6 or 12 volts?
 

I recently picked up a 48 f-1. It is an all original truck. Last owner cobbled up some wiring and has a 12 volt in it. I want everything to work on this truck, heater, gauges, etc. it is only wired to run off the 12 volt. Should I go back to 6 volt? I want to re-wire the truck with original style wire harnesses. I down care about dimmer lights as this isn't going to be driven at night that much. Mainly Sunday lumber yard runs and general farm use.

Re: 6 or 12 volts?
 

Keep it 6V.

Re: 6 or 12 volts?
 

Greetings Everyone; Vanspeed, put me down on the tally sheet for 6v.

Re: 6 or 12 volts?
 

MY stock '49 is still 6 volt. Everything, even lights, work well.

Re: 6 or 12 volts?
 

I believe six volt is plenty
Every thing in the original truck should work on six volt. Make good grounds and your lights will be okay. These trucks will last forever.
Bruce

Re: 6 or 12 volts?
 

6v

gb

Re: 6 or 12 volts?
 

Hi there, If all the electrical equipment is original 6 volt such as the generator, starter, ignition coil and lights then leave it 6 volts which will be fine. If he had a 12 volt battery in it lets hope the original ford gauges have not been overheated or damaged. Yes rewire with a new wiring harness for reliability. Fit a 6 volt OPTIMA battery in it, they are the best. Regards, Kevin.

Re: 6 or 12 volts?
 

Do the gauges still work? I thought putting 12 volts to the originals would damage them pretty quick. If it has been converted to 12 volts does it have a 12 volt charging system? Newer alternator installed? Most of the six volt Fords I knew seemed to crank just fine on 6 volts. With the exception of my 52 Merc which just does a slow grind on 6 volts and is crying out for 12 volts of cranking power.

Re: 6 or 12 volts?
 

Hi Jeff, I went with a 12 volt system and use an alternator, you've indicated the guy you got it from has it running on a 12V. I like the 12V set-up ( some people do some don't ) and there are kits to convert the gauges to run on 12V and they are cheap. Basically just inline resistors to reduce the 12V back to 6V where required. Your starter will work fine on 12V as it is heavy duty ( many of us do and it works fine ) and spins twice as fast as with the 6V, a big advantage for quick starts. The stock 6V wiring is more than adequate for the 12V so any new stock harnesses you buy will work fine.
Here are some of the things you have to worry about if he didn't set it up right when he converted to 12V. All the lights will be 6V and burned out. You need to go 12V on all the lights, ( I think the 12V lights are brighter ). You will probably have to put a resistor ( should be in the 6V to 12V conversion kit ) on your heater motor to reduce the 12V to 6V as it's not as heavy duty as the starter motor. Your amp gauge can run on the 12V as it is only measuring Amps. Temp., fuel, and any other gauges which have electric sending units if used with the 12V are already fried and will need to be replaced.
Working on them is half the fun so enjoy the trip.

Re: 6 or 12 volts?
 

I've run a 48 F1 for over 10 years as a daily driver. Converted to 12V when I rebuilt it in '01. I think it makes sense for a daily.

As Tony said, use a voltage reducer on the gauges like runtz (one per gauge) or one big enough to reduce all at once. That's what I put inline.

Starter and generator will work on 12V without changes, but when you get the chance, rewire for 12V.

Scroll down to converting 6 to 12 and follow Patrick's advice. Worked for me.

http://www.patricksantiquecars.com/articles.html

Re: 6 or 12 volts?
 

I put new wiring in my 52 f1 and kept it 6v. Everything works great. The only downside with 6v is if you leave the lights on and need a jump start.

Re: 6 or 12 volts?
 

You can jump start it from a 12 volt vehicle. Just make sure ALL the lights and the radio are off. Ask me how I know. They usually start real quick that way; just don't crank and crank and crank and .....

Re: 6 or 12 volts?
 

I have an old tractor with a 12V battery in it, (not converted just a 12V battery) gotta have it for quick starts in the winter and love the response. Like you stated, keep original wiring and someone can always convert back. My car has a 6V and if it sits too long forget it!

Re: 6 or 12 volts?
 

