Hi, long story short I got a 1979 K5 that was disassembled in 1982 and is in better than mint condition which I did have running. Well in the excitement of getting it running again I quickly threw a battery in it (not realizing it was hooked up backwards). Saw a small puff of white smoke and then nothing. I'm assuming there is some heat shrink type wiring or fuse that needs to be replaced. Any help would be appreciated on where to start. Thanks.

 

I would guess the fuseable links would be the first thing I would check. They should be somewhere inline from the starter to the fusebox. See if there is power before and after them

 

If you hooked things up completely backwards, I would guess that you burnt something out in the alternator. That should be fairly easy to remove and have tested as would the starter. The rest of the wiring can be checked.

 

Not sure what you meant by "hooked things up completely backwards" but the engine compartment was left together the entire time,and none of the wiring was taken out, and I even had it running previously. Basically I just hooked up the terminals wrong and saw the smoke.

 

What I meant by that is it is not like there was a second battery that was hooked up correctly. By reversing the polarity through the system, the damage should be limited. You shouldn't have dead shorted anything.

 

I have read that it is most likely the fusible link wire in between the starter and the fuse block so when I am home from school next week the work begins!

 

yea....and you will also need a new battery...lol

 

It is unlikely that the battery would be affected by connecting it up backwards. Possible, but unlikely.

 

Surprisingly enough the battery has worked for almost a year yet after the incident.