The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay 6 or 12 volt ?????

I must be dumb as a rock , because I cant tell weather or not they truck I have was converted to a 12 volt system. There is a power converter mounted underneath the dash that says it converts 6 to 12 volts, or it does 12 negative ground to 12 positive. I am going to have someone replace most of the ignition parts for me, and I want to buy the right parts. I have added pics to my site of the coil that was on the truck and the starter/ generator please help would like to get the parts for this weekend. Thanks again guys
Tommy mack
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Also I put a 12 volt battery in the truck just to see if it would start and it seemed that it didint matter wether or not the key was in the starter would crank, but the guages only worked when i turned the key and the lights worked fine no probs..Thats whats confusin me I thought these things wouldnt work if the battery wasnt the right one...

What voltage are the headlights? Should be molded right on the glass. What voltage is the voltage regulator, should be stamped or printed on it. If these are all 6 volts be careful you're gonna burn out your gauges with that 12 volt battery if that converter aint hooked up to drop that 12V battery to em. Really you're gonna need a meter. Also I would take the generator over to Autozone or the like so they can run it to see what it's putting out. Also get one of the little light bulbs out from one of the gauges and see what voltage it is. You should also go over to Electrical, 5th and those boys got alot of good ideas.
Adios, Kip

I love that crazy steering wheel. How long ago was the "custom" work done? Cool differential cover. Engine looks like a 216. The picture of the starter shows the foot pedal linkage. When you stomp down on it it pushes down on that button closing a switch and completing a circuit from the battery to the starter motor. So, yes the starter will turn with the key off. And usually a 12 volt battery will not hurt a 6 volt starter, if it's not cranked too long. It's common to keep the old starter when upgrading to 12 volts. The red wires connected where the battery cable connects eventually goes under the dash to the ammeter and the ignition switch. The ignition coil should not have any power with the key off. If you have a 6 volt coil a 12 volt battery will ruin it. I'm guessing there was not a battery in it when you started? Maybe you can take the coil to a parts dealer and they can tell you. Or look at the taillight bulbs. They probably won't be marked 6 or 12 volts, but you can cross check the numbers on them. The power inverter may have been for 6 volt accessories, like heater blower, radio etc..? Good luck.

Does the generator say 6V or 12V on the data plate? Does the positive or negative cable go to the frame of the truck? Most positive ground systems were 6 volt. Like Kip sez, the regulator cover should indicate voltage and polarity. Headlight bulbs are a good indication too, but voltage may be printed on back of bulb on some models.

Hey Rev. I swear on a ton of service manuals my 54 came with a *long*, nice looking clean generator and stamped on the case "12V" but I did take it over to pep boys and sure enough it was putting out 6V. Go figure.
Adios, Kip

They have the Field and Armature connections correct? Strange, unless it was re-wound for 6V.....

also there are two terminals that are on either side of the distributor, just below the cap, I was wondering what the hell these things were for, and where can I get the parts to replace them...They come from the same place that one of the coil wires is connected to, and the other coil wire goes to the battery. Thanks

I'm going to move this one into the electic bay for you guys.

I just converted mine from 6v to 12v. The easiest way is to look at the generator and if the tag on the side is red it is 12v and a black tag is 6v.

That truck's rear end cover is pretty cool with those cooling fins. Did they get that hot back there?

Steering wheel? I thought it was a DIY apendectomy kit!

Kool truck, tho.

SO, what happened, Tommy? Did you get it figured out? running? Keep us posted.