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Old Irish Post W2 Buick


OldIrish

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just purchased a barn find 1950 Buick Special Straight 8! Never have taken on such a project am mechanical.(still 6 volt system)

1)Body Very Good no rust thru at all (plan will be needed to decide new paint or keep patina & repair chipped clear coat). 

2) Engine sounds great 44,000 original due to age I see oil seepage. Stromberg 2 barrel unmolested, starts but running with out stalling issue. Battery Napa 8 years old 6 volt sitting for a day volt settles to 6.30 best! Probably needs replacing if I decide not to convert Buick to 12v.

3) Trans Dyna Flow has a leaking problem (rear seal my guess) Trans works with test drive had up to 50 .

 

this list can be long so I will leave just 3 areas needing to handle!

 

Old Irish

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20 minutes ago, OldIrish said:

just purchased a barn find 1950 Buick Special Straight 8! Never have taken on such a project am mechanical.(still 6 volt system)

1)Body Very Good no rust thru at all (plan will be needed to decide new paint or keep patina & repair chipped clear coat). 

2) Engine sounds great 44,000 original due to age I see oil seepage. Stromberg 2 barrel unmolested, starts but running with out stalling issue. Battery Napa 8 years old 6 volt sitting for a day volt settles to 6.30 best! Probably needs replacing if I decide not to convert Buick to 12v.

3) Trans Dyna Flow has a leaking problem (rear seal my guess) Trans works with test drive had up to 50 .

 

this list can be long so I will leave just 3 areas needing to handle!

 

Old Irish

 

 Welcome!!  

 

  Dynaflow leak is expected.

 

  Ben

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If you're planning on keeping things at least mostly original there is no need to convert to 12 volt.. Just remember you need much thicker battery cables then your average parts store carries.. Think 00 gauge... If you're thinking electric wipers or ignition then 12 volt is a must.. You can get both 6 volt alternators and electric fuel pumps so you can modernize kinda sorta a little without converting.

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12 minutes ago, 1956322 said:

If you're planning on keeping things at least mostly original there is no need to convert to 12 volt.. Just remember you need much thicker battery cables then your average parts store carries.. Think 00 gauge... If you're thinking electric wipers or ignition then 12 volt is a must.. You can get both 6 volt alternators and electric fuel pumps so you can modernize kinda sorta a little without converting.

 

 Converting to 12V is not rocket science and is completely reversible.

 

  Ben

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1 hour ago, Ben Bruce aka First Born said:

 

 Converting to 12V is not rocket science and is completely reversible.

 

  Ben

It's definitely not rocket science but yet I almost never see it done even remotely correctly.. I'm talking one or two colors being used on everything and just wires running everywhere yet things still aren't working correctly lol

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15 hours ago, 1956322 said:

It's definitely not rocket science but yet I almost never see it done even remotely correctly.. I'm talking one or two colors being used on everything and just wires running everywhere yet things still aren't working correctly lol

 

 Perhaps I am a simple man.  I installed the ONE wire alternator. Hooked up the gen wire to the regulator to the post on the alternator. Moved the Bat wire from the Bat post on the regulator to the same post as the alternator wire, thereby bypassing the regulator. At the Amp Gauge, moved the incoming wire from the regulator to the outgoing post, thereby bypassing the Amp gauge.  Installed a volt meter, which necessitated the ONLY new wire, connected to ignition run position. Changed all the bulbs. Used available resistors for the radio and fuel gauge. New 12V battery , same size and in the same place as original. Has worked for ten years and 17,000+ miles.

 

  Ben

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How many more conversions have you seen like that?

 

When I was doing driveability-smog-electrical work I NEVER ONCE had a properly done 12v conversion cross my service bay. I never once had a 12v conversion cross my service bay that had everything working. What I have seen is a lot of godawful messes.

 

People do this because someone told them to, and then can't get the car working properly again. "my M6 wont shift" "my gas gauge won't work" etc. The story is always "its already converted" and "the hard part is done" and "just _____ and _____ don't work, could you have a quick look?" What you usually see is a hacked up harness, cheap crimp connectors everywhere. all the same colored wire, zip cord that came with some stereo speakers, and so on. One guy told me he hooked onto the old harness with a tractor and pulled.

