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12 volt Heater Fan Motor for 36 Buick 40


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For regular use, I am converting to a 12-volt system (will restore the 6-volt if I ever sell it).  I am doing this because the dingle-berry before me removed 80 percent of the original wiring.  As I think this through I realize that reducers will be needed for some of the gages and horns.  In regards to the heater fan, is there a 12-volt replacement motor that will preserve the integrity of the heater box and easily wired into the system? 

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The horns will work on 12 v nicely as long as you don't use them a bunch.    You need to replace the 6 v.  horn relay with a 12 v version.       The only other item you must use is a "Runtz" voltage reducer to run the gas gage.    The heater motor can be run utilizing a voltage reducing resistant coil.   Just place the motor voltage reducing coil just prior to the motor.   Place it where air can flow around it because it gets hot.   The Runtz unit is necessary to protect the gage and sender.    That costs around $15.00.    There are others that say they will work.    Don't know about them only that Runtz works.     Try "Speedway" automotive as they carry it.    I've converted to 12 v  because I must have 12v to run the air conditioning in my 1938-46s.    I live in Florida and I'm over 77 and hot temps don't work for us "old guys".   But I love driving my Buick in the summer with my windows up.....

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If all the wiring is gone, now is your chance to do a good job and do it right. 12 volts doesn't do anything that 6 volts can't and you're already spending money on replacement parts. With all due respect, you already have a car full of parts that will work properly on 6 volts and don't cost anything. Why not use them?

 

Six volt systems get a bad rep because people don't maintain them and they use modern auto parts store components, then decide 6V systems are junk. Mechanics will tell you that you have to convert to 12 volts to make it work right because 6 volts was always crap. That's because they don't know how to work on 6V systems and want to convert it to something they do know how to fix. In 1936 Buick didn't sell cars that wouldn't start, that weren't reliable, and that had electrical failures. My father drove a bone-stock 1941 Buick Super 56S coupe to work every single day, year round, winter and summer in Cleveland, for nearly seven years in the 1980s. He was a lawyer who obviously had to be on time and couldn't miss court dates. That 6-volt Buick never let him down. It kept him warm in the winter, he listened to the radio driving to and from work, and it always started. A 6V electrical system is not the liability most people assume it is.

 

But if you're set on a 12 volt system and want a heater motor that will work, GM used under-seat heaters well into the '50s. Find a mid-50s Buick or Pontiac motor and use that. Should bolt right in and look correct.

 

And for the love of God, if you're doing this yourself, do a quality job with color-coded wires and proper terminals, and make a diagram someone else can follow. I can't count the number of cars I've seen that were "restored" using a giant spool of Home Depot red wire and those little plastic crimp connectors for every single circuit. Don't make the next owner of your car want to murder you.

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