Featured Technical Driving a 6V Car in Winter

Well, I am glad that I could motivate you especially since I am just doing it out of necessity. To be honest, my youngest son is headed to Arizona tomorrow for a couple weeks for work so I won’t be driving mine to work much. I’ll probably still drive it every day, but it will be mostly around town. If nothing else, I kinda hate stacking a bunch of miles on an original 60k mile car since my commute to work is 60 miles a day…

 

Six volt was/is not as forgiving as twelve. Period. Short trips, winter time short days, generators that needed to be wound to a higher rpm to charge well, resulted in MOST of the time the car bedded down with a weak battery . Alternators AND 12V helped that a LOT.

Ben

 

my '39 Chevy, stock 6V and 216 I6 starts just fine, even below 0 F
it takes getting a handle on the number of pumps to give the foot throttle, manual choke pulled full, and accelerator pedal to the floor.....hit the starter and push in the choke immediately (a little more than half way) after it starts and let off the accelerator pedal and fiddle with the choke setting until the engine smooths out....
I usually go as soon as I get oil pressure....
I've started running 5-20w in the winter and 5-30w in the summer
the '31 A Roadster 4 banger with 6V and a downdraft carb and manifold, instead of the stock updraft....
takes a technique of pump the accelerator pedal a couple of times, hand throttle about 1/4, crank over the engine and pull the choke after starting cranking and push it back in fully and the engine starts there...
Repeat the choke pull if it doesn't, while still cranking....
my point being that each car starts differently based on what kind of cold start fuel enrichment the engine needs
also running out all your 'summer blend' fuel will help and making sure you have a full tank of 'winter blend' fuel
both these cars are usually parked where there is no electricity for block heaters, which really do help...
plus they get driven an adequate distance to recharge the battery....
good luck...

 

SAE oils are great...for building sludge! My mind says more sludge in the cooler seasons because they cool off faster. "Detergent" oils suspend the nastiness and help prevent that. I'd suggest 5W 30, 5w 20 if you're expecting extended temps in the teens.

Batteries, well that is a topic charged with a lot of doubt and doesn't amp up confidence. I'm not a fan of Optima batteries but I've serviced a lot of cars that have em. The only good I can say is that they seem pretty peppy in the cold but once they're gone, no warning. Instant junk. Won't charge, sometimes won't even take a jump. So now what? Turn the headlights on for 30 seconds on a cold morning. It excites the battery and warms it a bit inside. Once you learn the cold start secret handshake it'll be fine. Best advice? Warm it up as long as possible on cold trips. If everything is in good repair you'll be like the whole country was until 54-55, and later as stated already. We don't see newsreel footage of highways littered with broken down cars because they're 6V.

Oil. Excite the battery for 30 seconds. Learn the cold start courting ritual. Warm it up as much as possible. Done. Yes, I've moved many a car in the cold. Drove 47 Cadillac back from Philadelphia in February many years ago. 6v, all stock, hit a 21" snowfall an hour east of Cleveland on 80. Snow so deep I didn't hardly need steering, followed the truck tracks! I was fine, just took a lot more hrs. Now THAT was a road trip.

 

That was a road trip!! Yeah I’m fixing to go out there and see if I know the handshake, it’s 41* (39* windchill). Hopefully my battery will be good

 

41? T-shirt weather! It's 28 here. 3 to 5 inches by sunset...

 

Oil is a real biggie to getting a 6 volt car to start in winter. 5w 20 in cold weather is what we used to use. First cold snap all the gas stations would have a bunch of cars towed in cuz they wouldn't start. Oil change to get the summer oil out and the winter oil in, charge up the battery and they were good to go.

 

Then you had to worry about the Dodge starting

 

If your headlights don't dim at all when the engine comes down to idle, your electrical/charging systems are working well.
If the headlights dim, things could be improved. Often just a matter of adjusting the voltage regulator.
Just in case, maybe carry a small 12 volt battery and jumper cables.

 

Had it 25 years and it never did not start, I remember more than a few -30 mornings that the 360 lit right up.

 

i drove a '49 back in the '70s and often drove in snow. i had good luck with the biggest marine battery that would fit!

 

Sometimes, even 12 volts aren't enough. I had a '57 MG Magnette sedan that was 12 volts, with two 6 volt batteries connected in series under the rear seat. I tried not to use it in the winter, but sometimes I had to. Luckily, those occasions were when my brother-in-law lived with us. The car had a crank, so with me inside running the choke, ignition, and throttle, and him on the outside turning the crank, we'd usually get it going.

