Technical It's 2017,does anyone still use a 6 volt system?

Just wondering what prompted this post in the first place. You don't really say. My 55 Ford wagon is still 6v. (I actually bought a brand new 6v. battery at AutoZone last year!) I have made some concessions since I purchased the car in 2008. I had a 6v. alternator made (which magically transformed the car to negative ground.) Last Summer I also up-graded to electronic ignition. I've always believed the car was built as a 6v. car and it should stay that way. (Seems to be the general consensus on this forum.) Last Fall I had a factory-correct radio installed. That would have been a problem if the car was 12v. I keep a float charger on it all Winter. I plan to keep the car 6v. As cliche' as it sounds, it is bragging rights to have a somewhat original car. Mato

 

That looks like a 55 Ford!

 

I'm running 6 Volt positive ground simply because that's how it was when I found it & figured it worked for the previous owners so it would probably work for me... and it does

 

Awesome old car

 

I feel the same about dual master cylinders and disc brakes. Why....

 

My 53 still have the 6 volt system.
Its been working so well that i never had any reason to change.
Have owned it for 30 years now and done alot of miles without troubles.
It have ben so dependible that this is the car i compare all the others with.



The 59 have offcourse 12 volt.
But have given me alot more troubles in those 10 years i have own it.
Now is most of the bugs sorted out and i can use either car to go where i want.
Both got alot of miles every year.

 

Third brake light?? I don't have a second brake light. 6 volt because it ain't broke, not paying to change what is working.

 

My 6-Volt system has been working rain, shine, or snow for 78 years. Why change now?


She does get a little cranky below freezing, but who doesn't?

 

Mr. Tomato Head ,allow me to dissect your first question,I didn't realize we needed a specific reason to ask a question but I was making a general commentary on why I have switched over to 12 volt many years ago,I hope that satisfies the curiosity.

It seems that although a few members have vehemently responded to this thread and believes that switching over to 12 volt is tantamount to defacing the Mona Lisa yet in the next sentence talk about a 6 volt alternator.

I am a HOT RODDER and not a restorer,I have had problems with 6 volt so that is why I prefer 12 volts.

And as for the assumption that using 6 volt is the consensus of this form that my friend may be a gross overstatement,68 reply's to a thread is far from a consensus with the membership of the hamb hovering around 1056378.

MTH,I'm not picking on you,just explaining my thoughts since you did ask. HRP

 

Gives me a chuckle. I bought a '55 Ranch Wagon in '69. It was 12v when I bought it, still running a genny and still positive ground. Guess it never occurred to me that it didn't come that way.

@birdog more than a butt pucker you have got to have a feeling of accomplishment every time that old flalty starts. RRrrrrr, RRrrrrr, rrrrrrrrrr, blamo!!! and it started again. knew it would. There is just something about an old flatty roaring to life that is like no other engine, 12 V or 6.

I had an '53 Effy all stock( for a while) once that was 6V until I exploded the battery jumping it in negative weather once. It was in single digits and below where I was living for about a month and every morning I would clean out the woodstove and put the ash/coal bucket under the oil pan to get it warm enough to start. Every time that old Ford 6 started I felt like I had just conquered the world.

 

Optima 6v battery's have 800cca. Twists my 286" flatty like a bat out of hell. Huge battery cables and plenty of ground straps. That's all you need to have a 6v system work like a 12 v on start up. I look at battery's like tires, even on a traditional "real" hotrod those will both be new/newer than 2010 If not your just dumb!

 

Very observant of you, Mr. Tomato Head!
I think you may have some inside knowledge on the subject though...

 

Interesting. Never jumped a 6-volt system with 12 volts, always had visions of smoke and sparks!
Seriously, what sort of carnage would a person cause if you did that on one of these 6-volt cars? Gauges maybe?

 

3 of mine are 6v...... They never give me any issues.

 

Which car is it?

