ahh Hell no power

[71/351c/darkhorse]

Ok guys/gals. I need a BIG hand here. I'm a newbie and not afraid to learn but... of course the occasional mess up. I have a 71 Grande with the 351C 2barrel motor. i was going to put on the edel 2750 intake for a quick change to a 4 barrel. Well all was going well, to well, until i went under the dash to put the positive lead for the electric choke. The (I'm guessing here) ground bolt right in the middle of the fuse box was out about half and inch with a spring showing. Tried as i might i could not get it back up. When i move the the fuse box i lose everything lights, ignition, dash, i mean everything. Any help would be great. How can i get the fuse box down to fix or back up to reground.

 

[caspianwendell]

If I'm not mistaken, the bolt in the panel is to pull the outer and inner halves together on the firewall (no ground on the panel) sounds to me like the two are separated, and need to be plugged back in to each other, then the bolt tightened to hold them together.

 

[71/351c/darkhorse]

I cant tell you how long i spent down there. A 6'4" guy contorting in there is pretty hilarious by the way. Any clue how to get them back together? Or should i take it down to inspect it, if thats the case how the hell do i get it out?

 

[midlife]

It's a bit easier to take out the driver's seat and lay on the floor boards upside down. You can pretend you're in Oz-land.

 

[71/351c/darkhorse]

wow well hmm im gonna pretend like i thought of that myself midlife. anyone had this problem before? or heard of it?

 

[JimNiki]

This site covers the whole spectrum of people from A-grade Doofus's to the pleasantly ignorant to the regular monkey wrenches to the inspiring!

Don't feel good or bad about anything wrong you do ... It's all a part of learning from your mistakes ... No one will judge you... We've all been there...

Now, how the hell did you manage to split your fuse box in half! That's a fire waiting to happen! Don't attach power until it's fixed...

And have a fire extinguisher handy at all times...

Cheers from the bush mechanics down under....

Jim

 

[71/351c/darkhorse]

split??? now im confused. so what is that bolt in the there for, and how do i get it out of there?? little to ne exp. here and feeling a bit in over my head. if i can see it i can usually fix it but i cant get it down to fix it.

 

[71/351c/darkhorse]

split??? now im confused. so what is that bolt in the there for, and how do i get it out of there?? little to ne exp. here and feeling a bit in over my head. if i can see it i can usually fix it but i cant get it down to fix it.

 

[midlife]

The bolt is captured in the fuse block by an e-clip on the back side. All you need to do is to unscrew it such that the mating green connector block is free of the fuse block. That connector has two tabs on the side that sometimes need to be pushed in to release it from a plate, should there be one at the back of the fuse block.

 

[turtle5353]

Its split but not in the broken sense. Its a big type of bulkhead connector if that makes sense. Interior has a bolt in through center and the exterior under the hood on the firewall has a nut built into it. You may need someone else to help you out. They will need to push in on the firewall connector from under the hood and you will need to push in from under the dash to get them to mate up properly and get the bolt to take titty. Once the bolt starts into the threads, just tighten it up and you should be good to go. May have just come loose over the years and was barely making contact until you started messing around under the dash and it no longer would make contact. once its bolted back together you should be ok.

 

[71/351c/darkhorse]

Thank You guys so much!! she is back up and running!!! It had what looked like one of the round lock clips on there (dont know why). pulled it off and it bolted right back up.

 

[caspianwendell]

Good to hear