Hey Guys I have been a long time troller but I finally have a question/problem.

I have a 1971 Cad De-Ville Hearse with a 472 and I was installing HEI in it today. The previous owner gathered all the parts and we decided it was time for the install. Well we got it in and it wouldn't start. (it had fuel/spark) After many attempts we noticed the dizzy was clocked to far so it wouldn't start. We stopped cranking to adjust the dizzy and then try again but there was nothing. No power what so ever to anything in the car. Not even headlights or cabin lights. Its like the battery had died. We charged the battery for an hour and still nothing. All the fuses are in working order we also replaced the ignition switch down on the column.

We are hoping someone with more Cadillac knowledge could help us out with some suggestions on what it could be. Maybe some fuseable links somewhere were damaged from the excessive cranking? (I am not sure on where they are)

Thanks a lot guys and have a great day!
-Joe

There usually is a fuseable link down near the starter. I have never had one fail before on me but I think that is what they are for. When you took out the old dist, did you make note of where the rotor was pointing and reinstall the HEI the exact same way? If it has fire and doesn't start it sounds like the classic dist 180 degrees off problem. You will have to start checking for voltage everywhere Is power going to the starter? is the starter switch sending power to the start terminal? Is power going from the starter to a junction block on the firewall? Check all the fuses too. That's all I can think of right now. There should be more tips coming. good luck.

It sounds like a bad connection ... make sure both ends of each battery cable is clean and tight... now if thing still don't work you have a fuseable link burned.. that would be connected to the positive cable at the starter...
but lets go back to the HEI distrubtor... the positive wire that went to your points distrubtor has a resistor in it... for the HEI distrubtor you will need to change the wire....

You may need to run a new wire from your distributor to the fuse block, to a terminal marked IGN., which should have power when the switch is on. A spade lug on your wire should be able to plug onto that male terminal.