Re: Electrical systems

Posted by JeromeSolberg On 2023/2/10 10:46:46

You mentioned that you had the "ground strap" running to the negative side of the battery? Was that the way it was when you got the car? I presume you got a new battery, are you sure you put it in the same way as the old one? The battery in your photo is symmetric to positive/negative, so it would be easy and natural for you to put it in with the negative going to ground, but originally these cars were built with positive going to ground.

On the other hand, this car may have been converted to positive ground in order to power that aftermarket fuel pump.

Many things are NOT polarity sensitive - the voltage regulator, the points and ignition, the lights. Things that are polarity sensitive - the generator, which would need to be re-polarized. I mention this because I think you had the generator rebuilt, I don't know if they re-polarized it as part of that process.

If I understand it correctly, the starter is NOT polarity sensitive, but just in case you want to make sure the engine is turning clockwise when viewed from the front.