Im building a ‘32 Ford 3w bonneville style hot rod. Is there any reason to convert the electrical system to 12 volts. The starter, generator, and headlights are 6 volts now. Why do people convert to 12 volts when the 6 volt system works?
If I had a 6 volt vehicle where the system was working well (and it does if in good shape) I'd leave it. Now you can get better headlights, electric wipers and things like that if you go 12 volt.
Multiple reasons..... One, 6V components aren't commonly available anymore. Even lamps and batteries will likely have to be special-ordered from most parts houses; after all, it's been over 70 years since Detroit sold anything with a 6V system as OEM. Two, 6V systems are twice as sensitive to issues like voltage drop/poor connections compared to 12V systems. Three, all wire/cable sizes need to be double the size of what you need for 12V so that's an added expense. I'm not saying a well-constructed and maintained 6V system won't perform adequately, but your 'operating window' is much smaller.
I dunno my old cars are 6 volt. Flathead turning over on 6 volts sounds awesome. I like stuff to be all old as much as possible. There certainly is something to be said for the ease of availability of 12 volt stuff but I dont really care about that sort of thing.
If you stick 12 volts into a 6 volt starter, you won't ever think.... "will it or won't it start?". I've been doing it for 20 years with different 6volt starters, all still going strong.
If you can run 6v, do it. I've switched several over for various reasons, usually related the the expense of the missing original parts. If you have the parts already, you don't have that excuse.
What Crazy Steve said. I also view as if you have a complete car that is 6v, it's ok to run that. But if a new build or serious rebuild go 12v. Sent from dumb operator on a smart phone
So say you parked up town, left something electrical on. Come out and have a dead battery. Reason enough for me to change.
One thing, you can push start a 6 volt stick shift car with a generator and a dead battery. Can't do that with a car with an alternator on it. I'd say that Crazy Steve as he most often does Hit the real points pretty well. Basic 6 volt pieces like light bulbs, coils and a few other pieces can be hard to come up with on short notice. Burn out a 6 V seal beam headlight on a road trip and most likely you aren't going to find one on the shelf at O'Reilly's or Autozone most of the time. Same with an ignition coil. Even a 6 volt battery can be hard to find in some areas. Still my little boat tail roadster will be 6 volt simply because that fits the build plan. Second thing with that particular car is that I'll most likely never drive it more than 150 miles away from the house on it's own tires. If it breaks I call one of the kids to go get my trailer and come get me. The car just flat isn't intended to be a road trip car and so be it. The biggest rub with 6 volt systems has always been the dim headlights at night. It's way too easy to drive faster than your headlights reach out ahead with them. That alone is why most rodders who have early drive trains swap to 12 V, so they can run headlights that they can see far enough down the road safely along with maybe a 12 V radio and now a 12V power port.
My F-1 pickup is still 6v....flat V8 w/OE generator. All new wiring though. I've been driving it 10+ years now, been all over the western US with it.... zero issues.
Guess I've driven about 25k miles now on my bone-stock 6 volt shoebox. It really hasn't given me any grief. Early on, before I had it tuned up decent, I killed a tired battery & had to jump it with 12v. I wouldn't treat the ignition system to that on a regular basis but it worked. I see some halogen 6v headlights online but haven't studied them. I agree that the originals aren't anything to get excited about-high beam seems equivalent to modern low beams-but again, there might be ways around that. I haven't had much trouble finding 6v stuff at NAPA but maybe because I live in a rural area; a lot of that stuff was shared with farm equipment and there are huge numbers of 70-80 year old tractors still going strong on 6v.
I am running the original 6 volt system on my 37 Hudson but to get it to work right I had to find someone to rebuild the starter & generator plus replace the battery cables with thumb sized welding wires. I do wish I had 12 volt for a few reasons; 1) I really really want to run a tachometer and have yet to find a reasonably priced 6volt unit. 2) being able to safely jump start the 6 volt if (or I should say “when”). 3) ease of finding replacement parts bulbs, etc but especially batteries. 4) as I continue to try to hop up my old engine the need for greater spark becomes more important which means I need 12 volt. 5) if I ever decide to play with running something like fuel injection of throw boost at it I’d need 12 volt. 6) I have been using an old Garmin to know exactly how fast I’m going & how far I’ve gone & really like it. To plug it in vs charge it before each use would be nice! 7) did I mention I want a tachometer? Absolutely agree with the 12 volt better headlights! One old timer told me, “if your gonna drive it, taking trips you want 12v.” Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Why wouldn’t you upgrade? While a starter on 6v sounds cool it doesn’t overcome the advantages of 12v. 6v batteries have a terrible life span and the ones on the shelf at the tractor store are usually old to begin with. On 12v you can run a compact AGM battery that takes up little space and is trouble free for years. Also, unless you are going to wire it yourself with heavier gauge wire, these universal harnesses are made for 12v which can get risky for fire with a 6v system.
My 40 is still 6 volts but the headlights don't shine very far as has been said earlier so I don't drive it at dark even though everything works good.
I had 6v on my 30 chevy, everything worked great. Started and ran, head lights were a little dim. Does a 6v hot rod out score a 12v.....in a tie breaker..yeah if I was judge. Sent from my SM-J320V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
x2 on that. The batteries are the biggest disadvantage. 6V Batteries that you get nowadays are crap and expensive. They are not easy to find, mostly you have to order them, at least here in Europe. I am on my 3rd on my 1950 Merc within 10 years although I keep mine maintained, I have a battery shut-off switch and kept them loaded during wintertime. (My 1964 Ford needed a new 12V battery every 7-10 years.) The bulbs are not the problem, they are cheap, won't get old and take up no space. I always order more of one type to have a small stock.
why can’t you bump start a car with an alternator and a manual trans ? I’ve done it lots of times, or maybe I’m reading what you wrote wrong? ive has both 6v and 12v cars A good running system on 6 volt is fine if your ok with a little slow cranking when hot and dim lights. ive also installed 8v batteries in 6 volt systems with success and only had to adjust the regulator and it solves the slow cranking issue. many car ive had that needs extensive wiring done I swap over to 12 volt simply as has been stated ease of getting parts and cost.
If it's 6v and a stick tranny, turn the ignition on, get it rolling, pop it into 2nd gear, dump the clutch. If it's got a generator, it's gonna start. Dead battery 101
This hits the nail on the head. I still have 6v in my 41 p/u and a complete and high quality new wiring harness made for 6v, however the Optima battery is the key to success. I also have a battery disconnect switch that I use religiously. To the O.P, you have a great build going , however, I see your frame is somewhat modified or newly built. I'm not criticizing, but going to 12v is like your frame choice; it is functionally stronger and more reliable. JMO
Go with 12v and you'll never look back, especially if you drive your vehicle a lot on road trips and want to see the road at night.
Local NAPA store keeps 6v batts in stock as do the tractor supply places ( rural PA ) Have them in my '55 PU, Farmall & Ford tractors, usually get around ten years on them. Installed a 6v alt on the Farmall.
I have never looked into 6V Optima batteries. Which one do you use? I have always bought German VARTA 6V batteries, because they are easier to find here. But they are heavy and bad quality and after 3 that did not hold longer than 2-3 years, I have to find better options.
The headlights on 6 volts only throw so far , so you have to make sure you upgrade your headlights to 12 volts when you put in a faster motor, otherwise you will outrun your headlights, and they will be shining behind you.
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