Minimum wiring set up for initial starting

[swmddo]

I am ready to start up my ‘49 Cosmo. I have ALL new wiring but have not yet connected everything; only the ignition portions. I am wondering if I need to be concerned about the light harness, gauge connections, or other ‘loose’ ends potentially grounding out anything during start up?

So, I know I need to connect the battery to the solenoid and the starter, and to the coil, distributor, generator. I wasn’t planning to connect the ignition switch, but maybe I should?

Is there anything else I need to know?

Thanks

Steve

[Lee]

Steve, all you really need is power to the coil, and a jumper wire from the battery to the solenoid to crank it (pliers across the solenoid studs is the cowboy way, tho). At least that was all I needed last time I hot-wired a car.

I would either leave the main harness / generator feed disconnected, or at least tape up any hot loose connections. You can run it just on battery power for quite awhile.

[swmddo]

Thanks!

[TonyC]

One thing, though it could be academic (better experts can verify): Are you running 12 volts, or did you stick to the original 6? Although I'm not too well-versed on voltage, I think it's ill-advised to mix components designed to run at twice the voltage as the rest of the car's nervous system, unless the whole of the system is operated on to handle the higher voltage.

---Tony

[Dan Szwarc]

You don't even need a generator. Just start it and run it long enough to check things.

I started a car using a fuel can to the fuel pump, a battery, and even bypassed the starter solenoid.

[swmddo]

Cool! How do you keep it running, an alligator type clip or something?

It is the original engine and is still 6 v.

Steve

[Lee]

Yeah, just run an alligator lead from the negative terminal of the battery to the coil (opposite the side that connects to the points).

This assumes that the car is still positive ground. Otherwise, just use the battery terminal that doesn’t bolt to the chassis/engine.