I checked out the wiring diagram and this is what is buzzing when I try, yes try but fail to start the car. This is a bit perplexing since the car was starting just fine.  I tracked down the electronic choke and the guy the put the car in did not hook the choke up to anything.  Could the relay just be fried?  If so was it caused by this guy not hooking up the choke?  I really wish I would have installed this engine myself...I moved and my new local doesn't have the facilities to do an engine drop. dads2vette2010-08-21 07:26:32

I forget, you got the original 350 quadrapuke??  or is it a different engine and carb??

The relay being damaged/disconnected, or the choke disconnected shouldn't keep the car from starting...might make it run rough until it warms up, but it should start.
What is happening when you "try" to start the car?

All the choke "heater" is is a bi-metallic coil inside of the housing. The relay provides voltage to the coil, and the other end of the coil is grounded. This causes the coil to get hot, causing it to expand(un-coil), and thus moving the choke to the open position.
The relay shouldn't be making any noise, for sure. You can unplug the relay, or connect the loose wire to the coil. There is a 12v power wire from the fuse, and a wire going to the choke housing(coil), and a wire going to the light in the dash. The wire going to the choke also goes to the other side of the dash light. IF there is a problem with the choke coil, the "Choke" light on the dash should light up.

I like my quadrpuke! At least right now that it works!.

What Joel says !!!

I have a 350 crate motor with edelbrock carb, computer is unplugged.  The car was running fine. Then I put the center console(no guages) back together and the problem started. I thought I grounded something, especially when I heard the relay start buzzing as soon as I tried to start the car.  I unplugged the relay, checked for a short or ground that i may have caused(couldn't find anything) and now I get nothin'.  I'll probably check to see if it'll start by jumping the starter.  We'll see.

Check the conection under the counsole. Is not hte nuetral safy sw connection there? that would keep pwr from the starter solonoid and prevent the starter from engaging

Bob, I thought of that.  I had both nuetral safety switches go on me on the Camaros we restored.  I'll probably change this one out just as a matter of "do it now or rip everything apart and do it next week."

So you're saying the starter will not crank the engine? That info was missing from the original post...
9.4 volts won't do it, as you know. With a charger hooked up, and the battery at full charge tho, it should. Depending on which terminals you "jumped", you can either just spin the starter motor, OR engage the solenoid to pop the bendix out while the motor is spinning. When jumping to crank the engine, you need to connect the large center terminal with the smaller terminal closest to the engine block. This will both spin the starter motor, AND engage the bendix. If you jumper to the lower terminal of the solenoid, the one that has the small bolt holding it to the starter motor, it will spin the motor, but not engage the bendix.
You should also check to see if you have a full 12v at the purple wire on the solenoid while trying to start with the key. If you don't have a solid 12v there with the key in "Start", you have either an ignition switch, neutral switch, or wiring problem.
hth