At 11:18 AM 3/11/00 +0000, larry wrote me:
> Hi John, I was wondering as to why you are
>concerned with the solenoid being so close to the
>chassis of the car? ...
>As I was looking so see if the cable was the
>same as yours I noticed what you are saying about
>the solenoid being so close. Could this cause a
>short or grounding problem? I never ever jump
>a car via this point. I also noticed that at the bend
>end of the cable that is joined to the solenoid is
>rather close to the frame and shock tower, which I
>think I will re-position. Thanks for the insight..
Larry in Canda,
While since we are only dealing with 12 volts here, almost any air gap
to ground is sufficient NOT to cause a short circuit. 12V can't really
jump any distance. That's why the insulation of 12V wires is so thin,
especially compared to the spark plug wires.
My only concern, is that it is a very quarters where the solenoid is mounted
and that while the 12V can't jump to ground, any metal or conductive debree,
or a wrench, or the end of a starter cable, could easily touch the chassis
and cause a short. At that point what you have is called an arc welder.
If we really want to be safe, we might want to glue a piece of rubber or
tar paper to the fender well where the main wires are to the solenoid so
as NOT to possibly cause a short circuit.
If you ever go down to the solenoid with a wrench, DISCONNECT THE NEG.
TERMINAL OF THE BATTERY FIRST!!!!!!!
I ended up at a "fleet supply" house here locally that was able to make me
a cable for $12. However, their "L" shaped bracket didn't have the little
metal tab, and they didn't have any of the cloth (?) covering. The cloth
covering can be purchased from Restoration Specialities in PA. I think.
I haven't looked to see what they have. I really though that that would
be asbestos and not just cloth.
Talking to George Malaska, he suggest routing the cable through the sturt
rod brace and putting some of the plastic loom on the cable. I think I'm
going to try the plastic loom and see if it melts. Hopefully I can get the
cable so as it DOES NOT touch the exhaust system.
John
John T. Blair WA4OHZ email: jblair@exis.net
Va. Beach, Va Phone: (757) 495-8229
48 TR1800 48 #4 Midget 65 Morgan 4/4 Series V
75 Bricklin SV1 77 Spitfire 71 Saab Sonett III
Morgan: www.team.net/www/morgan
Bricklin: www.bricklin.org
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