I installed an 8ba flathead over the weekend. At first the starter didn't work, so I removed it and checked the brushes. They seemed really worn so I installed a different starter I knew worked. It wouldn't work either. I had them wired for negative ground. As soon as I wired it for positive ground it spun right over. I thought you could just reverse the wires and run the starter 12 volt negative ground. Mine will NOT work on negative ground. Any ideas on how I can fix this? Also the spring on the starter rubs on the cup part of the bellhousing tht the started attaches to. Any idea why? Thanks Matt
No idea why it works only on pos. ground as a starter the way they are made DOES NOT care what the poliarty is. As to the spring rubbing ,what part of the spring? ends ,middle? If middle the spring is expanded some from maybe a bad kick back when starting or such.
No, you leave it wired as-is and run it on negative ground - no re-wiring needed. If you reverse the wires, it won't run on either...
Depending on the cast or stamped bell housing you are using, you have to make sure that you have the matching starter plate mount. If you don't, I think it causes interference like you describe.
My 52 flatty has the original 6 volt starter and I wired in 12 v system and installed a 60's style starter solenoid and went negative ground. Never any problems at all.
It depends...on the early Fords, you can leave them as-is - no need to change to negative ground at all. I prefer the early solenoids with the push-button on the bottom anyway.
I have a 49 and I installed a 12 volt battery in the trunk just for starting when the engine is hot and the 6 volt doesn't want to turn it over fast enough. I used a 12 volt ford solenoid and wired it negitive ground and it work fine. I hid the starter button under the dash.
Good suggestions all. 12 volt soleniod, wire it negative ground, go back check your polarity of the pushbutton, The original may not work. Some do, some don't. If not use a tractor type push button
I started the engine w/ out a solenoid. Direct from battery. I didn't change any wiring in starter only where positive and negative attaches to starter. I just hooked it up positive ground and touched the negative terminal on the battery to start it. No buttons or solenoids. For some reason my starter wont work if you put a battery charger to it in a conventional negative ground, but will work when in a positive ground state. 12 or 6 volts doesn't matter at all. as for the rubbing on the bellhousing it looks like that part is dented. When I remove the engine later this week I will look closer at it. Matt
I swapped the 6 volt solenoid for a 12 volt unit. Starter worked great! Too great. I blew up a bendix. I still haven't pulled the starter out but I found and bought a new bendix on ebay. Got the easy part done...now I gotta do the work.
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