A buddy of mine that traveled the country teaching Toyota electronics gave me this tip. Pick up an 8 volt tractor battery. No changing out of any parts or bulbs to your 6 volt car!!! Your 6 volt starter spins faster, electric windows work fabulous, all lights are brighter! The battery should never get back to 8 volts for the regulator keeps it at a high 6 volts. I made a new battery tray for its a good inch longer then the original 6 volt battery tray. While at it I incorporated a a good battery disconnect mount in the fabrication.
I started using an 8-volt battery in my '29 Ford Model A coupe a year ago and have had no problems whatsoever.
S 'what I used back in the early 60's. 54 Ford Customline that we swapped a 57 Mec 312 into. 6 volt everything and 12 volt starter. It was pretty hard on 6 volt head lights as I remember. They were extra bright though! Cold natured Ford engine required 'just' the right numberof gas pats and manual choked pulled out 'just enough' to get it cranked in the winter. 'MAYBE" two attempts at cranking before the starter slowed wayyyy down! My rule was 'ALWAYS' park on a hill if available. (Or have 'buds' available for a push start.) 6sally6
No real problems just after even killing the switch of the 6 volt battery would be soft ( here in New England after weeks of cold nights). If you didn't get the choking quit right you grind it to a crawl and we'll...that would be it. Oh, and I'm using a 6 volt petronix ignition. Any electronic ignition requires its rated voltage..once dragged lower then spec, that's more trouble.
If the battery is never fully charged to 8 volts I don't think you'll experience long battery life. It should be charging at somewhere around 8.8 volts to maintain a proper charge. 8 volt battery and a 12 volt starter? No wonder it didn't crank fast.
About 1958 I had "souped up" my '49 Olds. I milled the heads .125". It perked it up but starter would hardly crank when engine was hot. I knew the cure would be to switch to 12 volts but I just didn't have the big bucks. So I installed a 8 volt battery & set up the regulator to 9.2 volts. Started great but burned out most of the original bulbs including dash lights. I replaced all bulbs with new. The replacements did not burn out & I had the brightest head lights in town. speedshifter Greg White
Joe, I'm glad it's working for you. 8V can cause problems with lights, gauges and the regulator. Most of the issues with 6V tend to be the grounds, too small primary leads and just plain worn components. The 8V can power through poor grounds and is a little more forgiving. My main point is it can mask problems that will eventually have to be corrected. Good luck but keep and eye on it.
Agreed. Bumping up the battery voltage to compensate for voltage drop in parts of or the entire electrical system. Fix the problem instead of trying to work around it.
Actually added body grounds to the battery for the only ground was to the motor. The gentleman that put me on to this has several 6 volt cars and he's not reported problems. Again, he's an electronics instructor. He's done it for years for both Toyota an GM. But you made a great point, yes all grounds and connections are up to you to insure. Just a tip that I thought would be helpful to others.
The gentleman that I discussed this with made no mention to kick up the regulator for idea was to let it charge to the high 6. Again, this guy is pretty savy come car electronics.
You misread. Here's what I copied directly from his post: "6 volt everything and 12 volt starter." He implied that he used an 8 volt battery when he said: "It was pretty hard on 6 volt head lights as I remember. They were extra bright though!"
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