Running an engine out of car ... Powering starter & solenoid

[MarkA67]

I've got an old mechanical diesel engine for a project, by mechanical I mean it has a throttle cable, a fuel pump that runs off the timing belt and not an ECU or sensor in sight! In fact I think the only two electrical things on the engine are the starter motor and the stop solenoid on the fuel pump. I'm looking to get it running whilst tied to a pallet in the shed, I know my way around a wrench but know NOTHING when it comes to electricity! I'm not too sure how I go about getting power to the starter in terms of grounding, obviously the negative terminal on a battery goes to the car chassis and the starter itself usually has an earth strap bolted to the bellhousing but I don't have either of these! Also, it has a stop solenoid on the starter than opens and closes to run and kill the engine respectively, do I just hold the wire to the positive terminal to open it and take it off to close it or something?

[mtrehy]

Battery & jump leads.

jump lead from battery +ve to big starter post, battery -ve to somewhere sensible on the block (starter motor bolt or something). to get the starter to turn the engine you then need to use an old spanner or screwdriver to short between the big starter post and the solenoid connection. (hundreds of videos on you tube will explain this - search "how to test starter motor")

you will need to connect battery +ve to the stop solenoid - this can be a thin wire from the same battery.

If it's cold I would also run a heavier wire from the battery +ve to the glow plugs but this must be switched or disconnected - i.e you only want to operate the glow plugs for a few seconds before startup (do not leave this connected!). You won't need to worry about this at the moment.

Obviously a bit of common sense required with all of this in terms safety!