6 or 12 volts?

The 48s have fairly simple wiring, should not be to difficult a task to install a new harness. Just be sure (as already stated) it is a harness designed with 6v wire size.
 
My opinion, for what it's worth.
12 volts makes life a lot easier on these old Fords, especially with a daily driver.
You will find that out on a hot summer day when you try to restart after a drive.
 
DD931 said:
I have a '48 F-1 that is very original - and is 6V. I'm old enough to remember when all cars were 6V and no-one thought a thing about it. We thought the shift to 12V in the late '50s was a scam to save money by using less copper. My truck works fine. Lights are perfectly bright. The only caveat is the one usually mentioned on this forum - use heavy copper battery cables and be diligent in seeking out bad grounds. Keep it 6V!!!
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My 47 sedan has been a daily driver for 240,000 miles (and still is) with original 6 volt everything including wiring. It certainly works as well as any 12 volt. I could never figure out why anyone would go to all the trouble to switch to 12 volt, change battery, starter, generator, gauges and sending units, bulbs, etc. etc. and still don't get the only advantage of 12 volt that I can think of which is being able to use smaller wire. That's got to be the only reason Ford made the switch. I did a road trip last weekend and started the engine in 17 deg. outside the motel in the morning just as well as in my insulated garage at 60 deg. Lights are plenty bright. Radio plays plenty loud. Why 12 volts? I don't get it.
 
I have just finished a 50's style 38 Ford Coupe it is all 6 volt. It has heavy duty wiring from Tyree Harris and really good grounds and soldered connections. Optima battery starts like a champ! Lights are OK.
My other project is a 52 F1. I already have Tyree Harris wiring (6 volt) This F1 will be back to Henry standards in a year or so....
Optima battery in an old case. g
 
Vanspeed said:
The gauges have resistors on them but they do not work, the wiring to the headlights and tailights is gone. It is just a plain mess under the dash. It fires pretty fast with the 12 volt so I imagine it would fire just fine with the 6 volt too. Seems to be the majority of going back to 6 volt which is what I was thinking about.
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Rewiring your F-1, for 6 or 12 volts, is easy as long as you get a harness from a reputable dealer. I've used Rhode Island Wiring, Dennis Carpenter, Bob Drake and Tyree Harris. You'll find the toughest part of the job is installing the light bulbs in the instrument cluster... ;)
 
I have a macs catalog and they have the harnesses. Says they are original style cloth. Have any of you used them? Should I go with someone else?
 
Like Vic says, there are many sources (and several more he didn't list). Everyone will have a different opinion on which ones are the best.
 
JSeery said:
Like Vic says, there are many sources (and several more he didn't list). Everyone will have a different opinion on which ones are the best.
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No offense intended, but isn't the purpose of this forum to help each other out? If anyone has an opinion of one over the other, I think it helps everyone to public what we have found. For example, I have had 2 experiences with Rhode Island wiring. The first time, I wanted to replace the temp gauge crossover wire on my very original '51. The wire I received was of good quality and quite expensive, but had the wrong insulation. The second time, I needed the parking light unit wiring and called them again. They were again quite expensive, and gave me a lead time of over 6 weeks, so I went elsewhere where they had them in stock. Rhode Island may be OK for high quality, expensive harnesses for people with long term projects, but I won't be using them again.
 
tubman said:
No offense intended, but isn't the purpose of this forum to help each other out? If anyone has an opinion of one over the other, I think it helps everyone to public what we have found. For example, I have had 2 experiences with Rhode Island wiring. The first time, I wanted to replace the temp gauge crossover wire on my very original '51. The wire I received was of good quality and quite expensive, but had the wrong insulation. The second time, I needed the parking light unit wiring and called them again. They were again quite expensive, and gave me a lead time of over 6 weeks, so I went elsewhere where they had them in stock. Rhode Island may be OK for high quality, expensive harnesses for people with long term projects, but I won't be using them again.
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Not sure where your coming from, I didn't say there was anything wrong with folks having different opinions and/or expressing them! Not sure where you got that idea, and I'm still sure there will be folks with different opinions on the best wire harnesses. I use Road Island and like them, doesn't make other sources bad. It would be hard for me to claim they are the best, because I have not used every source there is to compare. I would guess the more people that chime in on the experiences on wiring the better.
 
I bought the wiring harness for our '39 LZ from Rhode Island Wiring, they are pricy but the harness is very nice. My one complaint with them is; they didn't send enough connectors... I called and was told they didn't include connectors because they didn't know how many were needed... YES... that is what I was told... I told them "you made the harness, you can't count the number of connectors?" Than they told me the connectors were $1.00 each... I told them that, for what I paid, I expect to have all the connectors included in the price. I did get a full complement of connectors at no charge but, they have lost any future business from me. Tyree Harris made the harness for my '53 F-100 Panel, I got the harness for the '39 CS from Dennis Carpenter and the harness for the '51 F-1 from Bob Drake. All are excellent quality and all but Rhode Island Wiring were reasonably priced.
 
Hi Jeff, I installed the ones Macs supplies. They do look very original, are stock for the 6V system and can be used on either 12V or 6V. The instructions and schematics /wiring diagrams are very good. Even though the wire color and harness wrap look like the original stock type they are made with much sturdier modern material. With the instructions and diagrams it's a fairly easy job.
 
JSeery said:
Not sure where your coming from, I didn't say there was anything wrong with folks having different opinions and/or expressing them! Not sure where you got that idea, and I'm still sure there will be folks with different opinions on the best wire harnesses. I use Road Island and like them, doesn't make other sources bad. It would be hard for me to claim they are the best, because I have not used every source there is to compare. I would guess the more people that chime in on the experiences on wiring the better.
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Exactly where I'm coming from.
 
Vanspeed said:
I have a macs catalog and they have the harnesses. Says they are original style cloth. Have any of you used them? Should I go with someone else?
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I used their's a few years ago on my '50 - dash, engine compartment, head lights, tail lights, and both cross overs - it was my first time to rewire a car -very sweet - great diagrams - I would/will buy from Mac's again - (going to need to replace some wiring on my '52 now).
 
If you haven't found them yet, check out Sacramento Vintage Ford. I've used 2 of their harnesses. I use stock harness even with 12V conversions because wiring vehicles is one of my least favorite things ;)

One reason for 12? If you want to add any modern accessories 12 is much easier. Three of my 5 trucks (48-52s) are converted - like the one in my avatar.

The first question you need to decide is whether you're staying strictly stock or not. That will answer many of your other Qs.
 
Thanks for all the replies and feedback. I appreciate it. I think I am going to stay 6 volt as it is an old farm truck and I don't think I will ever add any modern accessories to it.
 
I had a 1951 F-1 that I changed to a later GM engine because I had it and because it fit with no cutting. Of course it was 12 volt and the only change I had to do was put a resister on the heater motor that droped the voltage down to 7.5 volts and change all the light bulbs. All gauges etc worked with the 12 volts with no changes. Drove it that way for about 15 years as a daily driver with no problems. The resister I used for the heater was a GM blower resister. I cut a hole in the bottom of the heater to mount the resister so it would be in the air stream to keep it cool.
 
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