Hi John
A few points that may help you:
1. It makes no difference to the car which way round the battery is
connected. The only thing on your car that is polarity conscious is the
ammeter, and that will simply read -for+ and +for -. Very often the whole
system repolarises #itself# if the battery is reversed (my father-in-law did
this accidently to my wife's car). As long as the ammeter moves predictably,
the + and - arn't terribly important.
2. The starter circuit is different to the rest of the car in that it draws
#heaps# more current. This means that a loose battery connexion or poor
battery ground that is not apparent when using ignition or lights will
#totally# kill the starter operation.
Check every connexion from battery lug to starter switch to starter, then
engine to chassis and so on back to the battery. This include the leads
themselves. I was working on a Healey 100/4 recently and found the battery
cable had poor joints taped over, a chewed out section taped over and, also,
a loose joint to the chassis. The owner had constant starting problems which
he blamed on the car being 'old'.
3. The side (park) lamps on T-types have only a very tenuous grounding
arrangement. I always run a separate ground wire from the lamp back to the
chassis. Also check the contact pads on the bulbs: these are only lead,
hence very soft and flatten with time. Contact pressure is lost and the
lamp operates intermittently. Fit new bulbs, or if you can solder just build
up the contact pad on the old bulb.
If at first you don't find the fault, keep asking questions. For all the
cracks made about Lucas and British cars, nearly every problem I have
experienced has been due to something #done to the car# by a DPO or other
person.
Regards
Dave Dwyer
J2, TA, TC
Sydney
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