Is it possible to use the armature and field coils from a 1954 Chevy 6V starter in a 1955 V8 12V starter to convert it to 6V?
no. The 6v and 12v starters are completely different. look up the parts here.. https://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/1929_57chevyparts/index.htm group 2
the 55 12 volt starters either six cylinder or V8 use a 168 tooth ring gear while six volt starters up to including the 55.1 Advance Design use a 139 tooth ring gear. I can't see the wisdom of converting a V8 to six volts to keep from changing the car to 12 volts.
If all that has to be changed are the armature and field coils the number of teeth on the ring gear are irrelevant.
I can't imagine that anyone here will know that. the only way to figure it out is to get two starters and take them apart. Why not simply convert the car to 12 volts. It is super easy, you do not have to rewire it, simply change the light bulbs, put a 12v alternator and battery in it, put a volt drop in the wire to the fuel gauge, and if you are putting a chev v8 into an early chev that had a 6, you already have the 12v ign coil and starter... couldn't be much easier
The starters are completely different. That means you can not put parts from one type into the other type. Do you understand now? Yes, I tried many years ago and learned.
It can be done, not sure how they did it, but my local rebuilder built a starter to work in a 1940 firetruck that had gotten a later 235 engine swopped in by a mechanic that didn't finish. When I got the project to finish they did not want to go through the trouble of taking the motor back out and swopping the flywheels, so the shop made me a starter to work. 6v starter with 12v gear?
The Jalopy Journal
