whats the process for converting on a 51 ford? my dad swears up and down that even with voltage reducers on the gauges it will fry them since they are pos grounded. where are some tech articles and stuff on this procedure? btw the motor going in the ford at the time being is looking like a 351 windsor so the alt is the stock one for that and must be compatible with the system. thanks yall
from what i understand you reverse the wires and add the electronic reducer (not the ceramic)....then your good to go.
It's been a long time since I was under the dash of a shoe box, but as I remember the gages are grounded with a separate wire so if there are two wires to the gage then Old timer is right.
I am currently going through the motions of putting my 55 Lincoln to 12 V, I will still run my guages on 6 V. The elec guy here at work is confident he can solve the problem if they are positivley grounded (I just brought it to his attention, thanks to your post), I need to show him a wiring diagram and he will sort out what I need to do. The only problem he can forsee is the elec dizzy isolation on my 351C. p.m me in a few days and I should have an answer for you.
It's been covered many times here. The ammeter has a wire passing through a loop. You might have to reverse the wire, but it doesn't need a voltage reduction. For all the other gauges, get one instrument regulator either from a pre '79 or so 12V Ford at the junkyard or Echlin P/N IR-1 at NAPA. Wire it this way: Positive - Instrument Regulator - Gauge (either post - doesn't matter) - Sender (other post) - Ground The needles move by heating a bi-metal strip. Doesn't matter which way the current is flowing - it still heats the bi-metal strip and causes it to deflect. Hope this helps.
40tudor, do you know if the other versions of that Echlin regulator will work? Napa can't tell me what the difference is, but the IR2 is $20 cheaper, and the IR7 is almost $40 cheaper! That damn IR1 is $55.89 at the local Napa....crazy. THanks, Gary
I don't know, but if they're all Ford applications between '55 and '79 or so (maybe a little later), it's probably just bracketry and connections. I used a '59 Ford reg on my '40 guages FWIW. Used 'The Google' to find applications for the IR-7: https://dmauto.com/web/dmauto/Catalog/NAPA_ECAT/fits/ECH/IR7/ See the 'IR7' at the end of the URL? Sub in the other numbers to see the applications. Picture here ('bout halfway down): https://dmauto.com/web/dmauto/Catalog/NAPA_ECAT/1973/Lincoln/Continental/7.5+L+460+CID+V8/15/15004/ I'd say it should work if you can deal with the connections. Kinda looks like 9V battery terminals.
PM Mart here on the HAMB, check his classified or HAMB-O-Dex, he sells 6V Constant Voltage Regulators which are much, much better than the "chopper" voltage reducers Ford used. And 40 Tudor has the concept right - the King-Seely senders & guages don't care which way current flows - you won't fry your gauges reversing the polarity.
why are u changing it. can u go 12v pos. grnd.? if u just want more cranking power get a battery with a center tap or 2 -6V ones and wire it accordingly,12v to the starter ,6v the rest. should be able to use an alternator for the charging system somehow as long as it is isolated from the gauges. relays etc.
well for one im putting a different engine, and the wire needs changed out anyways, so while im doing that its getting converted to 12v.
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