Putting a 6 volt dash cluster from a 1934 terraplane into my 31 ford with a 12 volt system. Only using the speedo with the gas gauge and planning on getting the gas gauge to work but the gauge is 6 volt. Do I use a 12 to 6 relay? Is there such a thing. Could it be that simple? Thanks in advance for any help
No, not that simple because we don't know what type of gas tank and sender you will use. Senders in the tank are different as far as how many ohms they run on.. There is a great thread on here about a hamber using a 33-34 Dodge gauge cluster in a different brand of hotrod.. He used mid 70s Ford pickup truck gauge "guts" inside of the original Dodge gauge housings, then snipped off the modern looking Ford needle and superglued the old fashioned Dodge needles on. Here is the best part about those Ford gauges,., Some have the needle pointing up, some of the gauges point down. >>>AND each gauge ran the same ohms, so if the Ford temp gauge has the needle going the right way for your gas gauge, you CAN use it's guts for a gas gauge. I copied his thread on my car, and when it came to getting a new gas tank sender from a big hotrod/homebuilt parts supplier on ebay, I just picked out the adjustable "tank depth" sender-unit that had the correct Ohms specs for a Ford, not a Chevy.. Works great . .
I have a custom made tank unit for the gauge that was done by bob wolffe. I just need to convert the 12 volts to 6 volt so I don't burn up the gauge.
Ford used 6V gauges in all cars from '56 up through the '80s, so get a voltage reducer off the back of a Ford gauge cluster. It will be a small metal box about 1" x 3/4" with two connections on it.