Problem starting '79 El Camino

I replaced the enginge in my '79 with a crate 383. The problem is once the engine is started and has been running for 15 min or longer and then shut off for about ten minutes or so, it is almost impossible to restart. The starter is very sluggish and then quits attempting to turn over as if there is no power. This happens even if you try to give it a jump start. I have replaced the battery, battery cables, starter, and it has a brand new alternator. I have even tried starters that say that they don't have heat soak issues. Even initially starting the vehicle sometimes requires a jump start though, even if the battery is fully charged. Any one have any ideas? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

What size wire was used for the main starter feed and engine ground? AWG 2 or larger would be good.

The next question is initial ignition timing - Where is it set?

Another concern is mechanical friction. If the spark plugs are removed, does the starter still not spin the engine quickly? Working quickly to remove the hot plugs may be worth the effort.

Battery cables are 2 gauge. Timing was last adjusted to about 15 from tdc. Don't know about the plugs. It has dart heads so the plugs are angled and even with headers for the heads it is very hard to get to the plugs so I am not sure if they can be pulled without first disconnecting headers. Haven't tried that yet. Could it have anything to do with the engine not being completely broken in yet?

How close are the headers to the starter and/or positive battery cable? I would suggest some heat resistant insulation over the wire and maybe a heat shield for the starter. Also 15 degrees BTDC sounds a bit high. You could try rotating the distributor a little bit towards the retarded side while someone cranks it.

Have you tried cracking the gas a little as it initially cranks? That has helped me in the past with some notoriously bad hot-starting cars.

Bob

The headers are fairly close. I have tried a heat shield before, but somehow the starter quit working when I did that. We have adjusted the timing, distributor, and carb a few different times but none of that helped with restarting the car once it was warm. I have tried giving it gas when starting but that only made a difference on the initial starting of the car. With a starter rated for a higher compression that was not even needed, yet still wouldn't help on starting once it was warm. I have also tried 2 different sets of headers coated and uncoated that made no difference either.

Sounds like you've ruled out almost everything. Could your distributor be one tooth off when it was dropped in? You still might have a starter issue, get it checked by a reputable auto electrical shop, they can also pull them apart and hopefully identify a problem if there is one.

Have you ever seen anyone run two identical 12 volt batteries in parallel to keep the voltage the same but double the ca,cca and rc?

I've seen it done more often on old 6-volt cars years ago. All you're getting is a bigger badder battery in effect.

Your car probably has an HEI distributor, I'd check the wires that clip into the side of it. On my '80, the tab for the connector had broken off and the car would die when the wires slid out. It would run for a few minutes and shut off for no obvious reason. That solved it immediately after replacing the connector.

I replaced the enginge in my '79 with a crate 383. The problem is once the engine is started and has been running for 15 min or longer and then shut off for about ten minutes or so, it is almost impossible to restart. The starter is very sluggish and then quits attempting to turn over as if there is no power. This happens even if you try to give it a jump start. I have replaced the battery, battery cables, starter, and it has a brand new alternator. I have even tried starters that say that they don't have heat soak issues. Even initially starting the vehicle sometimes requires a jump start though, even if the battery is fully charged. Any one have any ideas? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.


A stroker motor needs a heavy duty starter and a battery with at least 1000 cranking amps. A ordinary starter or a smaller battery will not do.


What CFM is the carb and what intake is on it?

When i built my 350, i had way too big of carb on it and it kept fowling the plugs. Cold it would start up and run great but if i shut it off and tried to restart it the starter would spin slow and eventually it would stop spinning completely. Next time it will not start, pull the plugs and replace them and see if it starts right up. If it does you might not be mixing the fuel right.

I also took a small propane torch and held it up to the hole where the spark plug goes as i pulled each one, and found quite a bit of fuel was left over inside the combustion chambers. If you dont want to do it that way just leave the plugs out for a couple minutes for the chambers to air out.

The battery is rated for 950 cca, so it has more than 1000 ca. I had replaced the original starter with a powermaster gear reduction starter rated for about 14:1 compression. It's been awhile since I installed the motor, so not sure about the intake or the carb without checking.

Just found the specs on the engine. Sorry for the long post.

Heads (Dart Iron Eagle 2.02”I/1.6”E Heads)
Crankshaft (Forged 400 Scat Crankshaft)
Carburetor (750 Edelbrock)
Distributor (Pro-Form/Mallory Pro-Curved High Performance HEI with 50,000 Volt Coil)
Manifold (Professional Products “Typhoon” Aluminum Dual Plane " Maximized Torque)
Valve Covers (Edelbrock Brushed Aluminum "Elite Edition")
Air Cleaner (Edelbrock "Elite Edition")
Water Pump (NAPA)
Fuel Pump (Holly)
Harmonic Balancer (Pioneer 8" Harmonic Balancer with Bolt/Washer Kit)
Flexplate (CAT SFI Approved or equivalent Flexplate)
Pulleys (Upper & Lower)
Gaskets (Fel-Pro)
Oil Dipstick & Tube (GM)
Timing Cover (GM Performance Parts "Bowtie" Timing Cover & Chrome Pointer)
Spark Plug Wire Looms (Taylor)
Spark Plugs (AC-Delco)
Oil Pump (Melling / Sealed Power)
Oil Pump Driveshaft (Melling / Sealed Power)
Oil Pump Pickup Screen (Melling / Sealed Power)
Double Roller Timing Set (SA Gear / Sealed Power)
Hyperutectic Pistons (Sealed Power or Comparable Quality Supplier)
Camshaft (Comp Cams / Sealed Power)
Valve Springs (Pioneer)
Lifters (Melling / Sealed Power)
Rod Bolts (Pioneer 180,000 psi)
Forged Connecting Rods (Pioneer)
Rings (Comp Cams or Equivalent)
Bearings (Rod/Main/Cam Bearings)
Brass Freeze Plugs (Pioneer)
Pushrods (Pioneer)
Oil Pan (7 Quart High Capacity Oil Pan) & Oil Pan Bolts
Head Bolts (Pioneer)Roller Rocker Upgrade (Pro Form 1.5 Ratio)

i retract, that carb shouldnt be too big.

Has it ever worked right since the motor swap?

Is the choke electric?

What kind of plugs are in it?

What temp and oil pressure do you have while its hot?

Who built it and was the cam properly timed if needed?

I agree with Blue Bowtie, i would pull the plugs and see how hard it is to spin the motor with no plugs in it.

I have a 78 Caballero(El Camino) and had the same problem a while back. I installed AFR heads, headers, intake carb. Stock starter had a hard time cranking the motor with all the extra compression. Got a gear reduction starter just like you did, and had hard starts when the car was warm. It was the starter AND the battery cable and ignition wires going to the starter were getting way to hot.

After tons of heat wrap and sheilding, problem ALMOST went away. I am still looking for a good starter...pricey though.$

Lots of great advice here on this problem. Also a good reminder that hopped up engines are not necessarily great for your daily driver. I had gotten away from them for the hot-start as well as other reasons like finding good enough premium pump gas, always having to be playing with something on them.

Bob