J.Lackland
New Member
I have taken temporary care of a P6 2000 registred in may 1966, with a suffix C chassis number.
The car's been off the road since 1983 and last time the engine ran was in 2005.
Amazingly the engine hadn't stuck, and I'm now trying to make it run, but there are some snags.
What I'm trying to find out first is, if the car's got positive or negative earth.
As a suffix C it should be positive, but the generator's been replaced by an alternator from SEV Motorola.
How can I find out if + or -? Below some findings, hopefully they can be understood.
- The battery earth cable clamp was missing.
- I replaced this with a new cable intended for negative earth.
- The battery cable to the solenoid is black and the clamp is a tad too small to fit the posititive battery pole.
- In spite of this, I connected the battery using negative earth. No sparks or smoke, and amazingly the starter turns the engine. The distributor rotates the right way too.
I'd much like to know, before I go further; does the starter turns the same way regardless of polarity.
The alternator is confusing too - were there ever alternators for positive earth?
I can also mention that some electrics worked: horn, windscreen wipers, headlamp flasher, fan and interior lights. And in case you wonder, the car will probably have to be scrapped due to rusted sills, and who knows what other horrors, though amazingly the floors seem ok, as do the doors and suspension pick-up points.
Rather sad though.....
The car's been off the road since 1983 and last time the engine ran was in 2005.
Amazingly the engine hadn't stuck, and I'm now trying to make it run, but there are some snags.
What I'm trying to find out first is, if the car's got positive or negative earth.
As a suffix C it should be positive, but the generator's been replaced by an alternator from SEV Motorola.
How can I find out if + or -? Below some findings, hopefully they can be understood.
- The battery earth cable clamp was missing.
- I replaced this with a new cable intended for negative earth.
- The battery cable to the solenoid is black and the clamp is a tad too small to fit the posititive battery pole.
- In spite of this, I connected the battery using negative earth. No sparks or smoke, and amazingly the starter turns the engine. The distributor rotates the right way too.
I'd much like to know, before I go further; does the starter turns the same way regardless of polarity.
The alternator is confusing too - were there ever alternators for positive earth?
I can also mention that some electrics worked: horn, windscreen wipers, headlamp flasher, fan and interior lights. And in case you wonder, the car will probably have to be scrapped due to rusted sills, and who knows what other horrors, though amazingly the floors seem ok, as do the doors and suspension pick-up points.
Rather sad though.....