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Posted By Discussion Topic: 8 volt conversion     Pair of 40's 04-12-2010 @ 5:41 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 60 Joined: Feb 2010 To change to an 8 volt battery I'm told you must change the voltage regulator? Is this correct? Thanks kubes40 04-12-2010 @ 5:51 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 3408 Joined: Oct 2009 I have to ask why would you want to change to an 8v. battery? Pair of 40's 04-12-2010 @ 6:29 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 60 Joined: Feb 2010 I'm under the impression it will start better than the 6 volt and the lights burn brighter. 4dFordSC 04-12-2010 @ 6:44 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 266 Joined: Oct 2009 IMHO, make sure you have the correct gauge battery and starter cables with good connections, get an Optima battery, and stick with 6v. Pauls39 04-12-2010 @ 7:27 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 81 Joined: Oct 2009 Yes you will need to change the regulator as the stock unit won't cut in early enough to charge the battery fully. Then you will need to change the generator after it burns up from over heating. Likely your lights will have a shorter life from the higher voltage as will the radio and dash gages, which may not read accuratly with the higher voltage. Clean or change the battery cables. Clean all your grounds. Install the 6v Optima, and don't create problems you don't need or want. Pair of 40's 04-12-2010 @ 7:32 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 60 Joined: Feb 2010 Thanks for the advice!! supereal 04-12-2010 @ 9:24 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 Going to 8 volts ignores the problems that cause slow starting and dim lights, and will hasten the end of bulb life and any other electrical parts of your car. A 6 volt system in good condition will be sufficient. After all, Fords operated on 6 volts for almost half a century! 37RAGTOPMAN 04-12-2010 @ 5:34 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1965 Joined: Oct 2009 if you need a 8 volt battery, you most likley have a bad grounds, from engine to frame, or a starter rebuild,probably dirty and oiley inside, worn down starter brushes, etc, if starter is not spining the engine over, if your lights are dim, you have dirty corroded contacts and bad grounds, clean the contacts and replace the bulbs, check the ground with a 14 gauge jumper cable,from the bulb socket housing to the battery terminal.and see what the light looks like, if you want a whole mess of problems the 8 volt battery is the way to go, my 3 cents worth,37RAGTOPMAN I just buy the 6 volt battery from AUTOZONE for around $80.00 and are go to go for around 5 years, wmsteed 04-13-2010 @ 9:53 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 613 Joined: Oct 2009 If you go back forty years or more before the advent of maintenance free battery's, 12v, etc., the use of 8v battery's in 6v systems was very common, especially in the colder climates. I used a 8v battery in my '36 Ford for many years when I lived in Idaho/Nevada. The 8v had better cranking power in sub-Zero temps and hot summers. Of course the long narrow industrial 8v battery would not fit into the original underfloor box so I put it behind the seat on the right side. I did tweek up the voltage regulator on the 2 brush generator to put out close to 8v. During the ten plus years that I ran 8v battery's in my Ford I never had a problem with shortened life on light bulbs or with any of my accessories, radio/heater or the '41 Ford conv top lifts motors that open my trunk lid. I have to agree with the comments about poor grounding, etc., being a major factor effecting general starting of an engine, so these items should be properly serviced and/or repaired prior to assuming that a larger battery will solve the problems. Bill 36 5 win delx cpe supereal 04-13-2010 @ 10:02 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 Yesterday, I brought my '47 out of winter storage, as the temp was in the low 80's (in Iowa!). It was last driven in late September of last year. I primed the carb, gave it a few pumps, hit the starter, and it was as if the car had run yesterday! If anyone needed proof of the benefit of the Optima battery, they should have been here.

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