i know it's not the smartest idea on the planet, but i believe it was a must given the circumstances. i jumped a buddy's stock '51 chevy with my '51, which has a late 70's big block and 12 volt electrical. other than totally killing the shit grade jumper cables that we were lent, could we have done any other damage to either car's electrical system?
i've jumped 6 volt cars with 12 volt cars before and never had any problems. you could maybe fry the voltage regulater but i doubt anything else could go wrong. check it out. i doubt you hurt anything.
turn the 6v car off and just touch the 12v bat to the 6v bat for afew seconds and it should give it enough of a surface charge to start the 6v car
well we already jumped it like you would any two modern cars and fried the jumper cables on the 12 volt end. did the killing of the cables act like almost like a fuse of sorts making sure that nothing in either car was damaged?
Done it several times and nrever killed anything...just make sure you have someone avalible to yank 'em off once it starts! I drove a 58 olds for about 2 weeks before I knew there was such a thing as a 6 volt battery. killed all the guages, but the starter spun fast as heck, horn was twice as loud.
Dad and I do it all the time with the tractors. Of course they have very little to fry. I did try this with a battery that had a bad cell once, I quit when I realized the water in the battery was boiling. CHAZ
Jumped my 6 volt Model A with a 12 volt (this was in 1971). My neighbor said don't worry, they used to do it all the time, back when cars were transitioning from 6 to 12 volt. The Model A must have had a bad cell, because when a battery boils it gives off hydrogen (think Hindenberg). That battery blew, and I swear it was every bit as loud as an M-80. All three caps blew off, my buddies and I all just about pissed our pants, and at the tender age of 17 I had a whole new respect for the potential power packed in a car battery. Fortunately, I was the one who hooked the cable to the six volt, and despite my neighbor's assurance, I listened to the prickling hairs on the back of my neck, and backed away when we turned that thing over. I wouldn't want to think what would have happened if I'd been bent over that battery My neighbor shrugged and said he never saw that happen before.
I've jumped a bunch of 6 volt positive ground Mopars, I just disconnect the 12 volt battery in its car, so that I am jumping off the battery only, not the 12 volt negative ground running car.
What about using a 12V battery on a 6V car? Not to steal the thread, but also interested. Alot of people say this can be done, I don't know.
Do just what LUX said , hook it up , get it started and get cables off ASAP (STARTER WILL SPIN LIKE A BITCH!!)
I've done it several times with my cars and never had a problem,i guess like someone said above that unless you have a bad cell it should be ok. Jamie of Dead City MC/CC
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