 

Sometimes you will see a conversion by someone who has done industrial electrical work, and everything will be nicely done, harnessed, tagged, and rows of terminal blocks everywhere. They didn't think about the fact that all those extra connections cause significant voltage drop at 12 volts. At least those cars are easy to probe and trace, but the headlights are probably dim.

 

Then, there are the kits from Painless, Ron Francis, etc. They just allow you to wire a car from scratch in the manner that a 60s-80s American car is wired. It is possible to do a nice job with one of these. They still always seemed to come in with too many splices. Also, these don't do anything to help getting the 6 volt equipment working on 12 volts. This isn't a bad solution for a street rod with all 12v gauges and accessories.

 

I do my best to help people patch these things up when they ask in the forum, I understand how frustrating electrical problems can be. I am here to help. On the other hand I wont even look at a 12v converted car to buy for myself. When I see the 12v battery I click "next". I insist on cars that work. Most of those don't, and that's why they are for sale, and they are quite a bit more trouble to fix than cars that have not met the wirecutters. I guess that makes me a "purist" (pay no attention to the truck in my side yard).  :lol:

 

 

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4 minutes ago, Bloo said:

How many more conversions have you seen like that?

 

When I was doing driveability-smog-electrical work I NEVER ONCE had a properly done 12v conversion cross my service bay. I never once had a 12v conversion cross my service bay that had everything working. What I have seen is a lot of godawful messes.

 

People do this because someone told them to, and then can't get the car working properly again. "my M6 wont shift" "my gas gauge won't work" etc. The story is always "its already converted" and "the hard part is done" and "just _____ and _____ don't work, could you have a quick look?" What you usually see is a hacked up harness, cheap crimp connectors everywhere. all the same colored wire, zip cord that came with some stereo speakers, and so on. One guy told me he hooked onto the old harness with a tractor and pulled.

 

Sometimes you will see a conversion by someone who has done industrial electrical work, and everything will be nicely done, harnessed, tagged, and rows of terminal blocks everywhere. They didn't think about the fact that all those extra connections cause significant voltage drop at 12 volts. At least those cars are easy to probe and trace, but the headlights are probably dim.

 

Then, there are the kits from Painless, Ron Francis, etc. They just allow you to wire a car from scratch in the manner that a 60s-80s American car is wired. It is possible to do a nice job with one of these. They still always seemed to come in with too many splices. Also, these don't do anything to help getting the 6 volt equipment working on 12 volts. This isn't a bad solution for a street rod with all 12v gauges and accessories.

 

I do my best to help people patch these things up when they ask in the forum, I understand how frustrating electrical problems can be. I am here to help. On the other hand I wont even look at a 12v converted car to buy for myself. When I see the 12v battery I click "next". I insist on cars that work. Most of those don't, and that's why they are for sale, and they are quite a bit more trouble to fix than cars that have not met the wirecutters. I guess that makes me a "purist" (pay no attention to the truck in my side yard).  :lol:

 

 

 

Hey, I was going to write all that!

 

 

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4 hours ago, Ben Bruce aka First Born said:

 

 Perhaps I am a simple man.  I installed the ONE wire alternator. Hooked up the gen wire to the regulator to the post on the alternator. Moved the Bat wire from the Bat post on the regulator to the same post as the alternator wire, thereby bypassing the regulator. At the Amp Gauge, moved the incoming wire from the regulator to the outgoing post, thereby bypassing the Amp gauge.  Installed a volt meter, which necessitated the ONLY new wire, connected to ignition run position. Changed all the bulbs. Used available resistors for the radio and fuel gauge. New 12V battery , same size and in the same place as original. Has worked for ten years and 17,000+ miles.

 

  Ben

I don't think that makes you a simple man I think that makes you better then most that attempt this conversion!!

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On 8/15/2019 at 4:35 PM, Bloo said:

What I have seen is a lot of godawful messes.

 

We brought a lot of cars up from the south in the late 1970's through the 1980's and knew about the traveling electrician we call "Jimmy Joe". In the stories he always wore one of these.

image.png.a0941a0aa1469ec0fd57597b79231dc1.png

Just in case the lamp cord, wire nuts, and melted tape didn't signature his handiwork.... he'd engrave the front fenders.

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