Ok Oh Sage, and Wise Hamb Family. I come seeking your knowledge as always. The hefty commission check I have been waiting on is fast approaching, and to my surprise the treasury (the missus) has allowed a budget for hot rod parts. When last we spoke, the local sheriffs came and went, rejecting the old merc's taillights for inspection thus preventing me from getting it titled or licensing it until it's resolved. I have decided to go ahead and have the car converted from 6-12 volts and have it completely re-wired. My question to you, the brain trust is this. What have you had success with on your projects? Painless wiring? Haywire? Mac's? Other? Which specific Harness package have you had success with? I am also interested in alternator recommendations for a 59ab flatty. As always, I appreciate your help, and am bound and determined to get the old gal through the fuzz's tech barn and back on the road. My son has asked me to take him to school in it, on the last day of school in May and that's the goal! Thanks as always, I appreciate your help.
I would say that you should go to one of the various street rod vendors rather than the ones for the antique guys since they have more fuses and relays and such. As to any particular source, I really don't have a favorite. Sent from my SM-T350 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I agree with that. Why go thru all the trouble of converting and re-wiring? 6 volt systems work fine, just need to carry twice as much current to make up for half as much voltage, so all connections and grounds need to be clean and tight. And with a new wire harness you will still have to solve any problem with a weak ground at the tail light sockets. That's the most common problem, and is an easy fix.
Is it original worn out wiring or are you thinking it needs replaced to go to 12 volts. Actually the opposite is true. 6 volts needs heavier wiring than 12 volts. Twice the voltage, half the amps. I run 6 volt on all my flathead V/8 Fords. Just run heavy battery cables and good grounds, it works fine. And don't fall for the 8 volt balogna! Grounds are very important, clean the rust and paint away. Solder in ground wires if needed. Dave
I used a Kwik wire harness on my 49 Buick. All the wires were marked every foot or so and it worked first time when I powered it up. I would buy one again. For the tail lights, paint the inside of the tail light cans white. One of the car mags did a test, painting the inside of the tail lights White, Silver, and putting aluminum foil inside for a reflector. The white one was much brighter. I painted the inside of the ones on my 49 and it made a big difference. When converting to 12 volts use runtz voltage reducers for the electric gauges. You can make them for about $3 each. Look here; https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/how-to-build-a-voltage-regulator-for-3.448038/
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