8BA starter question

Howdy fellas, im looking for an electrical gremlin in my 1950 ford custom deluxe with the 8BA flatty in it pos ground.
1. i can't seem to find it that dang ol' gremlin.
2. ive ran across something innteresting (well at least to me)
the post on the starter where the cable from the solenoid seems to be grounded with the body of the starter, which in turn is grounded with the pos side of the battery!!!!
now logic tells me thats all wrong, and i think thats where that gremlin is hiding out, but i cant seem to find a starter to compare.
could one of you with a flatty starter please tell me that this isin't ok so that i can be done with this headache!!?
thanks for the help.
Ralfy-

 

The battery cable terminal on the starter is insulated from the starter body. The electrical current passes through the brushes into the starter housing to ground to complete the circuit when cranking.

 

Try replacing that cable with a new one.
It has helped me in the past, and not that expensive or time consuming.

 

John-
I figured it was like that, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't crazy...
Convx4-
I chkd that cable while it was disconnected on both ends and there are no breaks. I'll remove it and inspect it, thx

 

According to a starter rebuild place, there's supposed tone continuity because the brushes act as grounds...?!
Anyone else?

 

So what is the gremlin?? What is it doing or not doing? When does this gremlin pop up? When it's hot or cold? 6 V systems are very sensitive to dirty connections. 12V systems can over power poor connections that 6Vs can't. The positive ground cable needs to go directly to the block with the paint removed under the cable end.

The first thing that I'd do is remove every battery cable connection both positive and negative and wire brush each terminal and the connection. Get the mating surfaces shiny for the best connection. It only takes one loose or dirty connection in the entire starter system to create havoc.

I had a 41 Woodie that had intermittent start problems. Visually everything looked good and tight. It started fine for a few weeks after I got it. I discovered a loose cable at the solenoid. The cable from the solenoid to the starter motor. It had been that way for who knows how long? don't assume anything. Looks can be deceiving.

 

Tommy-
you hit it right on the head, when i hooked up the multimeter to the battery the voltage would go way down, to something like 4 volts.
what i found is exactly what you described. there were a few grounds dirty and the block although grounded to the battery was not grounded to the body nor the frame, i figured you cant have too many grounds.
and viola!!!
gremlin erraticated!
thanks for the help!!!
Ralfy-

 

My pleasure.