Featured Technical Driving a 6V Car in Winter

For many years I drove a 66 VW during the winter, It had a 6 volts system, the only real shortcoming with the VW was it's lighting, never experienced anny cranking problems. HRP

 

I used to know someone who told me he had a Model T when he was a teenager (back when Maine winters were brutally cold); every night he would drain the oil and coolant out of it and bring it in the house. Next morning he would pour the warm fluids back in and start the T.

My former daily driver Prius used a 0-20 synthetic oil; I had never heard of such a thin oil until I bought it.

 

not 6v though

 

My dad told me in when he was little in the early 30s, his older brothers would jack up their car and put a kerosine lantern warming the oil pan Worked well for a while until one day they looked out and the garage was burning down

 

I had a neighbor with a 6V Plymouth around 1967. The car was not garaged.

I recall him placing an electric blanket over the engine with an extension cord out a window. He swore that it helped.

 

My brother had a 6 volt VW bug that he would leave a trouble light with a 75 watt bulb under the hood on very cold nights against the engine. It was just enough.

 

Every little bit can help. When I was a kid with an unreliable car, I'd use a trouble light along with an old blanket to help keep the heat in.

 

This does indeed work, works on any car with any voltage, but make sure the hood is mostly closed. That helps to keep the heat around the motor. It doesn't take much heat to help turn the motor over a bit faster when its cold outside.
If the temps drop below zero, covering the motor with a blanket, having the trouble light under it helps even more, but you have to be careful the blanket isn't against the trouble light, it could catch on fire if its touching the metal bulb cover overnight. Be sure to remove the blanket and make sure the light cord is out of the way of moving parts before you try to start the motor.

 

The new mandated LEDs are not warm enough. You have to use a heat bulb now.
This gets into a lot more stuff.
Types of heat bulb….
Types of fixtures….
Cords…..

 

I have found North Alabama winters to be better on my ‘51 than summer.
There’s an old saying….,
Batteries die in July but they twitch till January.

 

Guess the electric blanket wins then... can you still buy them? I don't do much shopping in stores these days.

 

Had to send this to Billy last night showing him how easy my 6v system starts with a 12v battery wired in for only the starter...lol

Not sure I would do this myself as compared to just converting the system to 12v. But since it was done when I got the car, I bought a new 12v battery to try it.

 

My dad bought a new Ford sedan with a flathead in 1953, when I was two. He traded it for a 1957 2 door Ranch wagon in 1958 when six or seven.

I have a couple of distinct memories of that car, a**** them is him bringing the battery in and putting it on the kitchen floor when it was extremely cold, like -20 degrees F cold.

The other cold weather recollection is of him pouring boiling water from a teakettle over the cylinder heads to get it warm enough to start. Don’t recall if that did the trick or not, though.

 

When I got my Buick, it had a 12V lawnmower battery bungeed to the 6V battery for starter duties. It worked remarkably well, only needing a charge every couple of weeks.

I have since converted to 12V, mostly because my 6V battery was failing.

 

The South has many extreme areas , im at Wayah Bald 3800ft up and this was 2 days ago pretty chilly Franklin NC - not northern Michigan cold but still cold

 

Just arrived sun fresh off of a Kansas farm still 6 volt also , im weighing what all needs addressing going to 12v and mainly because I might move to Wyoming end of 26

 

I put the new 6v battery in and boy did it make a difference! Not as quick to start as Jeff’s 12v spiked flattie but it was way better than before. Even ran to Walmart to get some Rxs this afternoon….

 

A couple of guys have mentioned them in p***ing, but for those of us in Minnesota who had to reliably get to work every day, the answer was : Engine Heaters. They came in 4 varieties. In order of difficulty of installation and how effective they were :

1. Dipstick heaters - You inserted them in place of your oil dipstick and plugged them in.

2. Headbolt heaters - You took out a head bolt and replaced it with one of these and pigged it in. It had to be one of the bolts that went onto the water jacket.

3 Radiator hose heaters - If you had a long straight run on you lower radiator hoses, you removed a section and replaced it with one of these and plugged it in. They didn't fit all cars and didn't work in the upper hose.

4. Tank Heaters - These were like a miniature hot water heater and bolted to the firewall or inner fender. You then plumbed them into the heater system by cutting and re-routing the heater hoses and plugged it in.

There was nothing better than a 1000 watt tank heater; no problem starting the car and instant heat. The heater hose and headbolt heaters worked OK for starting the car but you still had to deal with a cold car.

Later, they came out with a device that would start the car when the coolant temperature got down to a certain level and shut it off when the car warmed up. The car would start and shut down several times during the night. These were quite expensive and not very popular.

