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airbrush

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    Dynamo/ generator rewiring

    in Buick - Pre War

    Posted

    7 hours ago, Matt Harwood said:

    If you're bad at wiring and "extras" then changing a car of this vintage to 12 volts is going to cause you no end of headaches.

     

    Everyone uses "safety" as their reason for the change, but how fast is the car and how often do you drive at night on unlighted roads in heavy traffic? That car won't out-drive a set of 6V bulbs that are at full brightness. You're going what, 35? 40 MPH at best at night? You could use a flashlight at those speeds and be OK. Relays are easy to understand and use--I just installed a relay for my new fog lights and it works flawlessly and was not at all difficult once I understood what the relay's job is and how it worked. In fact, it can actually help in multiple ways, starting with not passing all the current through that fragile dash switch, and the benefit that Rodney mentions, which is putting a full 6V to the bulbs thanks to shorter wiring runs and not having to use the aforementioned switch. Search my name and you'll find my posts with extensive details, including a wiring diagram, for connecting a relay.

     

    For taillights, use LEDs. I installed some in both my '41 Buick and '29 Cadillac and it made them considerably more noticeable at night. Ditto on searching my name for info on LEDs.

     

    A 12-volt conversion will cause mischief, and once it's done, there will be no manual to help the next guy who has to try to sort it out down the road. He will curse your name long and loud. A lot of people think the only way to make old cars work properly is to convert to 12 volts, but in most cases, the impulse to do that is because 1) 6-volt systems have a reputation for being unreliable, which isn't true--the problem cars are usually neglected and have bad grounds, and 2) they don't understand electrical systems and figure that just converting to 12 volts will solve all their problems because they can simply buy all new parts off the shelf. Plug and play!

     

    The reality is that most 6-volt cars converted to 12 volts have electrical gremlins that are difficult to cure and it's tough to go back once you've started down that road. And that ignores the fact that none of the original 6-volt stuff in the car will work: gauges, clocks, lights, horns, etc. You'll have to replace or re-wire all that equipment, too. In 99% of the cases, the change to 12 volts is a lot more work than just fixing the original 6-volt system and there's no real gain in the end. And sealed beam bulbs in old car headlight buckets ALWAYS looks stupid.

     

    Put it back to 6 volts, make sure the wiring--especially the grounds--is in top shape, and upgrade the lighting with modern bulbs. You might be surprised how well it works. 

    Im not bad at wiring and could very easily rewire the car however adding relays into the circuit isnt something I have done and therefore it wouldnt be straighforward. I have quite a few cars both 6 and 12 volt but I am aware of the issues a 6 volt can have I am planning to let me young son drive this and want to make sure that he will be safe and that other road users can see him on the road we live in the countryside and dont have street lamps so all we have is the lights on the car. I have converted cars to 12 volts with no problems and they have worked ok I just didnt know about the dynamo on this one but thank you for you input

    • Like 1

    Dynamo/ generator rewiring

    in Buick - Pre War

    Posted

    2 hours ago, 23hack said:

    Changing to 12 volts is not an upgrade. It is an expensive way to stay right where you are now.

    Hi the llights are like using candles and it wont be safe on the road at night also 6 volt electrics are becoming scare here

    Dynamo/ generator rewiring

    in Buick - Pre War

    Posted

    Hi

    I have a 1927 buick standard and need to get the dynamo/generator rewound as I am thinking of upgrading it to 12 volt electrics , does anyone know if thats possible? I have been told to flash it across the battery but as I have never done this I wanted to make sure its right.

    1927 buick master six distributor wanted

    in Automobiles and Parts - Buy/Sell

    Posted

    6 hours ago, The Distributor Rebuilder said:

    Hi, I have a rebuilt 1927 Buick pot metal distributor or I can supply you with a rebuilt later cast iron distributor set up to the proper specs for your Buick. Check out my WEBSITE www.TOMRISH.COM  or send me an EMAIL TOMRISH@YAHOO.COM or give me a call 717-353-3984

     

    Tom

     

    hi Tom how much do you want for the 27 one?

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