Nearly one less '36 Plymouth

[36 Ply]

Tod, Bob, and Chet-

Thanks for the good thoughts and comments.

Funny thing is, I had the battery cutoff switch in my rollaway for about two years, intending to install it "some day".  Since the '36 only came from the factory with two fuses (lighting circuit and horn), not including any accessories, that's not much protection for the wiring circuit, a circuit that's 8 years older than I am.

Regards,

Pat O'Connor

[chetbrz]

Great News Pat. !!!

Happy motoring?,? Chet?

[Bob]

Pat,
Soooooooooooooo pleased that you didn't lose the '36 and were able to solve the problem.

Now heres to many more happy trouble free miles of Plymouth driving,

Bob

[TodFitch]

Congratulations on getting the situation under control and then going into the wiring to figure out what was wrong.

Between the problems with insulation on old wires and the high probability that some previous owner has mucked things up, it really is a good idea to go over the electrical system when you get an older car.

[36 Ply]

I got a good scare yesterday. I took the '36 for a 20 mile round trip, in order to gas it up in the next town (we're so small, we don't have a gas station).

All went well until I returned home, and was backing the '36 into the garage. I was about 15 feet from the garage when suddenly, smoke billowed up around the windshield.

At first I thought I had blown a coolant hose, then I realized it was electrical. I quickly shut off the ignition key and the fuel pump switch, but the smoke continued. I opened the hood, and saw that the smoke was by the starter, so I sprayed the starter with my fire extinguisher that is mounted on the passenger kickpad. It suppressed the smoke, but did not eliminate it. I ran for the garage, got a 9/16 inch wrench, and disconnected the positive battery cable. At this point, the smoke started to subside.

I went in the garage, got a soda, and sat on a milk crate to sort out in my mind what had happened.

After drinking half the soda, I began to investigate. I discovered that there was a wire, running from the starter terminal, that was tucked up under the dash, and attached to nothing (probably should have been attached to a terminal on the fuel gauge). I consulted my '36 wiring diagram, and the only wire that should have come off the starter terminal should have gone to the ammeter.

I concluded that a previous owner or mechanic had worked on the wiring without benefit of a wiring diagram, and did some guessing as to what went where.

I decided that the wire that caused all the smoke was the one running from the starter terminal, and maybe it shorted out against the back of the speedometer case.

I felt that I had better do some repairs immediately, lest this happen again. After consulting my wiring diagram I installed a battery cutoff switch on the positive battery cable (the battery is under the driver's seat and the positive cable is the easiest to access by flipping the seat cusion forward).

I ran a new wire from the ammeter to the ignition switch.

I hooked the headlight switch wire to the fused terminal on the ammeter; it was incorrectly attached to the ignition switch, and not fused.

I replaced a bad terminal end on the power feed to the radio. I also intend to install a toggle switch under the dash, so that I can cut power to the wire that runs from the starter to the ammeter.

All in all, a close call, luckilly, the culprit wire was not connected to the ammeter or ignition switch, or I would be replacing a liot of burned-up wires.

I guess I should have payed more attention to my wiring, insuring that it matched what is in the wiring diagram, but everything worked when I bought the car (except the gas gauge), so I didn't give the wiring any thought.

After I finished my repairs, I was able to start the Plymouth up, and all lights, etc. work properly.

Regards,

Pat O'Connor