Long story short, if you has an electric outlet handy, you were in good stead. Back then, many apartment complexs had them installed and they were an excellent advertising ploy.

 

Hey Jeff,

Don't mean to hijack "Lost's" thread, but this post brought back a memory from late 70's/early 80's.

An article in Hot Rod or Car Craft about putting an alternator on a 9 inch Ford rear end along with the part number of the pulley (which I bought). A GM alternator bracket to one of the bolts of the hogs head support. That would be perfe ct for what you are doing!

God Bless & Merry Christmas
Bill
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...ar-transport-hauling-open-or-enclosed.614419/

 

There's also the type that replaces one of the core plugs in the side of the block, they work very well too.

 

Ooops forgot that one. Strange, too, as I had one in the '67 Corvette I bought new. It was a $10.00 dealer installed option back than. I probably forgot about it, as I had a series of "winter beaters" during that time and seldom used the Corvette in winter. I don't think I ever plugged it it.

Edit - Thinking about it, the reason I forgot about "frost plug heaters" is because they can't be used on flatheads (which were about all I drove back then). No accessible "frost plugs", no heaters.

 

Hey we are all friends and family here so don’t worry about it.
I remember a buddy built a T Bucket one time that had the alternator mounted to the rear end and he really liked it. I don’t remember how it was wired or anything else but it made the engine look a lot cleaner

 

I find them for $30 at Ollies' Discount.
Be sure that it is a blanket and not a 'throw'.
The controller on a throw will shut off in 2 hours.
The Blankets will run as long as ten hours.

 

Wow, that is an interesting idea Bill. Thanks!

 

First off, nice car! It’s a looker for sure - enjoy it!

I drove my bone stock 40 std coupe throughout a couple winters on 30 wt non-detergent oil. And although these may be a thing of tge past, I used a dipstick heater. Work even allowed me to plug it on their dine. Now mind you this flathead had been driven many, many miles and I knew nothing about these engines but I had to learn fast because I loved driving it.This was on Long Island where winter temps averaged 43 degrees for the most part. The car was always parked outside under a tent structure.I drove it everyday to work if there was no snow or rain and the dipstick heater really did the trick. This was in the 80s.

Good luck with your car and enjoy the ride!

 

Some warnings from Fire Marshal Trav….

Let me tell ya something…You take ordinary kitchen match…and this innocent looking can of gasoline….

Just kidding

Seriously though,
Electrical cords under loads ( like for heaters, lights and electric blankets) can pose a severe fire risk.

1.Never, ever use a coiled cord!!!
Never use a long extension cord coiled either on the floor or, worse hanging on a wall. A coiled cord with current going through it is basically a heat coil. It will heat up and eventually catch fire. I have seen this personally.
Get a shorter cord or uncoil and spread out a long cord. A proper length cord is best practice.

2. Never “pinch” a cord under load !!!
A cord that is pinched can build heat and catch fire. I have seen this. (Apartment fire, origin? Refrigerator foot pinching cord on the floor.)
Don’t pinch a cord like shutting a door on a cord or closing a car hood on an electrical cords.
Don’t pinch a cord!!!

3. Don’t use too small of a cord!!!
When using a heater or heat light, use a heavy cord. Too light of cord will overheat and burn.

4. Cautions with electric blankets and heat pads…
You solve this mystery…..
Apartment fire…
Origin was an unoccupied recliner with a wadded up electric blanket and a heat pad.
A wadded up electric blanket, did it act as a heat coil (coiled cord)?
The wadded up blanket, did it act as a pinched cord?
Wadded up heat pad, same?
For the load and condition, was the power cord too small?
A mix of all the above?

5. Heat bulbs and Heat fixtures……
The days of the benign light bulb heat are over. Now incandescent light bulbs have been replaced with porcelain heat coils. These will screw into a regular bulb out outlet. The problem is not really the heating element but the fixture. A common shop light or portable hanging fixture was never designed for that much heat. The fixture can burn at the socket connection.
The solution is a proper fixture designed for a heat element.
Infa-red bulbs….same, these produce a LOT of heat and there is a concern for fires caused by radiant heat from being too close to flammable objects.

At the end of the day…,
A heated garage looks better and better.

 

Lived in Montana for several years. Drove a 55 chevy pickup with 235, Always started to 40 below. After that plugged in a block heater. I would put a block heater that goes in core plug. Make starting easier and the heater work faster obviously.

 

Wasn't a '55 Chevrolet 12 volts? Even a 6 cylinder pickup.

 

Yes, unless it was a 1st series '55.

 

I thought 55 1sts were 12 volt.
P.S.
It appears that 1st 55s were still 6v.