Ok so a buddy of mine has a 54 pontiac chieftan and im going to be converting it to 12volt. He want to keep all the og gauges and fuel tankd and sending unit. He also wants to run and alternator. What all do i need? All new bulbs, alt...
You might need only one reducer for the fuel gauge. Some of those older GM cars used mechanical oil and temp gauges. Check this out first. (My 58 roadmaster has original mechanical temp and oil gauges). I know Olds used a mechanical oil pressure gauge. Runtz regulator will work, but are very limited in current. PM me if interested in higher current reducer. Depends on how much you want to spend. BTW: What about the heater fan motor? This will turn at a much higher speed than original, and the heater fan speed controller may burn out with the higher voltage.
We just used to put a screw into the 12V battery at the 6V cell division, and wire that up to anything that we didn't want to fool with (fuel tank senders, specifically). Or you could run two 6V batteries and use a connection to the first one to run your accessories that require the lower voltage. dj
I just did this on my 53 pontiac. GM one wire alternator. You only need one reducer for the fuel gauge. I got it from speedway. I run the heater motor on 12v. No problems. Replace all the bulbs with 12v parts and your set. Its easier than you think. ROB
I have a part # for a reducer that you can use on all the guages at the same time. It is a napa # vt6187. An echlin part #. 12volt to 6 volt resistor. Can be used for the OG blower motor as well but you will have to run one seperate for that. As stated, the charge indicator does not require any changing. Fuel guage should be the only one that needs a resistor. And don't forget to change out ALL of the light bulbs and even the 6 volt flasher to 12 volt. Other wise the blinkers blink so fast. It is almost like they are on a strobe setting or something!
I dont know what parts # to use. The local rebuiler shop sells some 100amp one wire GM style alternators for 80$ or so. You can get them on Ebay too. Just build a mount for it and your set!!
Just did mine used a toyota hiace nippon denso alt with the pontiac generator(wide section belt) pulley and fan both 9/16 shaft. used a voltage reducer pcb kit from a electronics supplier(jaycar in australia) for the fuel gauge. new bosch coil as the 6v one got hot and started to missfire.
I used an alternator for an all options late 80's camaro cause everything is power in those cars and it works great! plenty of power to spare if ya want to put in a stereo or such later!
Another issue I had was the wide v-belt. I used one from speedway. Its in the flathead ford section used in alternator swaps on flattys with the wide belt. Rob
Or you can put new gauges behind the old dash as the labels are on the dash trim. That is what is in my "A" w/ narrowed '54 Pontiac dash. If you use Classic winged gauges you can place them so you veiw only the pointers behind the dash trim.The ranges printed on the dash corrolate well to pointer movement.
You could use the one that Fords used from '57 on up,NAPA has them or Classic Auto Parts 1-800-654-3247 part# B9MZ-10804-C $29.95 that will handle all the gauges.
The temp, speedo, and oil pressure are mechanical gauges on that car, just put a 12 volt bulb in for those. I guess the fuel sending unit will need the runt as mentioned before. Don't for get the radio, that will start a fire! I think you need a diode in between the wiring and the hot on the alt.
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