Trying to start my carbureted 1.7, Electrical help Options

[pastormacman]

Issue: There's no power going to the coil/fuel pump when I turn the key. (you can skip the history and jump down to the ALL CAPS and (IMG:style_emoticons/default/popcorn[1].gif) to see more about the issue)

History: 16 years ago, this was a running 1.7 fuel injected '73 in Bakersfield, CA. I bought it wrecked in the front end, (hood crunched a little, passenger fender dented) A friend straightened the trunk, cut off and welded a replacement fender on and we put on a replacement hood. I had it painted and new tires on it. It was my daily driver for a couple of years.

14 years ago, I got a new daily driver and this sat for a few months. Unbeknownst to me, a critter made it's home around one of the cylinders with mud and leaves. I went to drive it and the cylinder overheated and seized the engine. I bought new cylinders and took it to a friend to replace. Upon removing the engine he discovered that my block was cracked. I found a rebuilt 1.7 down in Los Angeles and bought it to replace the old engine. My mechanic friend was going to work on it in his spare time for me.

I had always had trouble with the fuel injection, so I saw this as an opportunity to remove it and replace it with carbs. So he installed the carbs and after he got the engine back in the car, he discovered his dog had eaten the wiring harness (From the relay plate to the alternator/starter) At that point, life happened... kids grew up, I worked a lot and the car sat in that condition in one of the bays in his shop for 10 years.

Three years ago, my sons are now teenagers, and I decided I wanted to finish it up and get it out of my friends way. He had kind grown resentful of it being there. I brought it home and put it on jack stands in my garage. I ordered a new wiring harness and tried to finish the car to get it started for my kids to drive. I discovered that through life I had developed a strong case of claustrophobia and it's difficult to get under the car for me. So it has sat for another three years.

So I have a new friend who rebuilds VW Bugs who is now helping me.We've gotten all the electrical hooked back up. Removed the gas tank and flushed it out. replaced all the fuel lines, and filters. And got a new battery. Which brings me to the present...

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/popcorn[1].gif) ISSUE: WHEN WE TURN THE KEY, THERE'S NO POWER TO THE COIL OR FUEL PUMP.

Since we replaced the fuel injection with carburetors, we no longer have the ECU in the car. (in fact, I no longer have the ECU or any of the fuel injection parts anymore, they are long gone at my other friends garage) Not sure if that was a mistake, I thought I didn't need it anymore since the FI was gone.

My VW friend is not familiar enough with 914 electrical to find the issue. Could I have a bad relay? I see that there is a port for the white wires from the ECU to connect to the relay panel. Is there a part I need there in place of the ECU wiring? Is this a common issue with a carb replacement? Other electrical things work, (headlights, and whatnot) and if I continue to turn the key, the starter starts to crank, but no power to the coil/fuel pump.

Any help would be appreciated. Sorry for the long post.

[pastormacman]

OK. I retested all the relays I have on the headlight motors and I have four working relays. I've tried all four relays on both the power and fuel pump relay posts with no joy. I was not even getting power to pin #1 on the ECU connector.

I also temporarily hard wired pin 30 to pin 87 (on the power relay post on the relay board) and I did get continuity to pin#1 on the ECU connector. So the relay board is good.So I checked fuse #9

There is no power on either side of fuse #9 under the dash. Key on or off makes no difference.

As I understand it, power from fuse #9 is what triggers the power relay to pass power from pin 30 to pin 87

So my relays are working, but the signal for them to pass power on is not being triggered.

In fact, I connected everything up, but removed the power relay. I connected the battery, turned on the key, and hardwired pin 30 to pin 87 on the power relay post, and the fuel pump kicked on. So now I know it all works except power to fuse #9 under the dash.

So what could be stopping power to fuse #9 under the dash?

[Spoke]

There is no power on either side of fuse #9 under the dash. Key on or off makes no difference.

As I understand it, power from fuse #9 is what triggers the power relay to pass power from pin 30 to pin 87

Power to fuse 9 comes from the ignition switch. From the schematics, it looks like 12V to the ignition coil and relays on the relay board do not use fuse 9.

So what could be stopping power to fuse #9 under the dash?

Fuse 9, the ignition coil, and the relays on the relay board are powered through the ignition switch. The only items between Fuse 9, the ignition coil, and relays on the relay board are the ignition switch and the wires to the ignition switch from the battery.

If the wires are ok and you measure 12V at the ignition switch, it would seem your ignition switch has taken a dump.

Do other items such as brake lights, turnsignals work with the ignition key on?