Neg. Ground

D

drezin

Member
Went to charge the battery in my stock 35. Noticed the guy who did my wiring hooked it up Neg. ground. Wouldn't that be running the current the wrong way through the coil? (helmet) All gauges work except the 36 feul gauge and sender. What is involved to changing it back to positive Ground?
 
One thing we need to know; is the car been converted to 12 volts? If so, it's not a problem. If it's still 6 volts, I would seriously consider making the effort in correcting the situation back to stock.
 
Did "the guy who did the wiring" make some changes or just put the battery in backwards? I think a talk with him would be in order if possible.
 
Since you can´t change polarity on a helmet coil you have to get back to Pos Grd to get the most out of your ignition...
Time for a warranty repair from the guy that did the wiring...
 
A new harness was installed so I am sure everything is hooked up right. He just didn't realize old ford are pos. grd. He did install directionals so I will have to check those for proper wireing
 
Should be able to just switch the terminals on the battery except for the generator issue. How did he get the generator to work if he didn't understand the electrical system? Anyway, the polarity on the generator will have to be re-flashed.
 
When I received my 30 Tudor the seller was nice enough to include a new battery. He hooked it up negative ground. Hard to start, when running ran off of generator power. Reversed battery connections, polarized the generator. Too late, the oops had fried the generator relay and because it had sealed beam headlights I just ended up going with a 6 volt alternator.
Long story just to say pull the generator and see if it was damaged... Chap
 
tubman said:
I am kinda amazed that the thing even ran.:eek: These old Fords are amazing.:)
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Well, the only real issues should be the coil and the generator. A coil will work with reversed polarity, it just reduces the output (some estimates are by 20%, but I have no real idea). The generator is a different matter, not sure how they work with the polarity reversed, but I'm sure it's not good.
 
JSeery said:
Well, the only real issues should be the coil and the generator. A coil will work with reversed polarity, it just reduces the output (some estimates are by 20%, but I have no real idea). The generator is a different matter, not sure how they work with the polarity reversed, but I'm sure it's not good.
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Generator will be fine if re-polarized by removing the field terminal at the generator and with the ignition on touching it to the field pin on the generator a coupe of times. This resets the residual magnetism in the generator field core.
 
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meric42 said:
Generator will be fine if re-polarized by removing the field terminal at the generator and with the ignition on touching it to the field pin on the generator a coupe of times. This resets the residual magnetism in the generator field core.
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Ya, I was just wondering how it worked when the battery terminals were reversed in the first place.
 
My car "kinda ran" with the battery in backwards. Had to keep the RPM really up there to get down the street.
I once had a flathead where the timing marks were off three teeth. Ran, but sputtered and backfired a lot. Like Tubman said, "these Fords are amazing... Chap
 
drezin said:
Went to charge the battery in my stock 35. Noticed the guy who did my wiring hooked it up Neg. ground. Wouldn't that be running the current the wrong way through the coil? (helmet) All gauges work except the 36 feul gauge and sender. What is involved to changing it back to positive Ground?
Click to expand...
I bought my 40 Ford Deluxe here in Germany with a 6V ac alternator and negative ground. I then upgraded back to the 6v dc alternator and positive ground. But you need a Ford alternator regulator. The Ford regulator only work with positive ground. So if you now have negative ground, see if your regulator also works with positive ground.

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