converted to 12v, now, no start

I did my 12v conversion to my 51 Pontiac and now when I go start the car, all I hear is a hard click on the starter, but it doesn't start. What the hell could be the problem? The starter is on a push button too. Can anybody give me a reason for this? and how to cure the problem.

 

Dead Battery?

 

turn on your headlights, try to crank the motor, do the lights go off? if they do, you have a bad connection or a bad battery.

 

I had a 1952 gmc 6 that was converted to 12 volts with the floor mounted pedal for starting. The contact on the starter had corroded from the hotter spark of the 12 volts I guess. I pulled the starter and cleaned up the contacts and it started fine after that.

 

I tried to start it with the lights on and they did not go out so i know the battery is fine. One thing I did notice when I went back out there was that the tail lights were on (with no key in the ign.) and I can hit the starter button without the key on and it does the same thing (hard click).

 

You might want to go through all the "big wire" connections including the ground wire that connects the engine to the car frame, and the bolt that holds the battery ground strap to the frame or the engine. Those points can often look very good and still have very high resistance from hidden rust film between parts that you can't see.

If the battery terminal clamps are the kind that have two bolts holding the cable to the terminal, unbolt the wires, take them loose and wire brush them before clamping them back in the battery terminal. Ditto about them looking good when they often aren't.

 

[If the battery terminal clamps are the kind that have two bolts holding the cable to the terminal, unbolt the wires, take them loose and wire brush them before clamping them back in the battery terminal. Ditto about them looking good when they often aren't.]

If you have these - get rid of them.

 

If the headlights stay bright when you try o crank, it sounds like you have probably isolated it to the "HEAVY" circuit from the fender mounted solenoid to the starter-to-engine-to-ground. or possibly the contacts in the solenoid itself.

 

Pull the starter, and check it out of the engine. If it spins out of the engine, then it doesn't have HP to roll the engine.

Could be the brushes were on their last leg, and the 12 volts pushed them over the edge.

Put some new brushes in the starter and clean it up.

 

would that cause my tailights to stay on though? I am about at wits end with this.

 

Nope. Two separate problems. Are you sure it's the tail lights, or is it the brake lights. Do you have an aftermarket turn signal?

I think you have a simple miswire there somewhere.

 

I think its the brake lights because when I press on the brake the light doesn't

 

if that thing is wired anything like my 52 chevy they use a heavy gauge wire from the starter push button to the light switch as a constant, this may be the root of your tail light problem. however, sounds like to me you may just have your wires crossed at the starter solenoid and it could be causing it to operate oddly.