Captain Obvious

You said the problem started shortly after you replaced the alternator. So as Captain Obvious, it is my duty to suggest you start your investigation there. I suggest you disconnect your new alternator and see what happens. Also, as a side note,,, For a 76, that front outboard link should be black, not brown. And it should be the largest link you have. That link powers a whooooooole bunch of stuff. Hopefully the issue is in the alternator and you can end the search with that.

jonbill's method is the same one I use. Works for me.

And about your strut boot fitment... I believe the strut boot is intended to snap onto a bump stop plug. The bump stop goes up under the hat and the boot can be attached to the bump stop either with the boot simply snapping into a groove in the bump stop. or a zip tie if necessary. In other words, the aftermarket boot may not be designed to snap around the flange on the hat like the original, but may snap around the bump stop instead. Like this pic from a generic boot on amazon:

My translation... I believe they are referring to jonathanrussell's comment at the top of this page about how do deal with the battery tray refurb: "To me, the best way to restore the battery area is to drill out the spot welds and remove the tray. If you do this, buy a nice, properly sized spot weld drill bit and extender, and practice removing spot welds without drilling through the body. You will then need to weld up the holes in the battery frame...or buy a new one. I use rivet nuts to re-attach the tray to the body."

Nevermind... I found your condenser wire. Give me a sec. This should help:

According to the wiring diagram, the blue wire that connects to that condenser comes out of the main harness and I would expect it to come out somewhere close to where the voltage regulator branch comes out. It should be a single blue with a bullet connector on the end. I'll look at my car when I get a chance and see if I can find mine. As for what you should do with an alternator choice... If your original alternator and external regulator work fine, then there's nothing wrong with just leaving them be. But if either of those parts (alternator or regulator) give you troubles, then I'd recommend taking the opportunity to mod over to the newer internally regulated version.

Yeah really! Way to let us all hanging here!!

@Zed Head Not really pertinent to the conversation at hand, but actually I think there's a lot of gray area involved here. I haven't actually scoped deep enough into the ECU to know exactly how they do things, but I believe they are more sophisticated than just using capacitors for duration. I think there ARE actually ones and zeros. You'll notice in the functional description you posted for the ECU, they mention "frequency conversion". To me, that means they are converting the analog signals to a frequency signal (V to F), and then doing "calculations digitally". Now it might not be a computer, but I do think there are adders, timers, counters, multiplexers, summers, integrators, all that kind of stuff. And all that can be done with non-programmable logic circuits. So even though it might not be programmable, I DO think they are converting signals to "digital" and using ones and zeros derived from a highly accurate resonator circuit. It's much more accurate than an R-C time constant.

I'm not sure what you mean by "vacuum". All carbs need vacuum. It's what makes them work. About the coolant... You can make the system work without coolant running through the carbs. About the temp control and anti-backfire stuff... You can make the system work without those. And about the documentation... Search around for the "Fuel System Modification" document for 73 and 74. Has lots of good pics and other carb goodies.

Oh yeah, and yes... A sticking AFM is an interesting idea. If it's sticky and not opening as far as it should be, you'll run lean. Just seems kinda hard to believe it would be intermittent like that. But whatever... It's better than anything I've got at this point which is absolutely nothing!

There are no switches (electro-mechanical devices) inside the ECU. There are lots of transistors (which can be used to "switch" current paths, but there is nothing elecrro-mechanical. Nothing moves inside the box except electrons. And as for it being a "computer" or not... I would say "not". To me, a "computer" would be a programmed device running a sequence of decision making steps, and the old analog ECU's do none of that. There are no "steps", and there are no decisions. I have not, however, looked up or researched in any way what a "computer" is by definition. But I can tell you there is nothing programmable inside the ECU's, at least through the end of the first gen Z run. Some of the later ZX's have embedded computers inside, but nothing before the ZX.

1 - is your voltage regulator. 2 - is (what's left of) a condenser that is supposed to tie into a blue wire that goes to the voltage regulator (among other things). It's purpose is to filter out electrical noise. 3- is your air conditioner compressor relay. Closes when the system is calling for cool.

There are no microswitches in the ECU.

Perfect.

And this is an example of why you're the one and only Hoover. Well done!! I don't want to know how you dredged up that document, but well done!

You need information in order to form that belief. Get your info from a source at the top of the curve, not down in the fake news weeds on the sides. Here's the top tier:

@Mike

1 and 10 are for the glovebox. 1 is part of the latch mechanism, and 10 is the light for inside when you open the door. 2 is (I believe) the brackets the hold up the center of the dash. One end screws to the trans tunnel and the other end screws to the underside of the dash. 3 is the radio support bracket. Not sure about 4 and 5. 6 is a bracket that holds the center dash panel (with the two HVAC outlets and your FUEL light) in place. There should be a second one that is a mirror image. 7 is a bracket for your coil wire. 9 is one of the vacuum lines that run to your power brake booster. 11 is your roof mounted dome light. Missing the white lens. it's probably turned to dust. Not sure about 12. Obviously a vacuum hose, but not sure which one offhand. 13 is one of the clips that holds your shifter boot in place on the underside of the console. Not sure about 14 and 15 Not positive on 16, but I think it's a window roller. Should be inside one of the doors maybe? 18 is your FICD. Fast Idle Control Device. It pulls the throttle open a little bit when you turn on the A/C

So what were you doing the following Monday afternoon/evening after zcon? I was up in denver on that day in your neck of the woods for a couple days after the show. Were you doing anything interesting that afternoon? I'm still trying to figure out if I met a Seyler at Zcon or in the days following.

That's awesome! Glad to hear it's all working so well!

Hahaha!!!!

LOL. Well I hope I didn't come off as pushy, but I think it's the right thing to do. Haha! As for that big arse vacuum bottle... I didn't like it either, so I modified all my climate control stuff (except the cable driven heater core valve) over to little electrical servo motors. I think I posted some pics of that somewhere sometime. If you can't find anything, let me know and I'll see what I can dig up.

I haven't dusted off my compression ratio calculator for a few months, but if you want me to double check the numbers, just say the word. Just remember that I'm just a guy with a keyboard and an internet connection.

Looks great! You think you're gonna need help get it running?

Well honestly, I'd put in a relay anyway even if you find a switch "rated" to 10A. Why? First because switch ratings are usually lots of garbled confusing corner cases that rarely reflect the real world conditions under which they're used, and second, If installed using a socket, a burned up relay is a lot easier to replace than a burned up switch. And probably cheaper too. You're making a harness from scratch? I'd just cover my bases and wire in a relay between the switch and the starter solenoid. 10A DC is not something to be trifled with in the switch world. It burns up contacts. And if you're using it to power an inductive load, it burns up contacts even betterer.