12v conversion Park W

464Saloon
464Saloon Senior Contributor
edited November -1 in HUDSON
Park,

I am using your instructions printed off of Ken's site to convert my 54 Special from 6v to 12v. Couple of questions for you since I am running into a little bit of a difference of opinion among some other experts. I have been told by some other Hudson club members that it is not necessary to change the starter and the solenoid. They said they'll work as is but probably won't last as long. Also they said the OD will work as is. Right now mine is just connected to a toggle done by the previous owner. I plan to put it back to stock later. On the resistors a 1ohm 50w is pretty big for the heater. Too big to not have to have some kind of support for it. Any particular way this should be done. I think it will get pretty hot when operating. The electronics store thought a 1/2ohm 25w resistor was high for a clock. This is a pretty big place that has been around a while and they didn't have such a thing. Gave me two 1/2 ohm 10w. Will that work? Last what is the purpose of the 10 ohm 10w resistor to the ignition switch? I picked one up, but don't understand its purpose. Other than these questions, I think they are great instructions and hope everything works when I get done.

Thanks,

Rob

Comments

  • Park_W
    Park_W Senior Contributor
    Rob,



    Regarding starter and solenoid, there are also members out there that will tell you about their experiences with broken flywheel teeth and broken Bendix drives!



    My recommendations are an engineer's approach, not "how to get by with the least hassle or least cost." I want to have reliable service out of a car that's been converted, and you don't get that when you operate 6v equipment on 12v. You're quadrupling the power (wattage) dissipated in the equipment, and that takes it beyond whatever safety/reliability factor was designed in. Certainly folks do get away with it, but the reliability factor has been greatly compromised.



    E-mail me directly at HETpwald@mindspring.com (remove the HET first) and we can have some more detailed conversation on the other things you touched on.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories

In this Discussion