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One wire or two?

Hey guys, it's been a while hope everyone is doing well. Finally been getting some nice weather around here and I'm about to really sink my teeth into my 51' F1. Trying to get it started yesterday on a fully charged brand new 6 volt battery and I've got nothing happening when i hit the starter button. I get power to the coil with key on, and power to the starter button also. This is what i am trying to figure out. I cannot find any where that tells me definitively if my starter solenoid is looking for power to activate or ground. It's a single pole solenoid by the way...

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smokey

Hitech hillbilly
Staff member
The 51 6v models were a positive ground system if I recall correctly. If it hasn't been altered over the years it should be looking for a ground to the positive frame,I think.
 
The more I'm digging into this I'm thinking maybe at some point the previous owner needed a solenoid, looks like maybe he installed a solenoid for a 52 which now switched the start button to needing to send power instead of ground. That make sense? Starter wouldn't care either way, right?

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All fixed! It starts up at the touch of the button now! The start button definitely had to give power to the solenoid, not ground. Still not sure if that is correct for a 51 but that's how mine is. The real trouble i had and didn't realize was the battery cables. I had new ones but they were 2 gauge. I took a shot and decided to make new cables and a body ground from 1 ought cable, worked like a charm! Thanks for everyone's help!

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