not charging

hi i just put a trans in my 67 camaro it was doing fine before but now it not charging i have to jump start if i shut it off it wont start back battery acts flat i checked for pinched wires has new high torque starter/alternator/regulator/battery is about three yrs old a friend told me it might be my battery also my tach when i shut car off goes backwards past 0 would the battery do this or is a ground prob.can anyone help.thanks cole

If you suspect a draw while the car is off; Take off one battery terminal. Now put a test light to that battery post and hook the test wire clip to that cable end. If the test light comes on, you have a draw. Then disconnect things by pulling a fuse at a time, or unhook non-stock things like stereo or tach, etc.

If you don't have a draw, borrow a voltmeter. A good battery will show 12.5v without the motor running, and about 14v running at a fast idle.

Check the ground straps on the back of the heads, you may have broken one when you removed the tranny if the engine was not supportd well.

The main power wiring for your car runs up from the starter lug along the back of the engine. The stock setup should have included a metal tube near the back of the exhaust manifold, and it is held by one of the bolts that hold the trans and engine together. This tube protects the wiring from exhaust heat and from being shorted against any other metal.

-- If someone has removed this tube or it is too close to the exhaust, you may have a power wire that is burned and shorted to ground.
-- The power wire also leads up to a junction and runs across to the alternator. If the wire in the tube is broken or making a bad connection, you have no charging from the alternator. You can't see a break that is hidden by the tube.
-- Where the wire exits the tube you might have pinched it between the engine and trans when you bolted them together.

Bruce