ClassicCar

RonS wrote:

Dave, I am assuming you are referring to current draw when cranking the starter. A few years ago I put a load tester on my 308 and optima battery. Cold cranking start draw was 225 - 250amps. Of course oil was 10w 30 and the engine had @ 7000 miles so it was not tight. This is why I do not recommmend Those "little green wheels" as a kill switch. They are rated below 250 amp and act as a current bottleneck. My 1950 Caddy pulls 325amps, so your not that far off. I would replace the #1 cables with 00 for less resistance.

After checking absolutely every thing and finding nothing wrong, I made a temporary 2/0 cable from a piece of stiff household service wire..soldered the connections.. The voltage drop from the solenoid to the starter measured only .02 volts!! about 1/10th what the factory felt was acceptable. So i had the local interstate battery guy make me one from welding cable for about $18.00 including tax. Looks great. problem solved. It's interesting though that an old original cable I had from my 49 appeared to be 1/0 guage. Thanks for the advice

I'm afraid I have to differ with Ron. Of course Hudson was in business to make a profit, but they also put a premium on quality materials and all aspects of performance. A club acquaintance years ago told me he had worked at a steel plant in Ohio where Hudson bought their raw sheet steel. Contrary to the other auto manufacturers, he said, Hudson always insisted on the highest quality stuff they produced, never anything less. I'm sure the battery cables Hudson used were appropriate according to the standards at the time (or better).

The cable is not cheap. I just bought 100' for $277.00 on Ebay. That is as cheap as it gets. I have another use for the stuff, but if any is left over, I'll probably have some Hudson cables made up.:ohmy:

I got a set for my Jimmy from here: http://custombatterycables.com/. Very impressed with them, going on about six years now.