I'm with Marty on this one. Cleanliness is next to, well you know the rest! I spent all of the winter taking everything apart on this '50 that I’m working on and one of the areas that I paid special attention to was the 6v electrical system. I repaired or replaced any bad wires and I took all of the connections loose and cleaned all with a small wire brush. Check all of your grounds, take them loose and clean them, any oxidation at a connection has some resistance and there for some voltage drop. Add enough of them up in a circuit and it can be significant enough to dim your light a bunch.
After hearing all the stories that some guys tell about 6v systems and dim lights I was expecting something akin to gaslights. One of the things that surprised me the most was that the headlights are just as bright as a 12v light would be. At night out here in the country when I'm cruising by myself I light up the road like any normal set of headlights would, whether I have the dims or brights on. You get used to seeing headlights on the newer vehicles equipped with the halogen bulbs and a sealed beam simply isn’t going to throw as much light. That’s why ya don’t see them anymore on newer cars, simply advances in technology.
Now the tail lights are the normal brightness that one would expect from period taillights, a bit small but plenty bright. If you noticed, they kept adding more bulbs and larger reflectors to the taillights as safety design progressed. The stoplights could be a bit brighter but I think once again they are correct for the period. If one were really concerned that they couldn’t be seen and wasn’t looking for originality than maybe additional lights could be added to the rear.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL
