Thread: Project $ 3 K Is Underway

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Don,

Thanks. I have thought about getting a P/T job at an auto parts store to get the discout.

and the cost of marine stuff, well you know the saying, a hole in the water that you though money into....

Thanks Brad......it's getting a little more crowded under the drivers seat now though. Dan dug out his turnsignal kit and it has 4 more relays on it and we had to add one more fuse block. He actually did most of the wiring for me today, he used to do it for a living, rigging boats with electronics, etc., so it was nice to have his help.

I found one little thing I had to fix today. I forgot to add a ballast resistor on the primary side of the ignition to bring it down to like 6 volts while running. So I picked one up and installed it under the dash, Problem was, Chevy starters normally have that "I" terminal on the solenoid so that you can run it to the coil and get a full 12 volts while cranking, then when you release the key to the run position the current flows through the resistor, dropping the voltage.

I thought it over and decided I would just put a second wire on the "start" post of the ignition switch, and run it to the coil side of the resistor, that way when you are cranking the current would bypass the resistor and give you 12 volts as long as you held the key over. Well, it doesn't quite work that way. Smoke started pouring out of the resistor as soon as we turned the key to run. Come to find out the "start" post on the gear reduction starter has some resistance due to the internal windings, and it created a dead short. As soon as I removed that new wire I had installed it worked fine.

I guess I am going to only have 6 volts to the coil even when cranking because there is nowhere to pick up 12 volts . We'll see how it starts and go from there.

You are right, oddcarout, I have had boats pretty much all my life, and would have more money today if I hadn't. They are definately worse than cars.

Don

Originally Posted by DennyW

Don, I'm not sure I read this correctly. It sounds like something was wrong.

If you use the resistor in the start circuit, if you came up North, you may not start on a cold morning.

Heres a quick little drawing I just did up. This will give you 12 volts while cranking, and when returned to the run position, it drops out the solenoid, so the 12 volt contact is open, then in the run position, through the resistor for the points.

yes thats is right denny nice drawing .i have wired them with out the 12 added shot they work fine with out