I have been fooling with my 50 Pontiac trying to get it started. I had the 6v battery charged and tested it checked out with a good bill of health. I hooked up a temporary ignition switch. (batt to batt, ing to coil, and sol to starter.) bypassing all the chewed up 60 year old wiring. At this point the car cranks but to slow to fire. Now that im done rambling on about the stuff I did, what I need to know is why would it crank so slow and super heat the batt cables? The batt cables look small like on a modern car, and how bad of an idea is it to try and crank with a 12v batt. Any advice would be a great deal of help. thanks.
A 6v system is very fussy about having perfectly clean connections, and very heavy battery cables. Start there first. If all else fails, a 12v battery won't hurt your starter or temporary wiring that is not hooked to the rest of the 6v parts.
When was the last time the engine ran? Measure the battery wires, the cable not the insulation. Starter in good shape?
The answer is in your post. "The batt cables look small like on a modern car". A 6-volt system typically has very heavy battery cables. Like mentioned above, you could hook up a 12 volt battery, since you don't have anything connected that will be damaged by the higher voltage.
I just ran out and looked the empty cable packages in the truck say 4 gauge. I think the starter is ok cause with the plugs out i cranks alot faster.
Not for a short run. Sounds like you're just trying to get it started. If you put a ballast resistor between the coil and the ignition switch you'll have no problems at all. Without the ballast it will still work, but any extended running will make your coil hot and shorten the life of the points.
I grabbed the 12v yellow top out of my jeep and threw it in the the Pontiac and it cranks great. I have no spark, I was to lazy to do any testing so i ordered new points and a condenser. The plugs look ok the cap and rotor look ok, so if the new points dont fix it I will do some proper testing.
I got the points in today, When I cranked it over I got a BOOM!!!!!!!! So I know I have spark now. I guess the boom would indicate that im out of time. What would be the best way to find tdc on the flat6? also would any one happen to have the firing order for this car? And to any one willing to help this is my first rodeo with a car this old, so try and have some patience with me.
I got the firing order fixed and it relay wants to take off now, but when it tries to take off I just get a puff from the carb. Any ideas on what to do next?
Where to begin? First you should know that when you have half the volts, you need twice the amps to get the same power. So all wires on a 6v car need to be twice as big as a 12 volt especially the starter. You have already made good progress towards starting. The "boom" may be 2 things, the valves aren't closing real tight or the timing is way off. It is possible to have the timing right on the timing marks but 180 degrees out on the distributor. To check this, turn the engine by hand with the spark plugs out. Put your thumb over the #1 plug hole. When you feel the pressure or air wooshes out that is the compression stroke. line up the timing marks, the rotor should be pointing to #1 and the points just opening. 3d possibility is you got the plug wires mixed up, easy to do so check the firing order. Squirt a little oil down the plug holes and spin the engine over to oil the rings. Put the plugs back in, pour a shot of gas down the carb and give it a whirl. If it starts, rev it up to a fast idle and let it run for 10 minutes. You have water in the rad I hope? As it runs it should smooth out if it is running a little rough. PS double check you have the plug wires on the right plugs. It is very easy to get them mixed up especially 3 and 4 and not notice it.
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