March 2011

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RANDY DENCHFIELD & HIS „49 CONVERTIBLE, "THE CONTESSA" AT THE RECENT BOCA RATON CONCOURS D'ELEGANCE. PREZ JOE CUTLER DID ITS 1999-2008 GROUND-UP RESTORATION TECH TIP: IF YOUR DOME LIGHT DOESN’T WORK… By Jay Friedman .., don‟t lose your cool, but do open your ‟49 shop manual to page 201, which shows the “Circuit Diagram” of the electrical system. The dome light is powered by a "hot" (always has current in it) wire, labeled 14RXT, going to it from Terminal 5 of the headlight switch. The wire passes through a large multi-pronged male/female connection under the dash that connects to most wires going to the back of the car. In a '49, this large plug is held to the inner firewall (under the dash) by a clip at the upper left of the inner firewall (directly in back of the hand brake mechanism). From the connecting plug, the dome light wire runs up the driver's door post and under the headliner to the light, which is not grounded, and then to the dome light switch. When you turn on the dome light switch it grounds itself, completing the circuit and the dome light goes on. The dome light circuit can be checked by removing the 2 screws holding on the dome light switch and its chrome bezel. Then, pull the switch with its male connection off the wire behind it which has a female connection plug. Then, attach a test light's alligator connection to any metal ground point and poke the needle end of the test light into the female connection on the wire. The test light should illuminate; if not, that means current isn't getting to that point and the dome light won't work. This could be due to a problem with the large connecting plug under the dash, or the wire is broken somewhere along its length or it has become disconnected from the headlight switch. Note that the front door opening switches do NOT operated the dome light switch on any 2 or 4-door ‟49 Cadillac. An exception is that the front door switches will operate the “corner lamps” at the corner of the rear of the roof and the body on a Coupe De Ville. On the other hand, the rear doors on a 4-door sedan will operate the dome light switch SERIES 61 AND 62 COUPE AND SEDAN DOME LIGHT (SERIES 75, SERIES 60, AND CONVERTIBLE DOME LIGHTS ARE DIFFERENTLY SHAPED)
TECH TIP: IF YOU HAVE 6 VOLT STARTING PROBLEMS By Jay Friedman When I first got my ‟49, after running for a while on hot days, if I turned off the engine for 15-30 minutes it would frequently refuse to re-start. The starter would turn ever so slowly and the only way I could get the car going again would be to jump start it or let it to cool off. This is a common problem with 6 volt cars and, of course, always happens when admiring onlookers are standing around. I took the advice of the proprietor of an auto electric and improved my 6 volt system. This involved: 1. Installing a 6 volt battery with at least 600 cold cranking amps, which are readily available. 6 volt lead-acid batteries are sold by several manufacturers for less than $100, though authentic looking Delco batteries are more expensive. Mine is an "Optima", which are now available at www.amazon.com for about $125. Optimas use a different technology than lead-acid batteries and have more than 800 cold cranking amps. An Optima‟s downside is that it is much smaller in size than an ordinary 6 volt battery, so I had to fabricate a rectangular piece of plywood to go over its top and hold it down in the car's battery box; 2. Having my starter re-built by an auto electric shop with heavy duty field coils and, to assure a good ground, removing all paint from the areas where the starter, its bolts and the flywheel housing meet; 3. Installing a custom-made extra-thick positive battery cable made up from 600 volt welding cable. Similar thick cables can be bought ready-made from McVey‟s, The Brillman Company and Cole's Ignition and Electric, Rochester NY; 4. Installing a brand new negative battery cable, after scraping clean the negative battery post, as well as the place on the frame and the starter bolt it is attached to. These can be bought from McVey's and, I think, from Cole's; 5. Making sure that the small ground straps from the back of the cylinder heads to bolts on the nearby firewall are in good shape. If not, new ones can be bought from McVey's in Kansas and, I think, from Cole's. As with the starter, scrape any paint off the cylinder head and firewall where these small straps mount. After doing the above, when I press its button the starter jumps to attention and says "yes sir", while onlookers, if any, applaud. TWO 6 VOLT 6107s AT A RECENT OUTING: BACKGROUND - JAY FRIEDMAN‟S “GREEN QUEEN” FOREGROUND - ART GARDNER‟S NEWLY PURCHASED “JUNIOR”
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March 2011

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