I’m always reading about people up dating their Advance Design truck to a more reliable 12v electrical system. Fact is, when I first brought my 1950, 3600 to her new home I had my doubts about a 6v electrical system because of all the negative press it was getting. But, after applying some plain old common sense to the subject, I couldn’t see the logic in updating or modernizing unless I was going to run a bunch of 12v accessories. After all, this truck was still in its stock form and it was good enough to take a lickin’ for 56 years of regular use as a village utility vehicle and was still tickin’. That was the reason I decided rather than update or modernize this truck, I’d restore it to the way it came from the factory in 1950, factory stock as close as possible.
So in the fall of 2006 up on blocks she went and all the running gear and electrical was “restored” before I even drove her around the block. Now there are many different degrees or ways you can think of a restoration. At one end of the scale it simply means to do just what you have to, to get it up and running, even though it might not be completely reliable. Then at the opposite end of the scale there is the guy that pays meticulous attention to all the tiny details in order to duplicate what Chevrolet did from the factory. Well I’m kinda like the last guy, that’s what restoration means to me, to take the entire unit completely apart and down to bare metal and repair or replace anything that shows any signs of wear or deterioration. The end result is a truck that is just the way it was when it rolled off the production line. So in the spring of 2007 my running gear was like new, and the 6v electrical system also was new through out, except for the battery, which was replaced right before I bought the truck in ‘06.
Since the spring of 2007 I’ve put about 8,000 miles on the truck, but only when the weather was decent, she’s seen enough bad weather in her lifetime. Never had a problem starting it and we’ve done quite a bit of night driving and I have to say the lights are plenty bright.
When the weather turned sour last October, I parked the old gal in my attached garage and headed for the basement and my other hobby, old radios. The truck sat untouched till a few weeks ago when the weather broke and I decided to take a drive over to see a buddy. I never disconnected the battery so I just turned the key and stomped the starter and after about 10 seconds I had fuel up to the carb and she popped right off. The 50 miles to my friends house was uneventful and when I got home I shut her down and the snow hit us again. It sat for more than two weeks untouched and the other day the sun came out and the roads were nice and dry, so I decided to take it out for a little exercise. When I got in I could hear a bussing sound, and I looked all round thinking it was the florescent light over the bench but found that I had left the original tube radio on when I parked it, so it had been sitting there with the vibrator buzzing away for more than two weeks. To my surprise I gave it a 1/2” of choke, stomped the gas pedal twice, hit the starter and she popped right off. I drove around town stopping to do errands at four places and she started just fine every time.
Now this was an orfull long way around it, but what I’m saying is, don’t discount the reliability of the 6v electrical system, if it’s restored completely, it just might surprise you.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL
Just one more thing, I did install a 12v booster tucked up under the dash to power any 12v devices that I my have in the truck. I’ve used it for a 12v tach and a Sony stereo on a quick disconnect that mounts back up under the dash. I also have a RediRad unit plumbed in but that’s powered by the 6v system.
Last edited by Denny Graham; 04/13/2009 11:52 AM.
