Hello all,

I have recently acquired a 1959 Fairlane sitting on a 1974 F-100 chassis and running gear. Has a 302 that looks relatively unmolested - except the wiring which is butchered. Trying to do some cleanup and thought I would ask people who know the truck that gave it's heart to this car. In the picture below you can see the silver starter solenoid to the right, but in the middle of the picture it looks like there is another solenoid, because the big gray wire at the top comes directly from the battery while the other big gray wire heading off to the right goes to the starter. I am thinking I should get rid of one of these and just use the silver solenoid. I want to post here to see if anyone with a 70's truck with a 302 has something that looks like this or just the silver starter solenoid.

wiring in my Ford

 

Neither of those are 70's solenoids. The silver one is much older. The black one is an 80's unit like what was on my 89 Ranger. If the older one works, by all means use it. The ones produced today are crap. You have to really be careful buying new solenoids today, many stick after used a few times starting the vehicle.

 

It's too late now, but hacked up wiring is one of the deal breakers for me when considering buying an old car or truck.

Every one of those crimped connections is suspect.