 

I was going to college in Northern Illinois staying on a farm. My ride was a 1954 Chrysler New Yorker. It had a 331 hemi, Powerflite transmission and a 6 volt electrical system. Only one time the old car failed to start. It had dropped to 20 below zero during the night and the old Chrysler was outside. It barely turned over. The farmer's 66 Mercury also wouldn't start. I did manage to get one of the AC tractors to start, also a 6 volt system. I jumped the tractor to the old Chrysler and got it to start that afternoon when the temperature got to a balmy 5 above. That was the coldest night that winter. The Chrysler didn't fail to start the rest of the winter and it got plenty cold, just not 20 below.

 

I guess I am showing my age at 79 but rode in six volts cars all the time I was growing up and drove my 51 Merc with six volts in mid winter without an issue starting wise and never gave it a second thought. Meaning, I just don't understand what the big worry is. Yup they crank a little slower but they always crank a little slower than 12 volt and no big deal.

 

I´ve been daily driving the 52 for the last two weeks, to break the fresh 235 in. The 6volt battery is new and the generator is rebuilt. Works great so far. Not much snow yet but the temps have been below freezing with lows of 14 °F. Even the heater works!

 

A block heater will make things easier on the engine. They may battery heaters too, it's basically a small electric heat blanket you wrap around the battery case, and they'll let it turn over the starter at full power. I used to use one on my winter beater and it would spin over at 20 below just as fast as it would at 70 above.

 

The GM cars from '49 thru '54 have the best (fresh air) heaters ever put in an automobile ... anything over 10 MPH, you don't need the fan. Some of them you need the owner's manual to work the controls the right way ....

 

My old Auto Shop teacher told us how to start our cars on those zero degree mornings...to mark our distributors, loosen it up slightly and advance the timing a few degrees so the engine would spin faster. After it was running, turn the distributor back to your mark and tighten it back down...worked every time.

 

It’s weird seeing my car on this side of the gates and out of hibernation but it’s nice to be driving it regularly. I am proud to say I figured out the secret handshake but this mornings cold temperatures killed the battery. Apparently 6 volt batteries don’t last like they used to but I managed to get a tad over two years out of it. I hate that I’m buying one now because I’m converting it to 12v this spring but I still have my ‘50 convertible so I can use it there.

 

As I've posted before, my dad was an "Oldsmobile Man". He had new Olds's every two years during the fifties, the first couple being a '49 and a '51. which had 6 volt systems. They must have started fine, because my old man (like Jean Shepard's) was very vocal when it came to car problems. I can honestly say I don't remember any outbursts from him.

After that, they were all 12 volt, so no problems, I guess. Some of those old Oldsmobiles had those long skinny batteries (all three cells end to end). I had a '50 Buick with one; I wonder if they still make them?

 

Well it was 17* this morning with wind chills in the single digits so I’m figuring that would kill any weak battery. I did put the 20w in and topped the radiator off with antifreeze and checked it to be sure it was a tad over the 50/50 mark and it tested fine -40* so I’m not really worried about freezing now. The heater works really good and will burn you out if you’re not careful which is good seeing that it’s going to be cold for the next few days.

 

Long skinny batteries are available in 6V and 12V.

Ben

 

John Deere tractors into the eighties at least used those long thin batteries.

 

Only 30 in the morning here, but it fires right up No problem.0 gauge welding cable helps

 

I don’t know much about starting 6v cars but I’m sure someone could load test the battery before winter. Also thin oil is a must IMO I’ve seen -50 a few times, cars always started. The first time I started a car at -50 it rattled badly for a few seconds had 10w40 oil, talking to an old auto mechanic I knew he suggested adding some rislone until I could change the oil to a lighter grade. No more rattling and evidently I didn’t do any damage.
On a cool note the shadows on The front of your car are cool and would make an awesome paint scheme.
Dan

 

Didn’t drive mine today when it was 20 this morning, but I sure like that 12v battery.

 

Cheater

I was thinking about you and the 12v battery this morning wondering how I could wire one in just for starting like yours.

 

I can send you the info, but would be about as easy to just convert it.

 

I was thinking about that too, the only thing is I want to keep the overdrive transmission in working order along with converting the radio to a 12v Bluetooth and that’s gonna take a few dollars and some finagling. Just a little more work than I want to do to it right now. That and I don’t need all of my toys torn down being worked on at the same time

 

My '50 Buick Special took a 3EE battery. NAPA still has them.