1930 Dodge DA Wiring

[JLRK]

I have a 1930 Dodge DA whose wires were fried before I bought it.  I bought a new wiring harness from RI Wire and wired everything up according to the schematic they sent with one exception:  I don't have the original starter.  It was replaced/modified by the previous owner and instead of having a cable to engage the starter to the flywheel, it has a solenoid.  I, believing that electricity is witchcraft, connected the battery (using positive ground) to one side of the solenoid, the other side to the starter, and a 12g wire from the solenoid to the starter button, with a second wire going from the starter button to the ammeter.  This does not appear to work.  Ok, stop laughing.  Rather than trying to play wack-a-mole in trying different connections I figured I would post this and see if someone can point me in the right direction.  I'm thinking the wire from solenoid to starter button should actually go to the ammeter, but in my head that means that the starter could be triggered regardless of the status of the key switch, plus, if that's true, what wire goes to the starter button?  Everything else under the dash is wired according to the schematic.

[Mark Gregush]

Try running the wire directly to the battery terminal on the ignition switch instead of to the ampere meter terminal. Does not matter if you have floor switch, dash push button, floor push button to engage the Bendix or pull cable, you are going to have power to the starter when those are activated on most all early cars up to the advent of the turn the key to "start". Don't over think it.

Edited October 1, 2023 by Mark Gregush (see edit history)