Featured Technical Driving a 6V Car in Winter

I’ve owned and driven tons of old hot rods for dailies in all seasons and weather but never a stock 6 volt vehicle. Everything I have owned was 12 volts or 12 volt conversions so I really never thought about this. After watching a ton of old movies and the obligatory “A Christmas Story “ I was wondering how they did it in the winters. Will my car be like the Old Man’s Olds or will it be reliable whenever I go out and hit the key in 30*weather? The battery is only a year or so old, all the cables are still in great shape, and my starter is good and not slow dragging.

So how many of us are driving a 6 volt car in the winter and what’s the secret to keeping one reliable? I really don’t want to make my wife and grandkids push start the car while we are out, folks look at you like you’re abusing them…

 

Does the car have an automatic or manual choke?

 

Just keep it in tune and make sure that the battery is fully charged. I ran a stock '53 Chevy through one winter, and even on the coldest morning it still ground over and started. In the old days, the first cold morning saw the garages towing in countless cars owned by people who ignored the spark plugs and points.

 

Manual, it’s a bone stock flathead

 

Just cleaned the plugs (had less than 100 miles on them) and replaced the plug wires with a set from Dennis Carpenter, and put new cap, rotor and points in. Also I’m running SAE 30w non detergent oil.

 

Well it might be good to show you what I’m driving, I’ve been here so long I figured everybody would know…..

 

My Model A starts just fine in the winter-when I do fire her up. But another guy in Michigan drove a bone stock 29 all year and didn't have any issues.

Mike

 

Good subject since you know I am doing the same. But, you also probably know I start mine on 12V with the battery in the trunk. Had to charge that one yesterday morning since it has no charging system. As much as I like the way it starts on 12V, the no charging system deal is kind of a pain.

 

I’m thinking about going ahead and swapping it over to 12v since I’ll be installing a/c in it next spring but if I can make it through the winter then I’ll be happy.

 

Winter in Tennessee?
Sounds like a place I go, to escape winter

 

Yeah one would think so, but they are already talking snow on Monday

Poor @guthriesmith is going to have a winter storm later this weekend and next week and he’s a 6v guy too

 

Yup, were forecasted to get 6-10 inches

 

Well, I guess lots of people drove 6 V battery cars through lots of winters before the 12 volt thing happened, so history is on your side. I suspect the biggest issue was with cars that were poorly maintained, or had owners that couldn't understand how to make the choke work correctly.

The biggest issue I see with you would the the 30W oil (detergent or not doesn't matter, its the thickness of the oil). If the cold temps get down into the teens or lower temps, 30W oil can get pretty thick as the temps drop, and that can have a huge impact on how fast the motor turns over in the cold. A drop back to 20W if your in an area where the low temps can get down into the teens or lower, would be helpful for faster cranking of a motor that has been sitting in the cold weather for 4-5 hours or more. The slower the motor turns over, the less chance it will start. They are saying this winter is expected to be a cold winter for most of the nation (if you believe them).

Even after the 12 volt batteries had been a thing for several years, the garages were still full of cars that didn't start when it got cold. Poor maintenance habits concerning tune ups and general upkeep don't care how many volts the battery was suppose to have if nothing was maintained. A poor starting motor is a poor starting motor, the expected voltage the system operates on doesn't matter if the car doesn't start well to begin with. That first cold snap takes its effect.

 

Didn't see a need to ever change a Chevrolet to 12v. until the '80s. However, since then, it's nearly impossible to buy a decent 6v battery.
Up here in the NW, an engine heater was a must have. The best was the re-circ type in the supply side of the heater core - plugged in 2 hrs before you had to go to work, it was instant start & a warm car in a few minutes. Ran 20w oil, set the voltage regulator to 7.8 - 8 volts, & kept all the tune-up parts adjusted ...
A Chev pickup with foot starter would fire up at 30 below ....

 

My grandpa told me that back in the '30s, he would take the battery out of his 30 Chevy and bring it in the house overnight. He would either put lightweight oil in or thin out the summer oil with kerosene. If it was below zero, he would build up charcoal fire on a big metal pan, let it burn down to coals, and put it under the oil pan to warm up the engine and the oil before he tried to start it. This was out on the farm and they did not yet have electricity.
My dad told me about his 36 Ford back in the 1950s. He said his battery was pretty much dead all winter. But he would set the choke, set the throttle, give it a pull on the crank and it would always fire right up.

 

You don’t have to worry about me driving in the snow around here. First off nobody knows how to drive on wet streets much less if they turn white, and 1/2” will shut the city down. They try to used brine on the streets with sand but it’s safer (and smarter) just to stay home

 

I've done it quite a bit cuz a lot of my cars were just old stockers.
If everything is bright and tight and it's been doing really good through the warm months, it'll do just fine through the Tennessee winter.
I sure like the color on your Ford.
What it be?

 

It’s Mexicali Maroon the factory ‘51 color

 

Straight 30w is too thick, ever try to pull your lawnmower rope when it's cold out?
And don't expect a jump from anyone!

 

I went out to the garage and grabbed a filter and 20w oil so if it isn’t raining in the morning I’ll change the oil.

 

My A Roadster and 55 pickup are both still 6 volt. The Roadster is stored in a climate controlled garage, but the pickup is not. Both start fine in cold weather with 6 volts. But I will typically put them on the trickle charger after 2 cold starts just to be safe

 

A block heater makes it a lot easier on starters and life
Even a magnetic one on the pan works better than nothing. Had one on a old Willys Jeep

 

We drove those cars every winter until the 12 volt cars came out in 1953. And for many years after as used cars. So If you have good cables, and good grounds with a recent tune up the cars started all the time.

 

Park on one of those Tennessee hills. My grandad had an old Farmall H that got parked at the top of the hill, and you had about 200 yards to coast-start it before you hit the creek.

 

Joel, Dad did the same, sorta, into the late ;40s. Battery out of the '34 Chevy and placed behind the heating stove. Rake coals into a pan in the morning and place under the engine. After breakfast, install battery, remove fan , start and go to work.

I did a little different. A light bulb near the battery and one near the oil pan.

Ben

 

I would say do the Bosch style conversion (dual relay) to the headlight wiring to get bright headlights if you drive at night.
it's not a modern thing btw
I found a headlight relay switch that's vintage for 6 volt for my wife's 33 Plymouth. It's almost looks like a generator regulator but inside there are two mechanical relays.

 

We lived in a hill. When all else failed, gravity worked.
Manual choke was a better deal than automatic choke.
The process on bad days was almost ritual, with prayer.

 

I bought a 1950 Chevy from a neighbor to my shop in 1985, it was his work car. He had a newer Suburban that he bought new and he wanted to keep it that way so the old Chevy was put into service five days a week no matter the weather. That’s why I bought it because it was damn realiable but after six months or so I traded it for a Dodge short box pickup, after all it was a Chevy.

 

We can thank @guthriesmith for inspiring me to drive the rascal hence this thread. Both my wife and I are retired so it’s not like it’s going to be driven everyday but I’d like to take it out instead and leave her new GMC at home. It was a daily driver from the time my great grandfather bought it new until ‘73-‘74 or so when my dad brought it home from the country. It lived its life on a farm so I imagine that some of the antidotes mentioned were used on it several times in its life.