ive got an 8ba in 32 and run wiring as if in 32. when i hook battery up to foot push ignition on floor that goes to starter and have jumper to the coil wire and ground to drive shaft collar like 32s' are suppose the battery turns it slow and then dies off. been doing that more and more. every so often it will have some giddy up then dies before will start. need help. the fella that was helping me build it wife go ill so i cant hardly bug him. thanks in advance
Make sure you have a real good ground with a connection to a non painted surface and heavy enough cable. Grounding is important especially if you’re still running 6 volt systems.
btw, im using a 12volt just to get its initial fireup. but it was turning ok but seems to be getting worse like battery is dead when i know its freshly charged. its getting 12volts to the top of the starter but how to tell if good ground. right now im just trying to isolate and im trying to just get the starter spinning good. just feeding info so you can help
A good BARE SPOT. Where isn't all that important but the contact point on the block has to be bare clean metal.
Stock 32's had a lug at the torquetube's mounting cup for the ground strap to connect to. The stock battery was right there. I think using a trans-to-block bolt might be better. Make sure to clean the trans surface off, the bolt, and squirt the hole clean with brake cleaner too. Then use dielectric grease on the bolt and strap end when installing. Find a close-by hole in the frame to bolt the other end of the strap to. And make sure your battery is grounded well to the frame also.
alot of good ideas here. i did the lug strap thing for the battery but i did not so say ground the motor. only thing i guess you could say the motor is touching is the at mounts which is rubber at front and the trans is bolted to the frame which is bolted to the motor but again i think the trans has a rubber boot too. And of couse its all got a nice coat of paint everywhere so some stuff to work on. I am just trying to get starter turning now so i am not even trying to mess with ignition. i have sort of back off and just trying to eliminate. i am/was trying to stay true to 32 wiring cause i still have the 32 motor and didnt want to tear anything up if i wanted to go back original. the 49 wiring diagram mentions a starter solenoid but i am going from starter to the food starter switch. NO problems anyone see there..right? i will try to post some pics if it will help. im in shop as i type and troubleshoot. so keep em coming
The reason the original ground lug on the torquetube clamshell works is because it bypasses the rubber mounts. If the grease and paint were gone, there's nothing but steel and iron between the clamshell and the starter. Direct line for the electrons to flow. Restorers and hot rodders ruin a nice electrical system with a lot of new paint.
i sanded the paint off there but starter still seems like I have a damn near dead 12 volt battery hooked to it. so perplexed and frustrated
12 volts should spin the starter plenty fast. After trying with the starter, feel all electrical cables and connections from battery to starter. Are any warm or hot? If so, there could be the problem. Is your starter good? Is the armature rubbing on the field coils? Use a GOOD jumper cable and by-pass (or assist) the positive cables and then the ground cables and see if it makes a difference.
This is a "just in case". Do you know that it has been pumping oil? If not, I'd pull the plugs and see if it turns freely by hand. I don't know what assembly lube you used, if you pre-lubed it, etc., but depending on how long you have cranked it, the cylinders may be getting dry. I know that's not likely the problem. I was just thinking in terms of too much strain on the starter. You didn't say if it had fired at all. I was going to guess the starter was bad, but JW beat me to it. It may be draining so much electricity that there's none left for the ignition.
so far i have found that i had a terrible ground for the starter...too much paint on everything. now it wants to run but when let off the starter it dies too
now that its spinning, if it wont run you need to go back to the basics. got blue spark? carb is full of gas, accelerator pumps when you open the throttle? is the timing correct? firing order correct? does it spin a consistent rpm, no speed up spots like valves stuck open?
As stated, need a better explanation/description. "Wants to run but dies when starter stops". Explain. Does it run fine while the starter is turning or is the motor just barely limping along and the starter is keeping it running?
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