gwri8

This one from "The Point"

Movie Theme? A little Heavy Metal

You can always self-medicate later when you get home 🤫

Finished my second Phizer shot last week with no ill effects other than soreness after the first round. The last one was so quick that I'm not even sure the nurse looked when she stuck me. They even gave me a cool Captain America Bandaid to sport around.

And the icing on the cake is you've got another project waiting to begin 🤥

Is yours a Factory AC car? Those two hoses probably go to the magnet valves on the passenger side by the fusible links. You can see the routing of those in the AC section of the FSM. This if from the 76' FSM but you should check the 75' to be sure.

Bear in mind that electrical is definitely not my strong suit so I'll wait to see some better photos, but I'm going to guess that the EFI harness is not hooked up. I can't stress enough that you need to know where each wire connects to. Guessing can make HUGE mistakes and when you run into PO hacks, it makes it more difficult. Have you downloaded the FSM for you car yet? If not, it's under the resources tab on the header or click here. https://www.classiczcars.com/files/. You can also get the color wiring diagram for your 78' there, also along with the EFI Bible. These will give you a wealth of info, and in particular how things should be. But basically, you'll need to find the EFI Harness and trace the wires. It connects to the ECU in the cabin and comes into the engine bay through the firewall underneath the clutch master cylinder. It splits from there and goes down along the frame rail and to up tothe fuel injectors. It also goes up and across the firewall over to the battery. These are the wires that should make connections to the battery. They should be in a loom but it doesn't look like it and I'm going to guess that the loose wire that crosses over the hood latch in one of your photos is one of them. Maybe that other wire you suspect to be for a subwoofer might be part of that EFI harness also. Trace it to be sure.

What is the current state of the battery connections? Can you take pic of that and the fuseible links? Maybe there is a fuel issue..The EFI harness powers off the battery with fusible links on the battery connections like these on the positive and negative cables. How are you checking fuel pressure? a lot of 280 owners put a fuel pressure gauge in line between the fuel filter and fuel rail just to keep an eye on fuel pressure every time the open the hood.

Glad to see you survived the tornados!

I flipped a few of your pictures so I wouldn't break my neck😀. Overall the engine looks to be in fair shape and you've replaced some of the tune up components. That's why I asked if you had adjusted your timing. It's not too difficult to do and it's in the FSM. Assuming you put the spark plug wires in the proper firing order, I was wondering if the distributer had twisted a little. Most everything is in the right place and the fuel and vac lines seem to be OK , at least from what I could see in your pictures, but check them for cracks and leaks anyway. The fusible links and battery connections will need to be addressed in the near future. I don't know what gauge the links are and there is a thick red one where a black one should be. plus the rusty alligator clip is not pretty, but functional. Are you in the US? Replacement fusible links and covers are easy to order . All of those things I mentioned plus more affect the engine. On a side note, maybe the PO was using the carpet mat as a fender cover when working on it? or is the car missing the hood vent cover, either way, carpet mats don't belong in the engine bay. Folks have given you good advice so far, but also use the search function for just about any question you have (it's all been done before and talked about). If you look under the Resources tab at the top of the page, you'll find lots more info and encouragement there also.

Welcome to the forum. Great folks here that give solid advice. I've got a couple of cents worth of guesses, but I think a little more history of your car would help us more. Is the car new to you? or has it been in your family for a while? Has the car been "sitting" for a long time without running? Is the gas relatively fresh. I saw the new parts list, did you set the timing with a timing light? We understand all of this can be intimidating and full of rabbit holes, but just take it slow and figure it out as you go. Everything will make sense later. Pictures can really help us see what you are working with so add them when you can.

Later Bon Scott

Early Bon Scott

If it passes Muster, I vote for putting it in as is (with a color change of course). Once it nestles in, you can go to town with your old engine and do anything you want with no time pressure.