C2 heat shielding

[jerry scudder]

I have 1964 roadster and it runs great until I place the heat shield over the coil and dist. then it won`t start. it`s shorting out somewhere but i can`t find it, any ideas would be great thanks jerry

[Mike McKown]

Re: C2 heat shielding

It's probably grounding the coil/cap wire through the insulation. Try another wire or re-route it. Look at the wire coming from the resistor to the coil and make sure the insulation is not chafed and shorting there.

I'm not sure if your car requires 90 degree terminals at the cap but if it does and you have the straight ones it will add to your problem.

[Duke W.]

Re: C2 heat shielding

It's an RFI shield, not a heat shield.

It should have a piece of clear insulating material under the top part. Check to see that it is there and intact and for other potential shorts.

Duke

[Bruce Boatner]

Re: C2 heat shielding

I don't think I have any clear insulating material in my shield. Is this available through the usual places, or would it be easy enough to fashion a homemade version with some type of plastic wrap?

[William C.]

Re: C2 heat shielding

You can buy it and the appropriate rivits thru the major repro houses. One thing ito watch is that the '64 used metal rivits to maintain the insulator, '65 and up used plastic rivets

[Bob R.]

Re: C2 heat shielding

My 63 was missing the top of the sheilding. I installed it and went to start the car and toasted the wire from the coil to the starter motor. It was easy to correct that problem I just rotated the coil so the connections were parallel to the sheilding. Replacing the wire in the harness was much more difficult.

[John H.]

Re: C2 heat shielding

Jerry -

Bob makes an excellent point - I've seen more than one C1/C2 Corvette fry the engine harness because the coil (+) terminal wire spade touched the inside of the upper ignition shield (the rear vertical wall, not the top), creating a dead short to ground. Make sure your coil is oriented in the bracket so the (+) wire terminal can't contact the inside of the shield, and check your coil-to-distributor cap secondary wire for deterioration/cracks or corrosion at the end terminals. It also pays to add a fusible link to the main power feed wire at the big stud on the starter solenoid on pre-'67 cars to protect the harness in the event of a dead short.

[Mike T.]

Re: C2 heat shielding

Thanks for the info. I fried my wire 15 years ago, and never knew why. I never put the shielding back on. I always thought it must have been a frayed wire.

[Steve Pettit]

Re: C2 heat shielding

Thank you, John. I'm on the way to the store to pick up a fusible link right now. This is such a great place for a guy like me to get invaluable information, I thank all who contribute so freely here.

Regards, Steve Pettit

[jerry scudder]

Re: C2 heat shielding

yes it has the clear insulating material

[Tracy C.]

Re: C2 heat shielding

Bruce,

I bought a ignition shield repair kit from Paragon for around $18. It includes the polyethene plastic shield for the top underside of the shield, 5 metal rivets, 5 plastic rivets and the grounding clip on the front side.

I reused my plastic old shield and have the new plastic shield and 5 plastic rivets left over. If you can use these email a snail mail address and I'll mail them to you.

tc

[ronnie robertson # 36786]

Fusable Likk?

Are we talking about a fuse wired in series with the + distributor to the starter wire? How big amp rating?
Thanks

[Bruce Boatner]

Re: C2 heat shielding

Tracy,

That's mighty nice of you--I appreciate the gesture. Honestly, I have not had a chance to examine my shield yet for the plastic part. I'm 90% sure it's not there, but I never specifically looked for it before.

You mentioned a grounding clip. I'm assuming this the the metal clip about 1" long riveted on the front of the shield. I always wondered what this was for. Should this be in contact with some part of the engine or a bracket or perhaps a wire? Probably a stupid question, but I'm a "virgin" 'vette owner and a little clueless at times.

Thanks again for your generous offer. I will definitely take you up on it if my plastic piece is missing.

Bruce

[jerry scudder]

Re: C2 heat shielding

the assembly manual shows a clip on the front that was noted that it must touch the breather and one on the back that must touch tha tach drive. what purpose is this for?

[John H.]

Re: Fusable Likk?

No, not a fuse - a fusible link wire on the main power feed wire that connects at the battery cable stud on the starter solenoid; this is a 10 or 12-ga. wire (depending on the year) that feeds power to the whole car from the horn relay bus, and had NO circuit protection until a fusible link was added at the starter solenoid end in 1967. It needs a 16-ga. fusible link if it's a 12-ga. wire, or a 14-ga. link if it's a 10-ga. wire, etc. In the event of a dead short, the fusible link fails instead of frying the engine harness all the way from the starter to the ignition switch.