All this talk about how fast it spins??? If it needs to spin to start there are other problems. It should start with a hand crank on the first or second turn. 6 volts systems need large (2/0) cables with good soldered on end terminals. Battery connections must be clean and tight along with solenoid, starter foot switch and starter. The starter also needs a good ground. The metal surfaces where the ground cables contact the body, engine or frame need to be cleaned down to shinny metal and electrical grease applied between terminal ends and cleaned metal. This will prevent corrosion at the contact areas. Use the grease on the battery also. Keep the battery fully charged and if the engine sits for a long period of time use a shot or two of starting fluid. I have a number of 6 volt Fords and very seldom ever have a problem even after sitting a year or more. As far a doing a lot of driving I like the 6 volt alternator as long as they charge at idle with a stock size Ford pulley. I made 7 6 volt alternators using a Nippedenso 12 volt alternator with an adjustable 6 volt regulator and reverse polarity diodes mounted in 39 type generator housings. G.M.

Re: 6 or 12 volts?
 

I have Flatheads that I've kept 6 volts positive ground and Flatheads I've converted to 12 volt negative ground. There are pros & cons to both. If you rewire with the heavy OEM style wiring, you can run either 6 or 12 volts. If you rewire using a modern wiring kit you may not be able to run 6 volts without having some problems. If you want to retain the OEM 6 volt system, make sure all the grounds are clean and tight and make sure your battery ground cable is heavy enough for the 6 volt system. If everything else (in the electrical system) is up to par, you'll have no trouble running 6 volts. Ultimately, the choice is yours. I'd weigh the pros & cons relevant to your needs and act accordingly.

Re: 6 or 12 volts?
 

My F-1 is 6 volt, stay that way.

Re: 6 or 12 volts?
 

6V baby

Re: 6 or 12 volts?
 

There's a lot of proponents of 6 volt on this board. I converted my '48 to 12 volt. I had kept it 6V for years, rewired it with a Dennis Carpenter kit designed for 6 volts, so the wire is a little more heavy duty than needed with 12 volt.

After having switched, I personally wouldn't ever go back to 6.

Here is a thread I posted you might find useful when I was doing the conversion:

http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=131960

Re: 6 or 12 volts?
 

The gauges have resistors on them but they do not work, the wiring to the headlights and tailights is gone. It is just a plain mess under the dash. It fires pretty fast with the 12 volt so I imagine it would fire just fine with the 6 volt too. Seems to be the majority of going back to 6 volt which is what I was thinking about.

Re: 6 or 12 volts?
 

I have a '48 F-1 that is very original - and is 6V. I'm old enough to remember when all cars were 6V and no-one thought a thing about it. We thought the shift to 12V in the late '50s was a scam to save money by using less copper. My truck works fine. Lights are perfectly bright. The only caveat is the one usually mentioned on this forum - use heavy copper battery cables and be diligent in seeking out bad grounds. Keep it 6V!!!

Re: 6 or 12 volts?
 

The 48s have fairly simple wiring, should not be to difficult a task to install a new harness. Just be sure (as already stated) it is a harness designed with 6v wire size.

Re: 6 or 12 volts?
 

My opinion, for what it's worth.
12 volts makes life a lot easier on these old Fords, especially with a daily driver.
You will find that out on a hot summer day when you try to restart after a drive.

Re: 6 or 12 volts?
 

My 47 sedan has been a daily driver for 240,000 miles (and still is) with original 6 volt everything including wiring. It certainly works as well as any 12 volt. I could never figure out why anyone would go to all the trouble to switch to 12 volt, change battery, starter, generator, gauges and sending units, bulbs, etc. etc. and still don't get the only advantage of 12 volt that I can think of which is being able to use smaller wire. That's got to be the only reason Ford made the switch. I did a road trip last weekend and started the engine in 17 deg. outside the motel in the morning just as well as in my insulated garage at 60 deg. Lights are plenty bright. Radio plays plenty loud. Why 12 volts? I don't get it.

Re: 6 or 12 volts?
 

I have just finished a 50's style 38 Ford Coupe it is all 6 volt. It has heavy duty wiring from Tyree Harris and really good grounds and soldered connections. Optima battery starts like a champ! Lights are OK.
My other project is a 52 F1. I already have Tyree Harris wiring (6 volt) This F1 will be back to Henry standards in a year or so....
Optima battery in an old case. g

Re: 6 or 12 volts?
 

Rewiring your F-1, for 6 or 12 volts, is easy as long as you get a harness from a reputable dealer. I've used Rhode Island Wiring, Dennis Carpenter, Bob Drake and Tyree Harris. You'll find the toughest part of the job is installing the light bulbs in the instrument cluster... ;)

Re: 6 or 12 volts?
 

