Ignition Cut Off Switch

[BigDave LM6174]

Going to put a cut off switch in my 52 Henry J.  It is still 6 volt.  what size amp switch would you use?  What is lowest amps  I should go?

[retired wrench]

Are you talking about a switch in the batt cable, or just in the ign feed?

[Fid]

I too am curious about you're thinking of installing and why. What is an "Ignition Cut Off Switch?" The ignition switch itself cuts off all power to the ignition. The battery cable switches are a pain in my opinion - one more thing to go wrong and I've seen many of them that do. I am interested in what others have to say as I see a lot of them.

[mbflemingkf]

Fid, I like the peace of mind of mind of being able to kill all electrical current to my car, particularly with this old wiring.  I admit, I must raise the hood and throw the lever when I go out and do the reverse when I return to my garage, but I sleep better at night.

I used to have one of those cheapee battery disconnect imported knob thingees, but after having a Stude buddy (he is a very mechanically knowledgable guy) get stranded after stalling on a busy road until he discovered his was provided too much resistence with a hot engine, we both have switched to this type/brand on the positive side of the battery:

http://www.amazon.com/Wirthco-20108-Knife-Blade-Battery-Disconnect/dp/B002OWFLC4/ref=sr_1_6?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1369542757&sr=1-6&keywords=wirthco+side+mount

It's a monster!  Very well made, heavy, and so far has provided great connectivity after restarting a hot car.  No delays or hard cranking.  I threw the old one in the trash!

Just one man's experience.

Mike

[BigDave LM6174]

I have a military version battery cut off switch behind the center grill bar on my 51 kaiser.  I am able to kill all electrical power while it is stored in garage.  I also have a battery tender 6v connected to battery directly with a wire extending a plug under the car near the bottom of radiator.  I store the car on a lift.  I simply drive the car on the lift, disconnect all battery power, raise the car, plug in battery tender from below.  No more worries.

 I just have no idea the rating for a 6 volt battery cut off switch or does it not matter? it's a pain to get to the military switch in my 51 without taking alot apart.  I just need to hunt down a matching switch to install in  the henry j.

[retired wrench]

If you are putting something in the batt cable it will have to carry enough current to operate the starter which could be in the 200  amp range.

[Fid]

Thanks for the info Mike and Dave.  The wiring in my cars was quite worn as you mentioned. I replaced the harnesses with new ones from Bob McBride so I'm not concerned about that any more.
I disconnect the batteries when the cars are stored for the winter.  A side note, I got Edgar's car out yesterday and it has a battery cable from www.antiqueautobattery.com on it. I've voiced my complaints about their products before but will again. Ever since I installed, then repaired, then installed again one of their cables on Edgar I was never able to get it to tighten on the battery terminal. I thought perhaps it was due to size tolerances but no, once again it was the quality of their "junk." The bolts they use corrode badly in a very short time and cannot be turned easily. When I finally figured this out, I put oil on it to see if I could get it off and put some grease etc. on it to resist further corrosion and the bolt twisted in half on me as I tried to loosen it. Junk. I took the bolt off the cable that was previously on the car and it worked great. For the first time in 5 years I was able to easily and satisfactorily tighten the hot (negative) terminal on the car.

[retired wrench]

Batt bolts are special. They have square heads and the nuts have a shoulder on them to hold them out from the clamp so you can get a wrench on them,plus they are galvanized.

[jap tin]

I used a Moroso super duty disconect switch. 74102. 300 continous amps rating. $69.95 @ Summit.