NUG - Source for 8V Bulbs

[Lembomw]

My generator is dead. I am going to put an alternator in the car. The person at the alternator/generator rebuild shop indicated that if I have an 8V regulator put in the alternator that I am going to get that it will spin the starter just a little faster and the bulbs will be a bit brighter.
I ordered the modern starter drive from Snyders along with the alternator bracket and mounting kit and the smaller pulley. When ordering the parts the gentleman I spoke with indicated that the bulbs he has (I previously purchased several from him a couple of months ago when I bought the car and nothing worked) come from China and that he is not sure that they will take the additional voltage. He did say that there are bulbs out there that do work well in the 6 – 8 Volt range thought. I have seal beam 6V headlights (car came with them), cowl lights and one tail light. I also understand that if I go with the 8V I will have to watch the water level in the 6Vbattery. The car starts fine now so there are no starter issues that require more voltage, I just figure that a couple of more volts will help a little.
Are there any issues with the coil if I went with 8V regulator in the alternator??
Does anyone know where I can get the cowl and tail light bulbs that will work with 8 volts? If not I will have him put in a 6V regulator.
Thank you again for your assistance, Mark

[ford1]

type in "Tailliteking.com it should take you to a place that sells them but they are pricey, why not just stay with 6v? just use heavy batt cables 00 or 02 gauge, use plenty of heavy grounds to engine, frame, body, and a good ground to a starter bolt, use heavy wire and attached to clean, tight connections a 6v batt and altenator is all you will need

[Charlie Stephens]

This may be the best example I have ever seen of “if it ain’t broke , don’t fix it” You will be going out of your way to fix a problem that you admit doesn’t exist. In return you will forever have problems finding components designed for 8 volts. If you must have the starter spin a little faster go to 12 volts. You will then be able to get any bulb you need. If you alternator fails while traveling you can pick up another one from any discount auto store. You won’t have to hunt for an 8 volt battery if yours fails while traveling. All modern electronics (phones, GPS, radios will work). The only advantage to 8 volts is for the shop that does the conversion. If you ever have a problem you will probably have to go back to them to get it fixed. By the way, where did you find this shop? You might ask some local members of the Early Ford V8 Club (see earlyfordv8.org for local clubs) where they go for electrical work. As a side note. My advice would be to find a good shop (probably not your current one) and have your generator properly rebuilt, either as 6 or 12 volts. The only reason generators have a bad name is that most “rebuilds” consist of fixing the immediate problem and sending it down the road for the next failure.

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS AS A REVISION: When I reread you original post I noted that you wanted to retain the 6 volt battery. I had assumed you were intending to change the battery to 8 volts. Did the shop possibly mean setting the charging Voltage to 8 volts? The charging voltage is always slightly higher than the battery voltage. Without looking it up I think it was slightly over 7 volts. I was assuming they were recommending a regulator designed for 8 volts which would put the charging voltage slightly over 9 volts. What are they really recommending?

Charlie Stephens

[ford1]

Charlie, i agree with you staying 6/v, generators work fine, the only problem with them is they dont put out power at low speeds or at an idle, the car makers went to altenators to solve this problem because they put out alot of power at an idle and slow speeds, generatos work good when driving down the road, but not a in lot of stop and go town driving, the model generator will put out about 10 amps when driving, but the amp gauge will show about 5 amps dischargewith the lites on at idle

[Lembomw]

Thank you gentlemen. Looks like there may be too many issues to deal with if I go with the 8V regulator. So I think I will be sticking with 6 Volts. If I want to change to 12 V somewhere along the line all I would need to do is put a 12V regulator in the alternator.

Fordgarage - I am using NUG as a short version for "NEW GUY"

Thanks again for all your advice and guidance. Mark

[Tom Wesenberg]

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Originally Posted by ford1

Charlie, i agree with you staying 6/v, generators work fine, the only problem with them is they dont put out power at low speeds or at an idle, the car makers went to altenators to solve this problem because they put out alot of power at an idle and slow speeds, generatos work good when driving down the road, but not a in lot of stop and go town driving, the model generator will put out about 10 amps when driving, but the amp gauge will show about 5 amps dischargewith the lites on at idle

My original generator works fine at idle. Even with the stock headlights on, the needle doesn't go into the negative, unless I step on the brake with the lights on, and even then it's only an amp or two negative. A few minutes of a couple amps negative isn't a problem. All the city driving through MPLS with all the red lights is never a problem either.

If the alternator had the same size pulley as my generator ( 1 1/2 times engine speed) it might put out less than my generator at idle.