6 to 12 volt partial conversion on 50 Buick Roadmaster

[callbald]

HI is there a way to do a 12 volt conversion limiting it to starting and keep the rest of the operating system 6 volt.  Instructions I have seen talk about effecting bulbs, heater, etc.   I am looking to address jumping with 12 volts and better starting.  

[Matt Harwood]

[Dynaflash8]

I have a friend who is a licensed electrician.  He has a 1937 Packard coupe that he converted partially so he could put A/C into it.  That all works fine, but.............  He had a lot to deal with in making and locating a compressor bracket that would also keep the fan pulley lined up with the compressor pully on the old Packard engine.  But he had a shop that overcame that.  It even runs on the original radiator okay.  The one thing is he had the original radio restored, and then had to use the space for parts of the A/C so the beautiful old radio had to go.  All of the lights and gauges still work on six volt (with some kind of step down deal, the mechanics of all that is over my head

 

[The 55er]

Do a search for Orpin Switch on these Forums.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

47 minutes ago, callbald said:

HI is there a way to do a 12 volt conversion limiting it to starting and keep the rest of the operating system 6 volt.  Instructions I have seen talk about effecting bulbs, heater, etc.   I am looking to address jumping with 12 volts and better starting.  

Callbald, you will get a lot of differing answers here. BE PREPARED!

  I don't know the answer to your question.  BUT, I have converted to 12V long ago.  My car is a driver.   Message me if you want more info without lighting a firestorm.

 

  Ben

[Bloo]

 

53 minutes ago, callbald said:

HI is there a way to do a 12 volt conversion limiting it to starting and keep the rest of the operating system 6 volt.

 

@The 55er has the answer to your question. An Orpin switch and two 6 volt batteries is what does that. It was a fairly common setup on fire trucks with 500-ish cubic inch engines back in the early 50s.

 

In my experience, whatever is causing the car not to start will continue to degrade, and you'll have to fix it anyway. Then the Orpin switch and the second battery won't be needed anymore, all that extra complication will just be in your way. You will probably wind up taking it out when the batteries fail, instead of buying two batteries again. It might not work with the Buick automatic starting, I'm not sure whether it would or not. If it doesn't, you would have to add a starter button or switch.

 

Edited January 26, 2022 by Bloo (see edit history)

[alsancle]

Matt is correct.  Search the forum.   Read through the threads,  and then find out what is wrong with the current system.   Converting to 12 will just create a different set of headaches.

[37_Roadmaster_C]

I will be the bad dog here...  Fix what is failing and you will have a great reliable car without the Frankencar electrical system. 6 volt systems were just fine when the cars were new and for decades after. Simply converting to 12 volt will not help starting on its own. One thing to remember about the 6 volt cars is that they do not crank like modern cars. They crank slower. This is just fine and normal. They still start just fine if they are properly maintained! Clean and tighten all connections and clean, clean and clean again all grounds, especially the battery and battery cable connections.  Just my thoughts for what you paid for them 😇....

[Guest]

Trucks used to use a series parallel solenoid for this purpose.

 They went from 12v to 24v.

[Akstraw]

On 1/26/2022 at 10:02 PM, 37_Roadmaster_C said:

I will be the bad dog here...  Fix what is failing and you will have a great reliable car without the Frankencar electrical system. 6 volt systems were just fine when the cars were new and for decades. They crank slower. This is just fine and normal. 😇

Well said.  I think that 8 volt batteries and 6-to-12 volt conversions are based on a lack of understanding.  Just because you vintage car doesn’t crank as fast as your modern car does not mean that it is defective.