6 volts do the job just fine thanks

terraplane8
terraplane8 Senior Contributor
edited April 2012 in HUDSON
Yesterday I visited the stables where my '36 Terraplane has been hibernating in an open carport since September 2010. I thought I'd better pump the tyres up and see if I could get it going and take it for a run. So I connected up the battery cable I'd disconnected at the time I'd stored it, and turned the ignition on. Surprisingly, the ignition and oil lights came on - I'd expected the battery to be totally dead by now. I then pressed the starter button, and blow me down if it cranked over normally! Not only that, but it kept cranking at good speed for at least half a minute while fuel was pumped from the tank into the float bowl before the first splutter of combustion. Remember, this is the car with all new valves, seats, springs and guides, with higher than normal 7.3:1 compression so it's no pushover to crank when cold.

It then fired into life, supposedly stale fuel and all, and ran perfectly on a run I then made along the local roads.

I find this quite amazing, as in theory the battery should have been discharged after 19 months. In one previous winter, it started up in the same way in freezing conditions after sitting for three months unattended. I thought that was great, but this latest event is something else again.

So, if anyone tells me 6 volts is no good, I know that's not true.

Comments

  • Unknown
    Unknown
    You're surprised??? What you expect - it's a Hudson product!!! LOL Fun just running around local roads, isn't it. I remember when I got my last Hudson, a 49C6ClCp to run and took it for a drive around the neighborhood, low brakes, no muffler and all.
    I did get it back into the drive-way about 2 min ahead of the local cops!!! LOL Some nosy parker did't like the loud noise. Lucky I lived in a small town - all the cop, whom I knew, said was "About time you got that thing to run!!!"

    Hudsonly,
    Alex Burr
    Memphis, TN
  • Jon B
    Jon B Administrator
    Yup, so long as you have a first rate battery with good cold cranking amps (and you obviously do!) and not a cut-rate cheapie, and so long as your battery cables are of the correct gauge and have good connections, 6 volts is just fine. I've never considering switching to 12, myself. The only problem is that six volts is unforgiving, whereas 12 volts will cut you some slack if your system isn't just perfect. But to my way of thinking, the only "good" reason to switch over to a 12-volt system is if you have one or more 12 volt accessories to run. If it's just starting problems, then it's like they say: switching to 8 or 12 volts is just a Band-Aid, something that treats the symptoms and not the real cause of your problems. If things are working as they should, and you have a decent battery (and there are a lot of indecent batteries out there now!) six volts will work as well now as it did when your Hudson was new.
  • Terraplane33
    Terraplane33 Expert Adviser
    After reading your message this afternoon, I went to start the ET8, a littel gas in the carburator and the engine started straight away !
    A I was there, I removed the broken glass pieces from the front door side deflector, made a template of the other one to order 2 new units made of safety glass.
  • terraplane8
    terraplane8 Senior Contributor
    I don't think the battery is anything special, Hella Endurant I think. It's about seven or eight years old too.

    However I do have large battery cables, good terminals and terminal connections and a good earth from engine to chassis. The starter motor has also been freshened up some time ago.
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