Psychos right....the old 6V starter will give u all the grunt u will ever need on 12V. Just ensure the starter itself is in good nick, esp the brushes.... Rat
My 6v. starter is still going strong for over 21 years now on my flathead. Use a 12 v. solenoid though.Sparky
When I was a kid I used a 12 volt Battery to start my 47 Ford. It never failed even in the coldest of Indiana weather and never had to crank it long enough to hurt the 6 volt starter. I put a center tap on it to get 6 volts to power everything else. I run 12 volts to the 6 volt starter on my AV8 roadster and it starts so fast I can't hardly get off the switch quick enough!! Lots of folks are of the opinion that it's too hard on the starter but I and many others have had good results.
After several years of using a 6v starter with 12v on my AV8, I had it converted to 12v. I only broke one starter drive, but when I saw the beating the ring gear was taking, I got worried. Replacing the ring gear wasn't something you could do on the side of the road. That's my humble opinion.
"I run 12 volts to the 6 volt starter on my AV8 roadster and it starts so fast I can't hardly get off the switch quick enough!!" I'm running 12V in both my flatheads. I converted them to 12V for the same reasons that Detroit converted to 12V in the 50's. Yes they do start quickly. I broke a ring gear last year. When I tore it down I discovered that last time it was replaced the former mechanic, evidentily lacking an torch, just beat the thing on. The entire flywheel had marks all around it from a hammer! My guess is that this act likely cracked the fuse weld upon assembly. I'm sticking with 12V. No other problems to blame on 12 V.
I have been running the original 6v starter in 12V conversions on 6 different cars. Use a 12V solenoid ($10 from just about anywhere) as is said above, and the worst thing that will happen is that the spring on the bendix will break every couple years if you have a hard starter (good news- they're cheap too). One car that I built has been running years on the original starter with 12V. Bottom line (in my opinion) is that unless you are running super high compression (which starters may become the least of your worries), I believe that you're fine with what you've got- save the $$$ for some decent headers or a cam or a wife for the night. BD
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