Click on image for the lowdown. 
====
| | | Forums66 Topics128,087 Posts1,056,107 Members48,434 | | Most Online14,466
Apr 26th, 2026 | | AD Chevy Trucks  Over 6,000 pictures Brad Allen has an awesome collection of Chevrolet factory pictures that he has set up from film strips. Check them out!
Lots of work on Brad's part ... pure enjoyment (and references) for you!
| | THANKS!
For helping keep this great
old truck web site
on the Internet for over 30 years! and not clogged down
with Ads!  Again, thanks!
| | | | Joined: Apr 2005 Posts: 242 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Apr 2005 Posts: 242 | I am looking to go from 6 volt to a 8 volt system will I need to replace any or all my bulbs or anything else??????? Thanks for your help!!!! 1-262-392-2989 or [email protected]Marv. | | | | | Joined: Apr 2005 Posts: 7,440 Bolter | | Bolter Joined: Apr 2005 Posts: 7,440 |
Martin
'62 Chevy C-10 Stepside Shortbed (Restomod in progress)
'47 Chevy 3100 5 Window (long term project)
‘65 Chevy Biscayne (Emily)
‘39 Dodge Business Coupe (Clarence)
“I fought the law and the law won" now I are a retired one!
Support those brave men/women who stand the "Thin Blue Line"! Hug a cop!
USAF 1965-1969 Weather Observation Tech (I got paid to look at the clouds)
| | | | | Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,795 Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) | | Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,795 |
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt!
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway
Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
| | | | | Joined: May 2001 Posts: 1,904 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: May 2001 Posts: 1,904 |
1948 3/4-Ton 5-Window Flatbed Chevrolet 34 Years. Now with a '61 261, 848 head, Rochester Monojet carb, SM420 4-speed, 4.10 rear, dual reservoir MC, Bendix up front, 235/85R16 tires, 12-volt w/alternator, electric wipers and a modern radio in the glove box.
| | | | | Joined: Apr 2005 Posts: 242 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Apr 2005 Posts: 242 | I am not looking in changing every thing over that is needed to go with a 12 volts system just looking to get a little more spin out of the motor in starting. Thanks to all for your quick response!!!!!!
Marv. | | | | | Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,795 Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) | | Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,795 | An 8V battery is a solution looking for a problem, mostly used by people who are too lazy or unskilled to maintain a 6V system properly. EVERY connection must be kept pristine clean and tight, and the battery must be fully charged at all times. Cables must be #0 or larger everywhere, hot and ground. With a lot of guidance (and some ridicule) by my father, I was able to keep a flathead V8 in a 47 Mercury running and starting well on 6V, and it had Offenhauser aluminum cylinder heads with 11.25:1 compression.
Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt!
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway
Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
| | | | | Joined: Oct 2018 Posts: 97 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Oct 2018 Posts: 97 | I'm in agreement with Jerry. My oem 6 volt, pos grd system cranks the 270 just beautifully. Do as he suggests, I used 00 wire to give it all it deserved. Be happy with the original setup, I am.
Last edited by msmall; 12/09/2021 5:14 PM.
1946 with WWII 270
| | | | | Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 29,269 Bubba - Curmudgeon | | Bubba - Curmudgeon Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 29,269 | An 8V battery is a solution looking for a problem
[6v systems:]
EVERY connection must be kept pristine clean and tight, and the battery must be fully charged at all times.
Cables must be #0 or larger everywhere, hot and ground.
Jerry  (as usual, for Jerry's posts) and, your 6v light bulbs will last longer | | | | | Joined: Apr 2005 Posts: 242 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Apr 2005 Posts: 242 | I am trying to start a engine that I just pick up 1935 Chevy that is not in a car was told it ran once removed. Used a fully charged 6 volt battery with 8 foot jumper cables motor turns over very slow with a 12 volt jump there is no problem and it spins fine. With the starter out of the motor it seams to spin fine but once you load it down trying to turn the motor over the starter can hardly turn it over. Could the starter windings be bad or weak??????
Marv. | | | | | Joined: Apr 2007 Posts: 1,038 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Apr 2007 Posts: 1,038 | Marv,
What gauge are your jumper cables? Most sold today are designed to carry 12 volt current, not twice the current necessary for a 6 volt starter. And being 8 foot long doesn't help either.
To add to the above comments, you would need to adjust your 6 volt voltage regulator to a higher voltage to recharge that 8 volt battery. A standard 6v regulator is set at around 7.4 volts and that just won't work with an 8 v battery.
Four of the trucks in my signature line have run for years just fine on 6 volts; only the '42 was already converted to 12 volts when I got it. I have had to once clean ground connections on the '51 because of hot start problems. The trucks are stock so I don't have modern radios or other accessories so I don't need 12 volts. All have heaters and two have original radios.
Kent | | | | | Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,795 Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) | | Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,795 | The jumper cables are your problem. John's new 261 also refused to start on jumper cables, even when we used a 12V battery. I went to a welding supply store and had them build a set of #0 battery cables with crimped-on ends, using a hammer tool to attach the terminals. We installed a 12V coil and used a 12V battery against the 6V starter to spin the engine. It took less than 10 turns to fire up. After a cam run-in we swapped back to the 6V coil, and a well-charged 6V battery. No cranking problems at all! Unless the jumper cable copper conductors are the diameter of one's thumb, there's just too much voltage drop to crank a new engine.
I had a pair of 12 foot long jumpers made from #00 welder cables that I used when I was running a Diesel shop and road service. I had 1K amp rated spring clips on the ends that were usually used as ground clamps for welding machines. They cranked big Diesels with no problems. Of course, the 12V battery in my service truck weighed 120 pounds, the same one used in a D-8 Caterpillar dozer!
Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt!
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway
Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
| | | | | Joined: Dec 2018 Posts: 2,450 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Dec 2018 Posts: 2,450 | Marv---Save yourself a lot of misery,go to a SIMPLE,MODERN 1-wire 12 volt alternator !!! Step out of the stone-age !! | | |
|
|