 

My '51 Hudson is still 6V and I don't plan on changing it. My headlights are plenty bright and everything work perfect. I have one of the 6V Optima batteries at that thing is great! Yesterday was the first day the car wouldn't start in the cold. It sat all night in the cold while I was at work and doesn't have a choke. Well I am going to fix the choke thing after yesterday. I think something drained the battery down just enough that it just couldn't crank fast enough to start. Could have been that I had the radio on, heat full blast, and lights on for my short 5 mile drive to work and it couldn't keep up.

What would be the correct voltage output to charge? It's putting out 6.5 revved up.

 

My 51 Chevy coupe is 6v, my buddies told me I NEED to change it over so I can run a radio and do power windows and add a/c to make it more comfortable to drive. I laughed and said my other car is a roadster that has none of the above and my 6v works so I'm not interested. That's what my new truck is for lol!


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No 6 volts in the fleet any more,when I updated the drivetrain in the sunliner I had to go to 12 volts and since my 37 Chevy p/u had to come completely apart it got 12 volts too. If I found another with a good 6 volt system I would probably leave it alone if it does not get any upgrades.

 

Someone had already changed the engine to 12volt in my Lincoln {Chevy 350}, but none of the other wiring was hooked up. Probably better that it wasn't, all the cloth insulation was brittle and hard and crumbling off, so any current through it would have probably ended up in a dead short somewhere. Put a new wiring kit in it, all 12 volt.
Even my old 1955 IH farm tractor has been converted to 12v with an alternator. Don't know about the starter, but it whizzes it over real good. Like somebody else said, back when 6 volt batteries were higher than 12 volt ones, a lot of old cars, truck, and farm tractors got changed over to 12 volts.

 

I am still running 6Volt on my Model A.
So far so good, it works flawlessly. But I will be switching to 12 volt as soon as I can afford the Power Master Model A replica Alternator.
Then I can give the illusion of being hard core, willing to risk it all on the old 6 volt system but not actually be that guy. LOL

 

I'm running 6 Volt on my Cadillac , optima battery I have had no issues what so ever

 

i do, Danny, and it never let me down. most important is a new wiring harness from fresh material to take the amperage. it worked 75 years ago and it does now. just my two cents.

Cheers, Carsten

 

Just mentioned to my Famous Uncle the other day that I have more 6 volt cars than I do 12 volters. Only real problem for me is that I was recently looking for a 6 v positive ground tach for my Jimmy6. Didn't find one on the spinny rack by the air fresheners at Pep Boys so not sure now?
Someone taught me a little trick with the gmc. Hit the starter button and get it rolling over, then turn the ignition switch on. I've since changed the grounds but it helped when it was dragging.




"I'm not certain that I understand everything I know about that"

 

I have two that are still 6 volt & the 34 roadster still uses mechanical brakes although it does have a 12 volt 3rd brake light that has a convertor for juice from the 6 volt battery. The 34 coupe was converted to 12 volts & I switched it back to 6 V. It does have hydraulic brakes. I haven't made any real long trips with either one. Mostly drive the 32 roadster, which has been upgraded to 12 V & 350/4L60 & 8"rear.

 

A 6-volt car to me is a perfect opportunity to install a new, modern wiring harness and convert to 12-volt. Can 6 volt cars be dependable? Sure. But I do enjoy my electronic ignition and modern stereo, both of which necessitate 12 volts, not to mention a conversion to an alternator in lieu of a generator. I've never had a problem with my wiring that wasn't self-inflicted, and even then I was able to get fuses at a Sheetz in the middle of bumfuck-nowhere, PA late at night when I still had 180 miles to get home.

 

When you are in the start mode there is only juice to the starter and the ignition. What you really have to watch for on an older 6V battery is sparks. if the battery gets gassed up ( which they will), you make a spark and boom. l ways unhook from the jump battery first.

 

6v till the end of time.

 

My 49 dodge is still 6v


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Oh, and I'm not sure if I'm lucky (better to be lucky than good right?) or what but I have 6 volt batteries in use that are well over 10 years old. I think 13 years in my funny little furrin car. Is it common for 6s to last longer than 12s?


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Yes