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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / 12 Volt Conversion Parts Sources

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Posted By Discussion Topic: 12 Volt Conversion Parts Sources     carcrazy 05-01-2011 @ 5:07 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1675 Joined: Oct 2009 Hi, Where are the best sources for the following items required to convert a 1937 Ford V-8 60 HP Engine to a 12 Volt Electrical System: "Runtz" voltage drop for dash gauges, "DA" Plug for adapting alternator to original wiring harness, 12 Volt Ignition Coil with internal ballast resistor for use with early ford distributor coil adapter kit, 12 Volt Alternator with internal regulator with pulley of correct diameter and width for stock fan belt, Alternator Mounting Bracket to bolt to stock generator mount on front of intake manifold, and a 12 Volt Headlight Relay to allow the new 12 Volt headlights to be a bright as possible? Any information on good sources for the above parts will be greatly appreciated. Thank you. 37RAGTOPMAN 05-02-2011 @ 5:07 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1965 Joined: Oct 2009 CERTIFIED AUTO ELECTRIC. [ advertised in the V8 TIMES,] will have a 6 or 12 volt ALT with the adapter with correct pulley and you can use your original fan, I have a 6 VOLT alt on my 37 85hp CAB, also this is a one wire, so you hook the gen wire to the terminal on the alt and the amp meter works with no problems you can get the coil adapter from SPEEDWAY,you will have to buy also a 12 volt coil, I personlly do not think you have to go this 12 volt route, to drive the car, if you want more light , buy a set of fog lights for $180.00 for the front,this is SO MUCH EASIER., if you go 12 volts make sure you have very good wiring 12 volts just love a short, ARE you a FORD V8 MEMEBER ??? if not The V8 TIMES will help you in many ways you have no idea,well worth the $35.00 my 3 cents worth 37RAGTOPMAN This message was edited by 37RAGTOPMAN on 5-2-11 @ 5:19 AM supereal 05-02-2011 @ 10:32 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 There are usually two reasons given for conversion to 12 volts: dim headlights and slow starter. Converting to 12 volts often masks problems with dirty switches, poor or undersized wiring, and a worn out starter. Many of our old cars are decades old, and these problems are usual, including poor grounding. I turned my yellow headlights into bright ones with a relay panel that feeds them directly from the battery, with the system operated by the former headlight circuit. If I want to go back, we just pull the bullet connector from the panel and put them back together. supereal 05-02-2011 @ 10:34 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 Here is the circuit drawing. carcrazy 05-02-2011 @ 11:00 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1675 Joined: Oct 2009 Ragtopman and Super, Thank you. JimMoulton 05-04-2011 @ 9:11 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 6 Joined: Apr 2011 superal, Is the relay panel something you put together, or is it available through electric/automotive supply houses? Jim supereal 05-04-2011 @ 10:31 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 Jim: I used a pair of six volt solenoids off the shelf at a local NAPA store. The rest we fabricated here in our shop. The panel is located on the left side front inside fender panel. It is connected to the system by a set of bullet connectors so the car's wiring is unaltered. The wire that used to feed the high beam is connected to one relay, with the low beams on the other. The relays are fed by a common heavy wire to the battery, and the headlights to each relay individually. In my '47, as with so many old cars, much of the headlight voltage was lost in the dash switch, the dimmer switch, and the inadequate old wiring. There is plenty of power to run the relays which, in turn, furnish full battery power to the headlights. Ordinary sealed beams draw about 60 watts each, which translates into a current requirement of about 20 amps for the two. My car has halogen lights, which require almost twice as much, and our relay panel was a shortcut to avoid replacing all the wiring in the circuit. The material cost was about fifty bucks for the solenoids. This message was edited by supereal on 5-4-11 @ 3:27 PM JimMoulton 05-04-2011 @ 5:17 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 6 Joined: Apr 2011 Supereal, I'm planning some wiring work on my 36 this summer, and your relays may be just the thing for my dim head lights. Thank you for sharing your knowledge. Jim

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