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My '37 120 starter has seemed a little sluggish. All related parts appear to be correct and in good order. I assumed the battery was getting a little weak. I was cranking the engine using the button on the solenoid and noticed that the copper strip connecting the solenoid to the starter terminal was getting hot after a few seconds of cranking. I tightened the nuts with no improvement. The copper strip appears to be like what is shown in the shop manual. I bought a heavy 12" starter cable with quality eyelet terminals and put it in parallel with the copper strip. The starter now cranks noticeable faster and the engine starts much moire readily. I'm guessing that either there should be 2 copper strips instead of one, or that the starter may be drawing more current than it should, although it has been working satisfactorily. The battery is at least 2 years old, and may be older. The charging system is working 100%.

Mind sending the cross section dimensions, and approximate length, of the copper strip? I can do some calculations.

The copper bus plates do get very, very hot with any but the most brief cranking. Still, it wouldn't hurt to service the starter to try to lessen the load. Brushes, armature and bearings tend to get overlooked.

It's about 5 1/2" L X 3/4" W and about 1/16" thick. The distance between the terminals is about 4". It appears to be copper, not copper plated steel. I have started the car about a dozen times now since adding the cable, and it cranks better and starts better every time than it has been doing. Besides eliminating the power lost to heat, would the starter spinning faster draw less current to move the same load? I get the impression that the ignition is "hotter", and that the engine is firing up quicker with a less than ideal fuel mixture.

Good afternoon...Ross would know for sure, but it seems to me that the original cables and ground straps were 00 cables and do definitely conduct six volt better than lighter cables. Our 1949 288 cranked a bit slow and someone here suggested two 00 cables. One grounded to the engine and the other to the frame. This was more or less 12 years ago, and she has cranked quite happily since. Ernie in Arizona

I suspect that there should be two or three of these items installed instead of just one. A single thick piece might be difficult to get into position on the terminals, whereas a thinner one could flex slightly to make installation easy. I can think of no reason to intentionally place a high resistance link in the starter motor circuit after making every effort to keep resistance at a minimum in the other parts of the system. There is one view of the starter in the '37-'38 shop manual that shows a "ghost" image of the part. It connects the solenoid to the starter terminal.