81 Cutlass ignition wire to '71 motor's starter...

[deesandvees]

Swapped out my 81's 260 for a '71 350. The starter from the '71 is already bolted up to the '71 motor so I figured I'd just use it but it's got an R terminal and an unlabeled terminal. The starter from the '81 motor has an S terminal and maybe another, can't remember. If I'm supposed to connect the purple ignition wire to the S terminal, how would that translate to the '71 starter? Connect to the R terminal?

[maxwedge]

Should work.

[MagicRat]

Originally Posted by deesandvees

Swapped out my 81's 260 for a '71 350. The starter from the '71 is already bolted up to the '71 motor so I figured I'd just use it but it's got an R terminal and an unlabeled terminal. The starter from the '81 motor has an S terminal and maybe another, can't remember. If I'm supposed to connect the purple ignition wire to the S terminal, how would that translate to the '71 starter? Connect to the R terminal?

Only one of the two small terminals will work.
The other terminal is a power source to provide a full 12 volts to the ignition coil. .

You will have to try one terminal to see if it will work. If there is no start, then try the other terminal.


BTW, back before the days of electronic ignition, a car's ignition system used a resistor wire carrying 9 volts to the ignition coil. Any more voltage would burn up the ignition points in a few hours of use.

However, when the car was actually cranking, a second wire would provide a full 12 volts to the coil for a stronger spark. As soon as the key is released, the 12 volt source shuts off, leaving the 9 volt source to power the coil.

This 12 volt source comes from one of the two starter motor terminals.