12 volt to 6 volt conversion

[altair]

MOV07812THM This is a short video of my 259 12 volt engine operating on 6 volts.

[altair]

This is my first attempt at posting a video I will try again.

[altair]

mov07812 Second try

[StudeRich]

They say THREE times is Charmed!
You can revise or delete your Posts to add a new try however.

[sweetolbob]

Easiest way to post videos for me is to upload it to youtube and use the link in "insert video" in the header above as you write your post.

Bob

[bensherb]

I get that you are attempting to post a video, but I've never heard of either a 6 or 12 volt engine. A starter motor yes; but an engine does not care what voltage extraneous items use.

[altair]

Perhaps I should have been more specific, I removed the 12 volt starter and replaced it with a 6 volt starter, I also removed the 12 volt alternator and replaced it with a 6 volt generator I hope this clears up any ambiguity.

[oilnsteel]

I hope you changed the ring gear, too.

[S2Deluxe]

Perhaps I should have been more specific, I removed the 12 volt starter and replaced it with a 6 volt starter, I also removed the 12 volt alternator and replaced it with a 6 volt generator I hope this clears up any ambiguity.

Is it now positive or negative ground? Did you or did you not, also replace the 12 volt battery with a 6 volt one, and disconnect the ballast resistor from the ignition wiring? If you didn't replace all of the 12 volt accessories, wiring, bulbs, wiper, heater, defroster motors and any other 12 volt components? I don't expect they will function very adequately on 6 volts! And, anyway, which year and model Stude did you do this to? Ambiguities still abound!

Mark

[altair]

If my video would have played as intended it may have cleared things up. The car is a 1954 Studebaker sedan that originally had a 6 cylinder engine. All of the electrical components operate on 6 volts. With the engine swap up to a 1963 259 V8 I maintained the 6 volt system. The engine was originally fitted with a 12 volt starter and 12 volt alternator, I replaced the 12 volt alternator with a 6 volt generator and the 12 volt starter with a 6 volt starter. I modified the 6 volt starter and replaced the drive gear with a drive gear that was compatible with the ring gear. The gear drive is from a Prestolite catalog where the gear drives are all listed by their specific numbers, ie gear diameter, number if teeth, shaft diameter, left or right hand turning and overall length. The specific drive I used was Prestolite #360 R (right hand). I also mixed and matched the starter snouts. The original 6 volt V8 starter I acquired was from an automatic and the snout and drive was not compatible, I also acquired a 12 volt starter from a standard transmission and removed the snout from the 12 volt starter and installed it on the 6 volt starter. Now the 6 volt starter with the 12 volt snout is now a compatible fit into the bell housing. The gear drive was chosen from the Prestolite catalog 360R as it was compatible with the No of teeth, diameter, overall length and shaft diameter. The shaft diameter was .467 that was compatible with Prestolite 360R drive. The armature shaft had to be turned to .467 to an overall length of 2 9/16", this meant removing about 1/2"of material to obtain the 2 9/16" for the travel of the gear drive. The ring gear was not replaced the Prestolite 360R was a perfect fit. The engine, 1963 259 was not fitted with a ballast resistor it had a pink resistor wire from the ignition switch, with a 6 volt system resistors are not required. I have the engine starting on two 6 volt batteries independent of each other, one battery is on the inner fender and the other is in the trunk. They are both wired independently to the starter through their own solenoid, I have them wired through independent isolation switches so that each system can be isolated to check their performance. All the battery cables are 1/0 welding cables and offer little resistance. The 6 volt generator does adequately charge both batteries. This may all seem complex, however it is not, I only stayed awake at night for about a month to think it out. My remaining concern is to find some 6 volt and 12 volt starters to fabricate another compatible starter. The on I now have looks factory original bit it is bastardized inside and out but it works real good. There is an option B to all this the engine could be operated on the original 12 volts while the car remains on 6 volts, the generator would maintain the 6 volt system and the 12 volt battery could be charged from an external source. There are also some complex systems on the market using 12 - 6 systems through a system of solenoids and relays etc. I tried this 12 volt 6 volt system when I was in high school back in 1957 and my electrical teacher was also very interested and drew a system using a double pole double throw switch assembly that I could never figure out. He said you could start on 12 volts throw the switch and run on 6 volts. With the old style batteries with the open cells you could tap off any voltage you desired. I never did tried his system.

[S2Deluxe]

Wow!!! That's impressive. Now I really wish I could see the video!

Mark

[altair]

I had a professional assist me with the video and third time lucky.

[S2Deluxe]

You couldn't ask for an engine, that starts any more beautifully, than it does in that video, could you?

Thanks, for all your effort in getting it posted!

Mark