would 2/0 AWG wire from West Marine be suitable for a 1941 Ford 6v system

[hueyhoolihan]

on my new-to-me 1941 ford convertible, i will be installing as a first step, new battery cables. so am gathering information and recommendations. tell me what you think. would AWG 2/0 (double 00) sized wire from West Marine do the job?

previous owner put in a 8v battery and a new starter and bendix to help address starting issues. but the starter still hesitates for almost a second on every push of the button, but after that one second struggle, the starter does turn over the engine without further hesitation fast enough to start the car. but i refuse to believe that such silliness (i.e. the 8v battery) is necessary. in fact, i find it hard to believe it won't be damaging...so will be replacing the 8v battery with a 6v battery too

i may even throw in a new 6v voltage regulator just in case the previous owner ruined it in a futile attempt to force it to function properly with the 8v battery.

[Kube]

That hesitation sounds as if the armature is dragging a bit. Perhaps worn bushings.
No, an 8v. battery is never necessary to anyone other than those that don't want to bother setting their car up properly.

[hueyhoolihan]

thanks for the response.

i've got an invoice for work done in august of last year, that shows a new starter and starter drive were installed to the tune of $388 for the starter and $151 for the drive, plus $131 for labor. so i have to assume it's good. but then again...well, you know.

the invoice states "STARTER 6V NEW 3103N". i've seen such an item advertised for sale on the net as "brand new". and so it may be, IDK.

unless i hear something to the contrary i will approach the starter hesitation problem as an inadequate ground issue. which is part of the reason i will be changing out the battery cables first thing.

[52flthed]

I went through similar struggles with my starting system as well. Here's what I will tell you. I did change to 00 cables which helped, but what also really helped was getting the starter rebuilt by someone with really high standards, and a lot of experience, hard to find in today's world.. These starters will come back, still start, fooling you, but strangely keep going on and on; severely underperforming in perpetuity. Classic scenario: starts ok cold, but once warmed up the starter starts really slowly. If your'e using original parts remember these things are nearly or are 80 years old. A lot of rebuilds come back as Aerosol Overhauls, ask me how i know? There's more to this than just throwing brushes at it. Many owners/mechanics don't stay with a 6v and if they do, they constantly blame it on just being a 6V system. Remember they started well back in the 40's and 50's. Everything has to be perfect on a 6V system. Just my experience as a new classic car owner too.

[tubman]

I, too will attest that there are rebuilds, and there are quality rebuilds. I had a marginal starter in my car for almost 20 years; you know, one that would start the car 99% of the time but you always have that lingering doubt in the back of your mind. It was only after a good friend and neighbor got into repairing electric golf carts that I was able to get a good starter into my car. He obtained the tools required to work on these DC motors and the skill to use them that transferred to the car starters. I decided to do my own after getting a bad rebuild from NAPA about 5 years ago.

I am a firm believer in 6 volt systems as long as they are done right.

[hueyhoolihan]

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once i build the new cables i'll pull the start so that i'll be able to bench test the supposedly new starter without load and see if there is any hesitation. if none, i'll pull out all the sparkplugs, install the battery and starter and see what it does in the car with minimal load. this should isolate grounding issues. and then start adding sparkplugs and monitor as they are added. if the hesitation begins to return as sparkplugs are added i know it's a "load" issue and that the problem may actually be the starter...and then go from there.

[Flathead Fever]

It's probably the starter but just in case I would perform a "voltage drop" test on every cable and component in the system just to make sure you're not losing voltage somewhere in the circuit. It's really an easy test to perform. It keeps you from replacing perfectly good parts. There are a bunch of voltage drop tests you can watch on YouTube.

[Anteek29]

Originally Posted by Flathead Fever

It's probably the starter but just in case I would perform a "voltage drop" test on every cable and component in the system just to make sure you're not losing voltage somewhere in the circuit. It's really an easy test to perform. It keeps you from replacing perfectly good parts. There are a bunch of voltage drop tests you can watch on YouTube.

I concur with a voltage drop test recommendation .

[kurt v]

Make sure you have bare metal on the moter for the starter to have a good ground, no paint.

[pbsdaddy]

I agree with the bare metal. But don't limit it to the starting system. To make your 6 volt system perform like it is supposed to, clean every ground and wire connected to it. Your car (and the wire) is 85 years old. Time and its friends, rust corrosion, wear and depreciation have all taken a toll on the car. Returning it to the way it was, when new, will make it work like new.

[Kube]

One small thing that is often overlooked is the push button on the instrument panel. The reproductions are of terrible quality and will at times not engage the circuit.
I always find NOS or NORS switches. I also solder a dedicated ground to the body of the switch and connect the wire to a bare ground point beneath the instrument panel in close proximity to the switch.
It is amazing the difference that little ground wire makes!

[SoCalCoupe]

Originally Posted by tubman

I am a firm believer in 6 volt systems as long as they are done right.

I second that motion.

[Conrad Rossi]

Indeed!

-Conrad

[corvette8n]

Make sure your grounds are bright and tight as the old timers say. Found a missing ground on my daughters Cavalier every time she stepped on the brake it killed the engine.

[TJ]

X-2 on Kubes suggestion. The repo starter buttons are of questionable quality. As others have said grounding is critical on a 6 volt car.