I have my new 12 volt starter in and now it just needs to be wired. The previous owner did the 12 volt conversion so I am alittle confused about his wiring technique. The ballist resistor used seems to be one of those Ford voltage regulators. In this picture it is on the p***enger side firewall So the Purple wire is connected to the "S" terminal on the ballist resistor. The posative battery cable is hooked up to the big terminal on the ballist resistor and on the opposite side the cable(black) goes to the + on the starter. But there is nothing on the "I" terminal of the ballist resistor. Here is a picture of the terminals on the new starter I marked the poles in the image for easier reference. Pole 1 is labeled "R" and pole 2 is labeled "S". How do I wire this thing up? My ignition coil wiring is wired too. it has two wires connected to the + on it and one wire on the -. But nothing goes to the starter. PLESE dont tell me to wire the starter how it was before. I rushed removing it and didn't pay attention to how it was previously wired. This is how I believe the factory starter was wired with the 12 volt conversion I DO NOT want to half *** this fix. Ill do whatever it takes to fix this properly. Except take it to a mechanic shop
Anyways, remove the Ford starter relay, connect the positive battery terminal to the big screw terminal on the starter. Connect the "start" wire from the ignition switch to the S terminal on the starter. Connect the coil + connection, and the R terminal on the starter to one end of a ballast resistor and connect ignition switch "I" to the other side of the ballast resistor.
the thing youre calling a ballist resistor is a ford starter relay. you do not need one because the starter has a piggyback solenoid built on it. the big post is from the battery and you can take a test light and whick ever wire is under power ONLY WHEN THE IGNITION SWITCH IS IN THE START POSITION will be the one that goes to the s terminal. you should always mark your wires if you dont know where they were originally. even if youre in a hurry cuz i bet youre in a hurry now to get it goin. if you'd marked them we'd be drinkin beer right now
WOw, those were helpful responses and so fast. So I will first eliminate the Ford voltage regulator. And run the wriing to the starter as described above. Squirrel is that white thing the ballist resistor? Do I need to get me one of those from Napa?
The Ford relay is not a voltage regulator, it's a starter relay. Big difference. Yes, you could get a ballast resistor at NAPA.
Yes the round white ceramic resistor mounted above the Ford starter relay is what the previous owner probably used for the 6 volt items that were not replaced with 12V items like the heater etc. We used to use them in the 60s. You don't see them that often now a days. That system will probably remain unchanged unless the P.O. incorrectly used one leg as a ballast resistor. Get a real ballast resistor and wire it as Squirrel says. The Ford relay below the resistor will be eliminated.
FWIW, you can run a stock 6V starter on 12V. The '50 I have has a '56 motor set up for 12 volts but the stock bell, flywheel and starter which was 6V. I even used it to move the car after it stopped getting fuel for some reason. I wouldn't do that every day, but to roll the car 25 feet out of the garage... it didn't hurt anything.
Anything special I should ask for? Just a ballist resistor? Any voltage or current specs? Or even the resistance spec?
It seems like I got the starter wired up okay for now. I still need to go buy a ballist resistor. The car didn't start but the starter is definitely doing its job. I really need to buy a new battery.
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