I have a macs catalog and they have the harnesses. Says they are original style cloth. Have any of you used them? Should I go with someone else?

Re: 6 or 12 volts?
 

Like Vic says, there are many sources (and several more he didn't list). Everyone will have a different opinion on which ones are the best.

Re: 6 or 12 volts?
 

No offense intended, but isn't the purpose of this forum to help each other out? If anyone has an opinion of one over the other, I think it helps everyone to public what we have found. For example, I have had 2 experiences with Rhode Island wiring. The first time, I wanted to replace the temp gauge crossover wire on my very original '51. The wire I received was of good quality and quite expensive, but had the wrong insulation. The second time, I needed the parking light unit wiring and called them again. They were again quite expensive, and gave me a lead time of over 6 weeks, so I went elsewhere where they had them in stock. Rhode Island may be OK for high quality, expensive harnesses for people with long term projects, but I won't be using them again.

Re: 6 or 12 volts?
 

Not sure where your coming from, I didn't say there was anything wrong with folks having different opinions and/or expressing them! Not sure where you got that idea, and I'm still sure there will be folks with different opinions on the best wire harnesses. I use Road Island and like them, doesn't make other sources bad. It would be hard for me to claim they are the best, because I have not used every source there is to compare. I would guess the more people that chime in on the experiences on wiring the better.

Re: 6 or 12 volts?
 

I bought the wiring harness for our '39 LZ from Rhode Island Wiring, they are pricy but the harness is very nice. My one complaint with them is; they didn't send enough connectors... I called and was told they didn't include connectors because they didn't know how many were needed... YES... that is what I was told... I told them "you made the harness, you can't count the number of connectors?" Than they told me the connectors were $1.00 each... I told them that, for what I paid, I expect to have all the connectors included in the price. I did get a full complement of connectors at no charge but, they have lost any future business from me. Tyree Harris made the harness for my '53 F-100 Panel, I got the harness for the '39 CS from Dennis Carpenter and the harness for the '51 F-1 from Bob Drake. All are excellent quality and all but Rhode Island Wiring were reasonably priced.

Re: 6 or 12 volts?
 

Another source is Sacramento Vintage Ford
http://www.vintageford.com/global_se...cEntry=vintage hot&Category=&StartRow=41&PageNum=3
I know nothing about them other than I have looked at their site a lot. Believe there are some others as well.

Edit: Also the Hot Rod Company
http://www.thehotrodcompany.com/shop...=wire&first=20

Re: 6 or 12 volts?
 

Hi Jeff, I installed the ones Macs supplies. They do look very original, are stock for the 6V system and can be used on either 12V or 6V. The instructions and schematics /wiring diagrams are very good. Even though the wire color and harness wrap look like the original stock type they are made with much sturdier modern material. With the instructions and diagrams it's a fairly easy job.

Re: 6 or 12 volts?
 

Exactly where I'm coming from.

Re: 6 or 12 volts?
 

I used their's a few years ago on my '50 - dash, engine compartment, head lights, tail lights, and both cross overs - it was my first time to rewire a car -very sweet - great diagrams - I would/will buy from Mac's again - (going to need to replace some wiring on my '52 now).

Re: 6 or 12 volts?
 

If you haven't found them yet, check out Sacramento Vintage Ford. I've used 2 of their harnesses. I use stock harness even with 12V conversions because wiring vehicles is one of my least favorite things ;)

One reason for 12? If you want to add any modern accessories 12 is much easier. Three of my 5 trucks (48-52s) are converted - like the one in my avatar.

The first question you need to decide is whether you're staying strictly stock or not. That will answer many of your other Qs.

Re: 6 or 12 volts?
 

Thanks for all the replies and feedback. I appreciate it. I think I am going to stay 6 volt as it is an old farm truck and I don't think I will ever add any modern accessories to it.

Re: 6 or 12 volts?
 

I had a 1951 F-1 that I changed to a later GM engine because I had it and because it fit with no cutting. Of course it was 12 volt and the only change I had to do was put a resister on the heater motor that droped the voltage down to 7.5 volts and change all the light bulbs. All gauges etc worked with the 12 volts with no changes. Drove it that way for about 15 years as a daily driver with no problems. The resister I used for the heater was a GM blower resister. I cut a hole in the bottom of the heater to mount the resister so it would be in the air stream to keep it cool.

Re: 6 or 12 volts?
 

Both of mine are 6, no problems if grounds are clean and the battery is good.