RE: '63 Spider electrical question-help

["Brian Shorey" <bshorey@domain.elided>]

> It's dead. No
> cranking, lights, horn-no electrics. Last summer I had the generator and
> regulator replaced (the little red "dynamo" light was on). All seemed
fine. This
> winter, I noticed the battery was on it's last legs. Last time I tried to
start
> it, the battery pretty much died on me. Went and got a new one, replaced
it
> --nothing! No start, no lights etc. At first I thought one of the battery
cables
> (negative) was partially frayed, so I got a new one. No difference. My
suspicion
> (based upon speaking with some folks and trying to navigate / translate my
> Italian owner's manual) is that the starter may be bad. If so, how
difficult?
> Any ideas? I am tempted to get the car flatbeded to the shop at this
point, but
> I'm not sure if I could live with myself if I "wussed out" so easily.

If it's dead, i.e. no lights, or anything, then it's safe to assume the
problem is not the starter.

Electrical problems, especially for those who are not familiar with
electrical systems, can be tough to troubleshoot, but on a '63 Spider your
trouble should be relatively easy to find.

Start with a simple voltmeter, and verify that you have voltage at a number
of places.  Start by connecting the negative lead of the voltmeter to a
solid ground, and then measure for voltage at the battery, the fuse box,
etc.

With a total electrical failure like you're describing, I'm guessing that
the problem is relatively close to the battery.

Let us know what you find, then we'll continue.

bs
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