Boswell,
The wire from the SOL terminal on the switch goes to the S terminal on the starter solenoid. This is a 16 gauge purple wire in any GM stuff I've worked on from the early 60's through at least '79.
The other small terminal on the starter goes to the (+) side of the coil. In the 1961 Chevy service manual, it shows this as a dark green 20 gauge wire. This is the coil ballast resistor bypass and is used to provide a full 12v to the coil during starting.
The following stuff is from the '48 - '49 truck wiring diagram.
From the 3/8" dia. terminal on the starter (along with the + battery cable) you need a 10 gauge wire running to the (+) (or hot) side of the ammeter. This is the main feed from the battery to the rest of the electrical system.
The ONLY other item connected to the (+) side of the ammeter is a 14 gauge wire running to the fuse box on the firewall and then on to the horn. This circuit is the feed to the horn and does not run through ammeter and does not have a fuse in it.
The BAT terminal on the ignition switch runs to the (-) (load) side of the ammeter. This needs to be a 14 gauge wire. This circuit feeds the ignition switch which then feeds the ignition and and any accessory type loads. (radio, cruise control.....)
The BAT terminal on the regulator also connects to the (-)(load) side of the ammeter with a 10 gauge wire. This circuit connects the charging system (generator + regulator) into the rest of the system.
The 'AMM' connection on the headlight switch runs to the (-)(load) side of the ammeter with a 10 gauge wire. This is feeder to the lighting system.
If you can't tell which side of the ammeter is (+) and which is (-), just pick one to be (+) and the other (-) and wire accordingly. If the ammeter reads backwards when you get it going, just swap the wires on the two posts. It won't hurt anything, just reads backwards.
You said you have an internal resistor coil. My ignorance is pretty vast about these critters.
Maybe someone else can enlighten both of us on these.
When I put a 12v 235 in my '49, I hooked up the ignition circuit as follows.
The wire from the IGN terminal on the ignition switch goes to one end of the ballast resistor. The other end of the ballast resistor is then connected to the (+) side of the ignition coil along with the bypass wire coming from the starter solenoid. Both of these wires are 16 gauge.
It's just as simple as it seems like it ought to be. Keep them questions coming until we get it.
