I'm doing a frame up restore on my truck. I found a fresh rebuilt 429 that I now have mounted in the frame. I want to test fire the motor before I go any further putting the truck back together so if there is a problem it's easier to fix now. I've got the 4 speed mounted and a starter mounted. Can someone tell me how to wire this up to start it off of a battery? It has a electronic ignition and I've been told I may need a brain box to get it running. This part of the build is something I'm still learning.
Thanks in advance!

 

If I recall correctly, as long as you have coil, dizzy, and have them wired together, it should run.

 

Duraspark II

 

Yep you are going to need the electronics.
I would think the easiest way would be to pull the entire wiring harness out of a junk yard truck and use this harness to wire everything up.
It's not a bad idea to have a spare harness anyway. It's great for tracing wire colors.
You can pull one out in about an hour or less.

 

Conversely, if you want to spend the money on a HEI style distributor, you can hook up everything and test-fire it with one wire.

If it's the first test-fire, don't be in a rush. Do make sure it's got the necessary ingredients (Oil, water, etc). If it's the first startup of a freshly rebuilt engine (with a new cam) you may want to pull the oil pan and slather the cam lobes with cam break-in lube.

You can also prime the oil pump with a wide flat-blade bit in a power drill - just spin the pump for a minute or so, then rotate the crank 90*, repeat until you've come around full circle. Pull a valve cover off to make sure that you're actually squiring oil all the way up to the top end.

Hopefully you know all this. I'm just trying to make sure that you're not going to get it all together and have it blow up on you!

-Brad