Car in question is a 69 small block. It has dimed (slightly) the lights as long as we've had the car 10+ years. When you come to a stop light the headlights (all, dash, blower motor slows etc etc) as soon as you start moving everything goes back to normal. I've replaced the alt, the voltage regulator, head light switch. I'm at a loss... is it a ground problem? The idel is set correctly I don't get it... ?? Anybody have an idea? Thanks!
Why do my lights dim?
35ANVSS
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as a younger person, who's into hot rods, i love the new technology! to me, there is nothing cooler than fat ass turbo sitting on a chevy, in an old chevelle. there is so much more you can do with the motors of today. but on the other hand, i love sitting at car shows and cruise ins listening to the "old timers" bs about what they've done to cars to make them go faster! to me, it's the best of both worlds! but seriously, what fun is it screwing around trying to get a carb motor to start when you can turn the key and go with fuelie motors!!lol
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2,380 Posts
The fun is derived from the fact that you were able to get it to start.....and run like a bat with all that old technology!
Hi Joe,BTYW,its really not an issue at all to get a carb'd motor cranked up running as you implied,just curious what gave the idea they are such a PIA to deal with?
From what i see here in t/chevelle when it comes to people having issues with carbs is simply because some people dont know how to propely tune/dial them in esp with perf cams and not running enough timing screwing up intake signal to carb due to retartded timing lowering int vacuum and also when it comes to tweaking chockes/jetting/power vaqlves and or power pistons-metring rods/etc. etc.
It's not surprising the younger generation that were brought up on efi have issues with the carbs/chokes having to 1st spin the motor over for 8-10 seconds to get fuel into the carb if motors been sitting for a few days(esp with a q-jet) . Then having to pump the gas a few tiimes to prime the motor then spin it over again a second time for only a couple more seconds to get the motor to fire up.
I know it all seems like a pia to them but it really isnt unless you have no patience which i think is the issue at times when it comes to carbs and the younger people not liking them & having little patience with them when they can just use thier laptop to tweak/tune a new hi perf efi system and just hit the key and motor fires almost instantly in 20 deg f or 80 deg f,makes no difference.
Obviously there's nothing wrong with EFI either,i loved the chevy's i have owned and tweaked perf with TPI etc. They have great throttle responce and trq not to mention better fuel mileage . But when it comes to perf application they have thier issues that need to be addressed too when the efi/tpi is in stock form just like carbs do
.
That's because you can't just drop a hot cam that lowers intake vacuum too much in a stock efi/tpi setup and expect it to deal with it. But its ok when you buy an efi/tpi hi perf system from maybe accell /tpi specialties/etc that already has larger injectors & proper map sensor ,chip ,etc all meant to better deal/work with the lower intake vacuum at idle and lower engine speeds when running a hot perf cam with an efi/tpi setup.
You have to do some tweaking/mods when running hot perf cams with low idle/low speed vacuum with a stock efi /tpi just like you also need to tweak carbs with respect to power valves-jetting-etc in that same perf cam application too. But if you buy a carb built by a pro for a specific motor setup they can often run fine out of the box just like the new perf efi/tpi system can also work well right out of the box because they are setup to deal with it too.
The carbs and EFI both have their place,i like to keep the cabs for original #'s matching muscle or pass cars but other then that i think EFI is great for any other perf app in a 30-40-50 yr old chevy esp along with an auto OD trans or tremec 5spd trans. I love to see tpi motor setups in chevelles & old impalla's that were bought back from the dead made into neat resto mods.
BTW,us old timers had mechanical FI back in the 50's Pontiac/57 chevy 283/283/ and also vetts too esp the 63 fuel inj 375hp 327. It wan't as good/reliable as todays efi but it was the pre runner to todays efi where todays ECM control make it a much better /efficient/tuneable system like we have today.
And BTW,as usuall some of these threads get twisted because i was not ever getting close to talking about efi etc and or the newer gen 40 yr newer cars that the younger gen are dealing with these days and others bought all that info into play here too when it had absolutely nothing to do with the thread or what i said.
IT was just 1 statement i made saying "sometimes the old timers can teach the younger generation something a times " like with the thread here where the guy didnt realize the stock charging system on a 40 yrs old gm car would cause the headlights to dim when at idle in traffic then get brighter as you hit the gas and were at a higher cruise rpm .
