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My brother emailed me a quiz. He owned a 1954 Ford convertible back in high school and was wondering what he would need to convert it from 6 to 12 volts. He did in fact convert a Palmer marine engine from 6 to 12 in 2 hours some years ago. Here is the quiz:
Which of these items would have to be changed or modified on that Ford to convert it from 6 to 12 volts? I guessed 4 items. This would also be a good primer for anyone thinking of converting a 6V American car.
1. Starter
2. Generator
3. Distributor
4. Ballast resistor
5. Light bulbs
6. Headlights
7. Wiring
8. Radio
9. Heaher
10. Computer
11. Dashboard gauges
12. Other.
 
Starter is questionable, I've known people that just run a 6v starter on 12v and get away with it.

Lights of course, although again I've known people that ran the 6v bulbs on 12v for awhile (until they burn out).

If it had a radio, it again would work for awhile, but it only takes a ballast resistor to make it last normally. No need to change the whole radio.

Generator probably was changed, tho again I think the old one could be made to work with some added resistors.

The rest was either ok, or not on a 54 Ford.
 
His 54 Ford had a computer? When converting my old Binder years ago I did 1, 2, 11, and the voltage regulator. I had my starter rewired for 12v, put in a resistor to drop the current to the gauges, I used an alternator and voltage regulator out of a 68 Binder.
 
A 12v Battery might be important? I guess that would be under "12. Other."
 
Transformers only work on AC.
But adding another 6 volt battery would work.
MGAs had 2 6 volts as original, and I've sometimes wondered if that isn't why the box is so big on a tr3. Triumph never used two 6s AFAIK, but someone might've wanted to keep that option open for cold climates or whatever.
 
Transformers only work on AC, true. But We had a '55 Chevy and I guess its radio needed higher voltage. they solved that problem by using a vibrator device the turned the voltage on and off. Apparently that was enough to make a transformer work to get the higher voltage it wanted.
 
Yeah, there were some tube radios that used that technique to get the high voltage for the tube plates. IIRC the factory radio in my 63 Chevy did too. And basically the solid state version of that is very common today. (Known as "DC to DC converter".)

But you wouldn't want to use one of those old.mechanical vibrator things to power a starter (for example), which is the primary purpose of the battery.
 
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