55.2-59 Using foot start for a V8 truck

[ses427]

Did GMC ever have a foot starter for the V8 trucks? Switching from a 6 to a V8 and would like to keep something as unique as the foot starter.

[Divine 59]

Task Force trucks with a V8 engine did not use the floor mounted "button" starter, this was only on 6 cylinder trucks.

[mongocanfly]

its been discussed before , but you could use a momentary push button switch..(looks like a dimmer switch) to crank with..mounts on floorboard....if you really wanted it

[mr48chev]

A dimmer switch won't handle the amps. That won't work at all.

What will work is a foot starter switch for a tractor.

You can get one at any farm equipment dealer, Tractor supply or other ag equipment supply stores or online.

To use the The stomp pedal part you need to make an adapter cap out of a piece of pipe/tubing that just slips over the top of the switch that can be held on with a set screw that has a short threaded piece that the pedal screws on to. That will take a few minutes of welding and fabricating but keep the look authentic. You just hook the power line to the S pole to the poles on the switch. Power to one side, wire to the S pole on the other side.

[dsraven]

if using a newer style v8 starter with a small wire to energize the starter solenoid you can use a momentary push button floor mounted switch to operate a relay or wire it directly to the starter solenoid terminal if you get a witch that is rated for that current draw capacity. the magnetic solenoid switch will likely only draw 10 amps. it is basically an electrical magnet that closes a mechanical switch that is capable of handling the amperage draw of the starter motor. a dimmer switch is not a momentary switch, it basically is either on high beam or low beam. the one shown by mr48 would work fine, just run the wire gauge required for the circuit. those switches are momentary so only connect power to the starter solenoid when you push the switch. correct me if I am wrong but I think, unlike the inline 6 starters that required a mechanical lever to operate the bendix on the starter as well as the electrical connection, the v8 starters usually had a solenoid on the starter that was electrically operated. like a newer vehicle would use.

[mr48chev]

True there are some fancy ways to do it but the Cheap version of the tractor foot switch would last until the cows came home on a truck carrying 20 or so amps. Plus The tractor switch is 13.99 at Tractor supply and all you have to do is stick it in the hole upside down from the inside, drill two holes, Stick it in from the front side, bolt it in and hook two wires to it. Throw in a 30 minute welding project if you want to make the piece to use the original pedal piece. Put the bellows over it and no one will ever be the wiser.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/pr...c?cm_vc=-10005

[mongocanfly]

did I miss where somebody said "use a dimmer switch"..?

[nvrdone]

dimmer switch wont handle the amps and is not a momentary switch.

[mr48chev]

I had to go back to post 3, the "looks like a dimmer switch" is what threw us.

The tractor starter switch is a "momentary push button switch" Plus it is made to handle several hundred amps so what little load it carries to the S pole on the starter will never be an issue.

[Second Series]

Originally Posted by ses427

Did GMC ever have a foot starter for the V8 trucks? Switching from a 6 to a V8 and would like to keep something as unique as the foot starter.

I feel the same, and have moved the bracket from the bell housing to the firewall. The linkage to starter is removed, but I still need to put in a bracket for the button. I drew up some plans in my build thread, it uses a few relays for the various switchings that happen with the newer ignition system on the '88 v-8.

[ses427]

Thanks for the input, sounds pretty straightforward.

[mr48chev]

Originally Posted by Second Series

I feel the same, and have moved the bracket from the bell housing to the firewall. The linkage to starter is removed, but I still need to put in a bracket for the button. I drew up some plans in my build thread, it uses a few relays for the various switchings that happen with the newer ignition system on the '88 v-8.

Trying to use the bracket is nonsense and useless. Just get the tractor starter button and either make a little box for it on top of the floor or stick it through from the bottom and don't waste time or money. Way too much foolishness that you don't need to do and no one cares.,

[_Ogre]

the whole idea is nonsense and useless, i try not to shoot down a newbies idea but this is one to shoot down
now if you ran it thru a nss, it would still be nonsense and useless but it would be safe

[mr48chev]

Nonsense true but harmless nonsense that makes him happy and one of those tractor foot buttons would last from now on with just the amps going though to the S pole on the solenoid.

Cost isn't going to be much more than buying a good heavy duty push button switch and mounting it on or slightly hidden under the dash.

Either way he has to change the ignition switch to one with a key start (total pain in the keester because there are no switches that fit right and the universal ones always come loose.
Install a push button on or under the dash as a start button. Simple, easy and done all the time.
Use the tractor switch and fab a piece to hold his original round foot pedal on it. The hard part of that is finding a short bolt with the right threads to screw that round piece on as I believe it is 5/16 SAE and you only want one a half inch long. That and finding the right diameter piece of pipe to slip over the button on the switch.

The dash I am putting in my 48 (not Chevy but out of a car I owned for years) has a push button on the dash but it is a go to ground push button. I'd have to run a relay with it to have it work if I don't use it for an auxiliary horn button.

Anyhow by now I'd hope that the OP has his setup all put together.