How common a practice is this?.
 

I saw a model A for sale the other day and in the description it stated, "has 8 volt battery to spin it over faster". I never thought of that before, but, then again, I'm quite content with the 6V. I doubt that an 8V battery would cause any issues with the rest of the systems, IE lights, horn, generator, ignition system ETC. Anyone else running an 8V battery in their 6V system?. I'm not interested in doing it, just interested in the concept.

Re: How common a practice is this?.
 

8 volt battery is a band-aid fix for slow cranking, instead of fixing the problem. It was done a fair bit "back in the day".

Re: How common a practice is this?.
 

Years ago I bought a 30 PU with and 8 volt battery. Could not keep lamps lit,, filaments always burned out. Change battery to 6 volt.

Re: How common a practice is this?.
 

Father had a 50 model Ford, one 6 volt light, one 12 volt headlight, 8 volt battery, could always spot him at night.

Re: How common a practice is this?.
 

Years ago when my Father had a '53 Chevrolet that turned over very slowly even after the installation of a new starter, the mechanic installed an 8 volt battery that helped a bit. Some time later when the timing gear was replaced, the slow turning over problem went away. Later, a 6 volt battery was installed and all was fine.

Re: How common a practice is this?.
 

Ran one in high school in a 53 caddie. More trouble than it was worth.

Re: How common a practice is this?.
 

Had one years ago. Couldn't keep light bulbs in it.

Re: How common a practice is this?.
 

My A came with a 8 volt battery gm generator and the battery was always dead. How do you charge an 8 volt battery with 6/12 volt charge, I charged 3 cells on 6 volts then the last cell with 2 cells already charged. It was good thing I was young because I was push starting the car a lot, had to do what I could so I could drive it! The good old days !

Re: How common a practice is this?.
 

As said, 8v were kinda common bandaids in the day. Those batteries tried to take the place of poor worn starters and bad grounds. 6v lights do not like 8v batteries, neither do 12v lights for that matter.

Re: How common a practice is this?.
 

People always want to reinvent the Model A to "make it better". My opinion: Those extra two volts don't get you much other than shorter light bulb life.

Re: How common a practice is this?.
 

I once had a battery that was both 6v and 12v. It had a solenoid that supplied 12 volts to the starter and the rest of the car was 6v.

Re: How common a practice is this?.
 

Back in the day, that would be today still. Not that uncommon on 6 volt cars, trucks and tractors. Most that come here asking get pointed in the right direction, but for every one that does, how many don't and put one in?

Re: How common a practice is this?.
 

8v? no 12v? yes..modern fuse protected relay controlled circuits? yes.

https://i.imgur.com/qh0Qo7Q.jpg?1


Does it 'improve' the stock A? something shorts on this system a fuse blows..something shorts on the stock A the wiring burns..

Re: How common a practice is this?.
 

As long as you know what the circuits are. The next owner will scratch his head a lot unless there is a diagram.

Re: How common a practice is this?.
 

Thats the thing about building to suit yourself,resale isn't a factor

Re: How common a practice is this?.
 

Photo 13:

That wire job looks logical, well done and neat!

In 1964 I bought a 34 Chevy PU which was re-wired without using a wire loom!


The Kicker was every wire was same gauge AND all were BLUE in color!!

None of the wires were bundled together.

Luckily the guy who bought it did not look under the dash! :) :rolleyes:

I sold it to a used car salesman who lived up to the reputation of a used car salesman in every way.

Re: How common a practice is this?.
 

and it works too!!! :)

https://i.imgur.com/KYzHPXR.jpg?1

Re: How common a practice is this?.
 

A lot of Classic Car dealers will install 8V batteries to make certain the car would crank and start quicker. I purchased a real nice '40 Ford Conv. several years ago from a dealer and it had an 8V battery installed. Removed it when I got home in favor of a 6V battery. Better to fix the problem instead of installing an 8V battery.

Stay Safe,
Pat

Re: How common a practice is this?.
 

I've never used an 8 volt battery in any of my model A's . My dads old jeep had an 8 volt battery and I never had a problem with it . When it was time to replace the old 8 volt battery , I replaced it with a 6 volt battery without any modification and it still worked good . I much prefer converting to twelve volts .I use the original color coded wiring harnesses from the vendors without modification . The original style wiring is LARGER gauge than the wiring commonly used on twelve volt systems . The larger gauge wiring used in the model A will carry 12 volts with no problem if in good condition .The modification that I make is to use a three OHM coil . The original style one point five Ohm coil can be used on 12 volts if a resistor is used at the coil connections but the distributor will still be operating on 6 volts . I prefer the distributor to also operate on 12 volts as well as the starter and lights . As long as the system remains positive ground , no wiring changes will be needed . It will be necessary to replace the battery and bulbs with 12 volt bulbs and battery . This is a very simple conversion . If negative ground is used , it will be necessary to swap the cables on the battery and the wire connections at the coil . The original unmodified generator will work well on 12 volts and the amperage output can be increased by pushing downward on the adjustable generator brush . The generator charges the battery in amps . The battery that is used will control the voltage of the vehicle that it is used on . Unless the more powerful 60 watt headlamp bulbs are used , the so called six volt generator will charge the battery just fine . The original unmodified starter will work well on 12 volts . The original starter is very robust . I've seen original model A starters used to operate as home made wrecker wenches on twelve volts . .

Re: How common a practice is this?.
 

Not all makers have/had color coded wires. Some had tracers, others [ International] had numbers.

Try finding the number on a 10 year old wire while you're standing on your head looking under a dash.