It is definitely up and down. I keep running into problems that seem to be oddly unique to me and I am somewhat surprised others haven't bumped into them. This starter issue is a good example. There are so many POSSIBLE solutions but no sure fire one including ordering "NOS". You just can't be sure that the aftermarket starter is going to be correct. I am not even 100% sure that the rebuilt Ford starter I ordered will be correct. It seems someone must have a starter they bought aftermarket that they know works for sure and which one they bought.

The biggest mistake I made was thinking some parts would be easy to locate since they were common and not saving them:

Clutch - it was taking up space and I thought it would be an easy replacement.
Temp sender -let it go with the old block
Oil pressure sender -let it go with the old block
Starter - sent in as core for this one that doesn't work instead of having it rebuilt.
....more

The second biggest mistake I made was assuming that all my experience with my 1978 Chevrolet Z28 would be transferable and it's not. I have taken that car apart close to 3x and.know every nut and bolt and part and where it goes and what it does. I figured this was a lot simpler, and it is overall, but the age has made it much more complex. A good example is I figured a gauge is a gauge and anything can be swapped in not knowing about the King Seeley style gauges. I bought a replacement gas sender as I thought it would be better to have something new and keep the old as a back up. Never bothered installing it knowing it won't work so that is wasted $$. Fortunately, the old one still works.

Third is things that are simple to those of you with lots of experience with these vehicles are more complex to me than they should be. O didn't contemplate that. The issues with my manifolds is a good example. Should have been obvious. Didn't figure it out until I noticed something in a photo Kevin posted. I would much rather be working with a Holley sniper than the single barrel carb. I can see it all on the computer. I don't know anything about floats and needles and tuning and rebuilding them. My neighbor rebuilt mine. I have no idea if it is going to work or be something I am chasing gremlins on and making posts here about and then finally just sucking it up and sending it somewhere to be rebuilt again. Hopefully he got it right but if. It I am not sure I will be able to accurately troubleshoot it.

I definitely have a greater appreciation for why people upgrade to 12v now but do like having the 6v system as I have learned a lot. Given the king seeley gauges if I converted to 12v I would I have to get all new reproduction gauges anyway or would voltage reducers work? That just adds a different set of complexities. I think the only gauge I still am struggling to solve for is the temp gauge assuming the Dennis Carpenter oil sender actually works.

I know a lot of my posts may be annoying but I learned on this forum that it is not that easy to search and find clear answers. Answers tend to be scattered across multiple posts or only partially answered so I decided I would try and post on discreet issues so that in the future someone might be able to find the answer to the same issues I had with greater clarity than what is otherwise available. Nastyz28.com breaks the site up into clear categories such as build threads. suspension, engine, electrical, body and others. It is easy to just go to a topic and search within that topic for your answer. I rarely can't find an answer there because of how well organized it is and the answer is not buried in a thread in a different topic. So I am going to keep posting here as issues come up and hope everyone keeps helping me out.

Lastly, I NEVER would have been able to get this far without the help from so many people on here and especially @bmoran4 who responds to almost every one of my inquiries and patiently goes through all my troubleshooting. I would have thrown in the towel and probably sold it awhile ago.Again, how would I know the correct part number without his help or someone else's.

So, thanks for the support and hopefully this is the home stretch to getting it on the road and I don't have too many more setbacks. I REALLY want to have it in the big car show at Lime Rock raceway on August 30 and I am running out of time.

 

8Pack, hang in there... It is easy to help out those who ask good questions and are receptive and acknowledging of assistance rendered. Don't beat yourself up - your posts are far from annoying and somewhat interesting as you are mixing and matching different era engines and whatnot (leading to much of your complications). If you go back years and years and see some of my posts, you see me asking "silly" questions too!

We are all more comfortable with what we know. A 78 Z28 would be foreign to me. Making a comparison to the 78 Z28, a 350 was a factory option, and so what issues would I have if I took any random 350 from 1957-2003 and put it in the 78? Or would I have to stick to an LM1? Then some LM1s has electronic instead of mechanical points, and I think even computers were introduced at some point for the LM1 among other changes...

Getting back to our Fords, as for the King-Seeley on 12V, like I shared before, Ford used "6V" for a number of years on 12V vehicles with a regulator. So yes, you can keep your King-Seeley setup with 12V as long as appropriate reduction is applied.