Front towing eye ?

[Martin]

Hi, first time posting, but I have a C3 ( 1981, but with 79/80 carb and distributor ) with an issue.
Firstly, having broken down, the AA weren’t keen on towing me using the front eye. He was concerned it would pull ok but might give under braking? Has anyone got any experience with this ?

Dont know if I should start another thread for the actual breakdown, but it cutout, second time in two weeks, seemed to be a spark or lack of it problem. Got it going by applying pressure to the white Tach wire from the distributor. Not sure if it could have caused it to stop, but got me home.
cheers
Martin

 

[Daniel B]

Not sure about the towing thing but I might be able to help with the dizzy. Do you have a photo?
I was wondering if it was definitely the tach wire?

 

[Martin]

Not sure about the towing thing but I might be able to help with the dizzy. Do you have a photo?
I was wondering if it was definitely the tach wire?

It’s the white wire ( arrow shows resistor ), connects to the “Batt” terminal next to the “Tach” terminal. Resistor was bolted to the block but I moved last year suspecting that it was getting hot.
cheers

 

[Daniel B]

Thats a HEI distributor right?
Normally the BAT connection is the ignition power feed and should be a decent thickness wire (12AWG or better) that goes directly to an ignition power source via something like a 20A fuse. There shouldn't be a resistor, is it possible thats a left over from an older non HEI setup?

My 72 and has obviously been messed with over the years so I don't know whats "correct" but it runs sweet and has something like this, which is basically a wire with a spade connector on each end that goes directly from the distributor BAT connection to the IGN spade connector in the fuse box.

1969-1974 C3 Corvette Lectric Limited H.E.I. Conversion Harness Kit | Southern Car Parts

GM 1969-1974 Chevrolet Corvette H.E.I. Conversion Harness Upgrade your Corvette's ignition system with this high-performance H.E.I. conversion harness, designed to replace both the resistance wire and starter solenoid-to-coil wire for seamless installation. Ensure optimal engine performance and...

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I'm not an expert but my understanding is HEI distributors need a good clean solid power feed so your issue could be that wire with the resistor in?
I'd check with some other people just in case I'm wrong but if it was my car I would be tempted to run a new feed out of a thicker wire than you have directly to the fuse box, that could solve your issue.

 

[Martin]

Thats a HEI distributor right?
Normally the BAT connection is the ignition power feed and should be a decent thickness wire (12AWG or better) that goes directly to an ignition power source via something like a 20A fuse. There shouldn't be a resistor, is it possible thats a left over from an older non HEI setup?

My 72 and has obviously been messed with over the years so I don't know whats "correct" but it runs sweet and has something like this, which is basically a wire with a spade connector on each end that goes directly from the distributor BAT connection to the IGN spade connector in the fuse box.

1969-1974 C3 Corvette Lectric Limited H.E.I. Conversion Harness Kit | Southern Car Parts

GM 1969-1974 Chevrolet Corvette H.E.I. Conversion Harness Upgrade your Corvette's ignition system with this high-performance H.E.I. conversion harness, designed to replace both the resistance wire and starter solenoid-to-coil wire for seamless installation. Ensure optimal engine performance and...

www.southerncarparts.com

I'm not an expert but my understanding is HEI distributors need a good clean solid power feed so your issue could be that wire with the resistor in?
I'd check with some other people just in case I'm wrong but if it was my car I would be tempted to run a new feed out of a thicker wire than you have directly to the fuse box, that could solve your issue.

Many thanks for your reply.
My mistake with how I described it, the white wire goes to the Tach terminal and the live is the Bat connection . The resistor or capacitor is to smooth the feed to the tachometer.
I think I may have solved it, as it seems the coil is faulty, I replaced the cap, with coil inside, with a the cap from the original distributor and it fired up straight away.
The coil on the cap I’ve removed has readings all over the place, so fingers crossed.
Now I just need to be brave enough ro go for a spin
Thanks for your help.

 

[Daniel B]

Ahhh that makes much more sense!
Mine has a cable driven tach, so I didnt realise they did it like that
Glad you got it sorted!
I wouldn't mind knowing about the towing eye thing though, that was intriguing!

 

[Chuffer]

Good to hear you have sussed the issue with the feeds to and from the dizzie . I was about to respond before I read all the posts trail as I have a HEI Street / Strip distributor on my 1980 and the white cable with spade connector to the distributor is the tacho feed . It is easily knocked when fiddling about under the hood and has caught me out a couple of times when rev counter suddenly stops working but has no effect and car cutting out . Not much standard about my C3 though as it has an Edelbrock 600cfm carb with Edelbrock Torker 2 inlet manifold on a swapped out 1985 Camaro IROC - Z engine .
I too am interested to learn about your towing eye location as I have never found one on my 1980 which has a sort of Greenwood Turbo style body kit with deep front splitter . I bolted a race car type towing strap to the front end steel cross brace and tucked it through the intake above the splitter for that hopefully never needed emergency tow .