"quick start for old Fords"
 

Any heard of this "quick start for old Fords" trick? Or tried it?

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My father drove old Ford cars for many years. One starting trick we learned was to short the starter solenoid usually mounted on the fender to the body with a large screwdriver.

It would make sense in that it is providing full voltage to the coil during cranking, rather than the reduced voltage normally provided by the resistor installed in the coil circuit.

You could also use a relay to achieve the same thing, but there are inline diodes which will do the trick nicely and be almost invisible.

coil
 

During cranking the battery voltage drops to around 4 volts , this is because of the massive current drain on the battery . That diode mod will not do much IMHO

If the starter circuit is dragging the battery down to 4 volts, then what is the voltage at the coil after going through the resister in the normal set-up?

Personally, I just use a second battery (12 volt) which hooks to the starter only and does not get re-charged by the vehicle. The 12 volts runs through the solenoid which is activated by the 6 volt starter circuit.

On my UC, I can stand outside the carrier, tap the starter button for about 1 second, and the carrier will sit there and purr. Likely a sign of a too-rich carb, but I can live with it.

If you want to overcome the whole problem , put a 12Volt Fordson V8 dynamo on it , change the regulator for the same model in 12V , and change the bulbs , the solonoid can stay 6V also starter can stay 6V.

And then you can use a ballast coil (9volt) but is fed 12 volts while the engine is cranking. This does improve things, but you wouldn't need it. Changing to 12 volts would be enough. You might blow the starter bendix though.

The starter bendix on the Fordson 12 v Starter motor is the same as the Ford Canada 6V Starter motor

Yes Maurice, but the extra "zing" can blow them to bits on rare occasions. I have only read this. Apparently the modern cartridge type handles it.