But that statement was twisted into something completely different then it was meant to be.GEESH!!!/LOL!!!!!)
Scott
From what i see here in t/chevelle when it comes to people having issues with carbs is simply because some people dont know how to propely tune/dial them in esp with perf cams and not running enough timing screwing up intake signal to carb due to retartded timing lowering int vacuum and also when it comes to tweaking chockes/jetting/power vaqlves and or power pistons-metring rods/etc. etc.
It's not surprising the younger generation that were brought up on efi have issues with the carbs/chokes having to 1st spin the motor over for 8-10 seconds to get fuel into the carb if motors been sitting for a few days(esp with a q-jet) . Then having to pump the gas a few tiimes to prime the motor then spin it over again a second time for only a couple more seconds to get the motor to fire up.
I know it all seems like a pia to them but it really isnt unless you have no patience which i think is the issue at times when it comes to carbs and the younger people not liking them & having little patience with them when they can just use thier laptop to tweak/tune a new hi perf efi system and just hit the key and motor fires almost instantly in 20 deg f or 80 deg f,makes no difference.
Obviously there's nothing wrong with EFI either,i loved the chevy's i have owned and tweaked perf with TPI etc. They have great throttle responce and trq not to mention better fuel mileage . But when it comes to perf application they have thier issues that need to be addressed too when the efi/tpi is in stock form just like carbs do
.
That's because you can't just drop a hot cam that lowers intake vacuum too much in a stock efi/tpi setup and expect it to deal with it. But its ok when you buy an efi/tpi hi perf system from maybe accell /tpi specialties/etc that already has larger injectors & proper map sensor ,chip ,etc all meant to better deal/work with the lower intake vacuum at idle and lower engine speeds when running a hot perf cam with an efi/tpi setup.
You have to do some tweaking/mods when running hot perf cams with low idle/low speed vacuum with a stock efi /tpi just like you also need to tweak carbs with respect to power valves-jetting-etc in that same perf cam application too. But if you buy a carb built by a pro for a specific motor setup they can often run fine out of the box just like the new perf efi/tpi system can also work well right out of the box because they are setup to deal with it too.
The carbs and EFI both have their place,i like to keep the cabs for original #'s matching muscle or pass cars but other then that i think EFI is great for any other perf app in a 30-40-50 yr old chevy esp along with an auto OD trans or tremec 5spd trans. I love to see tpi motor setups in chevelles & old impalla's that were bought back from the dead made into neat resto mods.
BTW,us old timers had mechanical FI back in the 50's Pontiac/57 chevy 283/283/ and also vetts too esp the 63 fuel inj 375hp 327. It wan't as good/reliable as todays efi but it was the pre runner to todays efi where todays ECM control make it a much better /efficient/tuneable system like we have today.
And BTW,as usuall some of these threads get twisted because i was not ever getting close to talking about efi etc and or the newer gen 40 yr newer cars that the younger gen are dealing with these days and others bought all that info into play here too when it had absolutely nothing to do with the thread or what i said.
IT was just 1 statement i made saying "sometimes the old timers can teach the younger generation something a times " like with the thread here where the guy didnt realize the stock charging system on a 40 yrs old gm car would cause the headlights to dim when at idle in traffic then get brighter as you hit the gas and were at a higher cruise rpm .
But that statement was twisted into something completely different then it was meant to be.GEESH!!!/LOL!!!!!)
Scott
Joined
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117 Posts
yeah things do get twisted on the internet..lol i guess i wasn't implying that carbs were a pita, personnally, i've had vehicles with carbs( 54 Ford, 72 chevelle) and tb's (87 monte carlo SS) and now fuelie (03 silverado SS) i guess i may be a little impatient as i've been spoiled by hopping in my ss and turn the key and instant start up. not to mention i can change fuel maps for performance or for fuel mileage. in any event, i love all the old cars, carb'd or not! And i also love hearing older guys advice, because like it was said before, you guys laid the foundation for all of this by working on them back in the day. great write up too scott, really hits the nail on the head.
Look at Mike Moran as an example. He drives a screamin fast twin turbo Pro Mod car, he's young and very fast. Speaking as an almost old guy though, nothing beats a 1071 blower, loping from too little boost, passing you at a GoodGuys show. LOL.
ps: I thought this was the Electrical Forum. Nice change... for a change.
Chuck
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