I have rewired a 1966 and it has transistorized ignition. When I hooked the battery up I put the positive terminal on first and then when I touched the negative terminal to the negative battery post there was a small arc and the terminal almost stuck to the battery post. Do I have a short or is this normal? If I have a problem where would you start looking. I replaced the engine harness, transistorized harness, dash harness, and rear harness. There are no blown fuses under the dash and it does not smell like an electrical smell. Thanks, Jerry Nutt
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Re: rewiring a 1966
Jerry,
It's definately not normal. Remember, the black battery cable(if it is colored as original) is positive, not negative like most cars. To start, make sure the neg side of the battery cable is not attached to anything other than one of the starter attaching bolts. Also, make sure no part of the exposed positive battery cable where it attaches to the pos terminal is touching the battery hold down, which is grounded to the car. If you have a wiring diagram, double check for proper wire attachments to the solenoid. I'm sure more suggestions will follow from others... -
Re: rewiring a 1966
Rob: Thanks for the advise, but the negative terminal goes from the battery to the engine block on the passenger side. The positive is going down toward the starter. I have spent the last year trying to bring this car back to original and have installed transistorized ignition and a new transistorized distributor and new coil and all new wiring. It has proven to be very frustrating. Jerry NuttComment
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Re: rewiring a 1966
Jerry,
If you're getting the "short" when you attach the neg battery cable, with the key off, there are only a couple of "hot" wires that could be connected wrong. Check the wires going to the solenoid: the center terminal should have the pos batt cable, black wire and red wire...purple goes to the inside terminal and pink to the outside. It sounds like you have a "hot" wire grounded somewhere if attaching the neg battery cable causes the problem you describe.Comment
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Re: rewiring a 1966
I have checked the solenoid and the wiring appears correct. The horn relay was mentioned earlier and I checked and the wires are srewed on the terminal that says bat, which I believe is correct. Any other suggestions? All of the wiring harness's came from Lectric Limited.Comment
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Re: rewiring a 1966
On the horn relay you may find 2 black wires. One is ground!!!! and should be attached to the screw that holds the case to the core support. I made the same mistake......Comment
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Re: rewiring a 1966
Jerry,
If you're ready for trial and error, I would disconnect the wires from the solenoid, except leave the pos battery cable connected to the center terminal. This should remove power from everything and allow you to connect the neg battery cable without the problem occuring. If not, there is something wrong with the battery cables connections at the starter/solenoid.Comment
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Re: rewiring a 1966
Jerry,
With regard to the horn relay, I have a '66, (which I think is wired different than my '67 was)...the red wire goes to the BAT terminal, the other has No wire connected to it. As Steve said, the black wire with the metal connector with a hole in it goes between the relay and the radiator support as a ground. The other two black wires, which can only go on the correct way, connect to the bottom of the relay.Comment
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Re: rewiring a 1966
Jerry,
Rather than using your battery to check for a short-Get an inexpensive multimeter (less than $20 Lowes/Home Depot/RadioShack)and check for a continuaty to ground. Clip one side of the lead to a good ground- the other to your positive battery cable (disconnected from the battery). Some meters will beep seeing a ground and then you can disconnect wires till the beeps stop. A LOT easiery than trying to put the smoke back in the wire/part that just burned up!!!
Good Luck-
RichardComment
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Re: rewiring a 1966
WHOA! The black wire at the starter does not go on the solenoid. It is a ground wire and attaches to a starter mounting bolt. If you attach it to the positive terminal you will burn up the new harness.Comment
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Re: rewiring a 1966
Ken,
Interesting...my assembly manual shows the black ground wire attaching with the neg battery cable, as you say, but another black wire attaching to the center solenoid terminal with the pos battery cable...Comment
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Re: rewiring a 1966
Jerry,
There are two black wires, one(14G)attaches along with the neg battery cable to one of the starter mounting bolts...the other(20G)attaches along with the pos battery cable to the center terminal of the solenoid. I don't know if they have the same size connector, but maybe you have these switched...Comment
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Re: rewiring a 1966
There are TWO black wires with large ring terminals on them down there; the fat one (14-ga.) is a ground wire for the heater blower and wiper motor, and goes on the outboard starter mounting bolt. The small one (20-ga.) is a sense wire for the ammeter, and goes on the battery cable stud on the starter solenoid.Comment
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