 4 barrel to spreadbore adapter plate

3. spreadbore adapter.jpg
3. spreadbore adapter.jpg (58.32 KiB) Viewed 2897 times

The adapter needed some modification to improve airflow so I used a burr to shape it

4. Spreadbore Adapter shaping.jpg
4. Spreadbore Adapter shaping.jpg (52.98 KiB) Viewed 2897 times

Aaaah, that's better

5. Aah thats better.jpg
5. Aah thats better.jpg (74.97 KiB) Viewed 2897 times

But, there's a problem. The adapter isn't dual plane, so you would lose all of the torque advantage and improved idling and off idle response that the dual plane manifold offers. So I cut a piece of stainless steel and slotted the adapter plate to receive the stainless steel divider


6. modification for dual plane 1.jpg
6. modification for dual plane 1.jpg (67.27 KiB) Viewed 2897 times

7. modification for dual plane 2.jpg
7. modification for dual plane 2.jpg (71.26 KiB) Viewed 2897 times

Here's the new gaskets for the dual plane adapter with the lip ice which I apply to both sides of the gaskets. Its a trick I was taught. It prevents the gaskets from sticking to the metal surfaces when you remove the carb.

8. the gaskets with lip ice.jpg
8. the gaskets with lip ice.jpg (51.88 KiB) Viewed 2897 times

Here's everything in place on the manifold

9. adapter with gaskets in place.jpg
9. adapter with gaskets in place.jpg (90.34 KiB) Viewed 2897 times

and with the carb mounted

10. carb fitted.jpg
10. carb fitted.jpg (105.86 KiB) Viewed 2897 times

and with the new carb cap (Peter Connan design)

11. new carb cap.jpg
11. new carb cap.jpg (113.53 KiB) Viewed 2897 times

I also bought a bunch of deutch plugs for some of the electrical components

12. deutch plugs.jpg
12. deutch plugs.jpg (49.87 KiB) Viewed 2897 times
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