Projects 59A Starter Weak as Hell

After reading your first post again, it seems you are trying to start/get the engine to crank, outside of the Model A. That poses another problem, what you’ll want to do is add a relay in, wire it it with a momentary switch, this way you can securely attach cables from the battery to the relay to the starter. Same for the ground/hot you’ll attach to the engine.

Sort of a poor man’s run stand.

 

so I need copper cables, 4 awg or 1 awg are you recommending?

 

If you have to go buy do not have
#2 awg copper or Tin copper .
Me I would use 1 or 00,
Off top of my head would be good for
6 - 10 ft with 6 v ,, The longger the cable wire's Higher awg size wire cable needs
& a Ground should be same size AWG .
And clean for good cone tack ..
You can look all this up , do not trust just one two reads ,
& A I 60% wrong ,,
Older do***entation older books points
Out Recommendations and what should be use more than modern info .
Also @JumboJalopy with the 1 or 00
On 12v starter will really spin over fast ,
But a 6 v need's correct cable's & connections size .

 

Yea the engine is sitting on a tire in my friends garage right now, we wanna make sure its not a boat anchor before we go through the trouble of tracking down a transmission and buying the engine mount kit to weld into the A frame

 

Hey guys, just another update. We had the starter rebuilt, it was $125 and it came back in a day, it looks good, even painted, and has a 1 year warranty. We will maybe test it tomorrow or sometime this week and let you guys know what happens.

 

How’d the starter work out, get a chance to try it?

 

Nothing changed, it performed the same as the old ones. We’re still forced to use jumper cables, but we’re going to try a 12v jump pack. It ****s too because this is the last major thing we need to work in order to get the engine running

 

Are you still using those two threaded rods or have you since ordered correct bolts and the little bracket ?

 

^^^ This as well. Also, you really need some battery cables as well.

 

Jumper cables will not work. I learned that many years ago, and repeatedly- not enough amperage- a electrical guy can prolly explain... Mi rooten for ya!

 

We got bolts, but no bracket

 

Hillbilly method of starter testing, lay it on the floor, hook up the power cable to a battery, step on it with your foot and scratch the ground cable to the starter case.

If its good it will immediately jump up to full RPM and darn near escape from under your foot. If it winds up RPM slowly its weak. If it p***es this test on the floor and is still weak on the motor you still have a ground problem with the block would be my guess.

 

We had 2 bad flathead starters at work, one old, one new. Found a crusty old one in the back room, put it in and the car starts perfectly. The first 2 would p*** any test we could think of. Just had no cranking power when hot.

 

Hey guys, been a little while. We finally got around to working again, we put the intake manifold and carburetor on and tested the starter using a snap on jump pack that I borrowed from work, and we actually got the engine to turn over well with the starter. We were really excited. We have one final roadblock before this thing fires up, and its ignition wiring. We will be running this engine on a tire on the floor, and this is what our setup is like. We will use a 12v battery just to use the starter, and the ignition will be 6v because we have all the stuff for it. We have a 6v battery, 6v coil, crab distributor, and 8 plugs and wires. We do not have a timing cover gasket at this time so we dont plan on running this engine for long anyway, just off brake cleaner down the carb. We don't know how to wire the ignition at all. We have no ignition switch or solenoids or relays or anything so we just need to know where wires go for the battery, coil, and distributor. Thanks for your guys input, I'll upload a video of this thing as soon as its running.

 

Power to points / coil when you go to start , use alligator clamps the 6 v will need to be grounded to engine
For coil / points . Hot alligator clamp to positive 6 v ,, if starts to kill / stop engine remove alligator clamp from the 6 V battery.
Also Gas or can brake clean to prime in carb , not needed but helps ...
Make sure engine is secure if you wop carburetor the torque of the crank can flip the engine over. It will left from driver side .
Also add coolant to both sides of the block / heads , & do not want to run to long dry or no coolant flow , have gauge or temp gun ,,, don not let get over 200 deg
& a oil pressure gauge.

 

I have a temp gun and we will probably just watch temps without water since the water pumps are off, don't plan on running it for more than 30 seconds total, just want to make sure it runs at all. So what you're saying is we need to run the negative to the negative side of the coil, and then from the negative of the coil it goes to the condenser on the distributor. The positive grounds to the block, and also goes to the positive on the coil, right? Does it matter that we don't have a timing cover gasket? I was afraid that since we don't have one, the distributor isn't isolated from the block ground and would short out.

 

You need to ground 6v bat to engine
The coil Neg goes to distributor
The hot side of coil alligator clamp to hot of 6v batt when you want to start engine , if you leave hot side of coil without the engine running you will burn the points...
Stick rag or 2 litter bottle or something in block where water pumps go...

I am not sure on the Timing gear cover gasket
On the F-H If it will seep or spray out,
I would not think it would pump a cord out in a minute or so but maybe somebody else will chime in

 

Sounds good, we'll try that sometime this week