Welp during quarantine ive decided to do all the projects i wanted to on my 55 but always *****ed i didnt have time for. Scarebird brakes are done. Refinished the paint and interior that needed work. And finally got around to buying everything for a 12v conversion. So i have a few questions. First i started to tinker with it last night and map out my plan. The car has a 12v voltage regulator on it. Could it be already swapped to 12v and the previous owner not knowing put a 6v battery in and thats why he never could get it to run? Is there any way i can know if it has been converted already? If it was swapped and a 6v positive grounded battery was ran in positive ground could it have messed anything up? And if its not been swapped wheres the best place to wire in the voltage regulator for the gauges? Bought one for a early bronco.
Wow. Although it's hard to diagnose over the net or a phone. If it has a 12 volt regulator and a 6 volt battery it sounds like it had the wrong regulator installed so it likely hasn't been converter. Check the Generator to see if it is a 12 volt. In case the previous owner put the wrong battery in if it was converter. Dave
If it was converted hopefully the owner previous to the one you bought it from swapped all the bulbs, that would be maybe one way to tell. There are several websites that have 6 volt bulb charts with part numbers and the equivalent 12 volt part numbers. Another, albeit less reliable, way is to look at the + and - battery cables. If it has cables for a 12 volt system they will be smaller diameter than 6 volt cables. The skunk at the garden party here is that if it has 6 volt cables he may have just left them there when he converted since they work fine with 12 volts. Or, on the other side of the equation, if it has 12 volt cables he may have needed new ones and just got the correct length without regard to the voltage. 12 volt cables will work marginally in a 6 volt system but they won't p*** the 6 volt amps (2 times 12 volt amperage), resulting in hard starting, etc. Some, but not all radios are polarity sensitive and can be fried with the wrong polarity. I can't think of anything else in the system that's polarity sensitive except the generator if it still has one, but that's easy to fix, just repolarize per the shop manual. Also, if the ammeter indicates backward the wire p***ing through the loop on the back of it needs to be reversed. Another thing: a 6 volt ammeter running on 12 volts doesn't swing the pointer as far as they do on 6 volts. Install your gauge regulator between the power source for the gauges, usually the ignition switch, and the gauges.
Im going to pull the generator tonight. Ill check it and the bulbs. Itd be nice if it already was so i could just slap a battery and alt on it and be done haba
Just about all you would need to know is in the "Sticky FAQ" here is the bulb conversion from page 3 https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1213885-12volt-bulb-vs-6volt-bulb.html you can use this diagram from a Mustang showing the gauge regulator.
If during the 12 volt conversion you had used a one wire alternator the external voltage regulator and all the wiring that went with it could have been tossed for less clutter under the hood.
Most 1 wire alternators are internally regulated. If the generator regulator is still there you can deep 6 it. The wire going to the old external regulator will still be hot if your wiring is OEM style so you need to insulate the end that connected to it.
Ok guys so the starter solenoid isnt marked as to what voltage it is. The voltage regulator is marked 12v. The generator is stamped fbc-1 and cant read the rest but says 35 amp and vtage is gone but ***uming it is a fbc-1000 6v. Rear light bulbs are 1154 which are for 6v. The headlights are GE 2D1 which appears to be 12v? So ive read you can use a 6v gen on 12v system its the regulator that does the output. Could it be he swapped it to 12v and just left the bulbs out back the 6v units? The battery cables also seem quite small for 6v and are not original to the car.
Anything is possible when cars p*** through often ham fisted owners. Regulators are voltage-specific. A 12 volt regulator in a 6 volt system may not allow the generator to charge the battery and would probably overheat due to the higher amperage involved with 6 volts. If you have a 1 wire alternator why not just use it? It will simplify your life. You need to swap your tail lights and any other 6 volt bulbs to 12 volt bulbs. 6 volt bulbs live short, unhappy lives on 12 volts. Also, you won't need to buy 6 volt battery cables. Just saw your pics. The solenoid is 6 volt, a 12 volt one has 2 small terminals instead of 1. I guessing the generator is also 6 volt as it appears to be original, although it's possible for an auto electric shop to convert them to 12 volts. You could have it tested at an auto parts store or electric shop to be sure.
What ill do is proceed with my swapping out of parts then. Just looks like half the stuff was done. Ill put my delco 1 wire one and a 12v solenoid amd the rest of the bulbs if theyre 6v. I purchased everything already so its not a big deal i guess. Just very odd the headlights and regulator are 12v
@JeffB2 would this be an alright way of doing the cvr? Found this on a truck forum. Going to pull the gauge cluster tonight.
Pulled the cluster and its a mix of 6v and 12v bulbs....i would love to salp the guy i got this thing from. Also pulled out the rest of the charging system. I dont intend on switching to a 12v heater or having the radio or clock redone. So i pulled the heater and made a template for a block off on the firewall. Waiting on an alternator bracket to come in so i can mount that. Till then im going to start cutting out the unnecessary wiring going to the heater controls/radio/clock to clean up under dash. Also will be making a bracket to hold a blue tooth pod speaker i have to mount under the dash for when i do want some tunes.
The heater motor switch reduced the voltage to the motor. The motor will be fine running on the slow speed at the switch. That will reduce the voltage via the resistors in the heater motor circuit. It will just run fast when the speed is on slow, just don't use the high speeds on the switch.
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