I just put a new 400SB in my '69 - no other changes were made. It starts and runs great - but on 2 occasions I had to crank it for 5 seconds or so while I got it tuned right. There is a small wire (10 gauge or so) coming off the negative battery cable and going to a ground bolt on the inner fender just a few inches away. Both times this wire has melted the insulation right off!!! After the motor starts all is well.

I checked the starter hookups and the other ground wires - all the same as before. Any ideas????

It sounds to me as a typical engine ground wire problem, did you check if the engine was grounded correctly?

Good idea to run main ground wire to engine block or head. Then run a good sized wire from the engine to the body and another to the frame. Might start by replacing the main ground cable from the battery to be safe.

i would run a grounding strap from head or block to body like stated before..make sure to clean both surfaces well(metal) to make good contact...good-luck...

Thanks for the comments - I think I do need some more ground wires. I have only one from engine to firewall. I'm also moving the battery ground directly to the block to make a better connection.

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Scott
'69 400SB, Richmond 5-speed
'99 HD Road King Classic

had the same promblem with a 327. I did not have a good ground & it ended up smoking my hei dist. had to replace every thing in it. make sure you have good grounds to engine from body & battery.

I moved the main ground wire down on the block and added 2 ground straps - problem solved! Thanks for the help.

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Scott
'69 400SB, Richmond 5-speed
'99 HD Road King Classic