[ducatist]

Thanks to all of you who provided me with the benefit of your better (or at least fresher and more objective) minds…especially those of you who kept telling me (in effect) when in doubt; blame the alternator. You guys were right…sort of. Truth be told, I’m more to blame than the alternator since I used a spacer on the plastic alternator cover that had just enough excess diameter to make contact with the metal plate on the back of the alternator where the connectors are mounted. Instant arc…just add 12 volts. I discovered it after determining the grounding problem went away after I removed the plastic cover, but returned once I reinstalled it – another clue was the arc popping (and heart stopping) sound that emanated from the engine compartment the instant I connected the negative wire to the battery. The oversized spacer was blackened where the arc hit it – a dead giveaway of a dead short to ground.

So, a properly sized spacer was substituted and the problem was solved.
Not one to dwell on unpleasantness, I moved on to the test cranking of the engine. After a minute or so of turning it over, it cranked up, seemed to need and not get enough fuel and it died. I repeated the process a few times and it cranked and idled on its own, but there are some rattling sounds that seem to be coming from the driver’s side intake rocker bank – maybe the oil hasn’t gotten to that side in sufficient quantities. There were also a few minor back fires through the pop off valve, but nothing worse than you might expect of a cold SC. I can’t accurately check the oil level without the car running at idle for a while, but the dipstick looks a little low. I’ll pick up a few quarts of oil tomorrow and see if that quiets the rattle. Very little smoke on first startup, but there is a rich smell of unburned fuel.

I guess I wasn’t expecting it to crank up and purr like a kitten, but hopefully, with the addition of a little more oil, it’ll at least sound like an SC again.

Thanks again.