1949 Kaiser 12 Volt or 6 Volt

[JoeKeys2010]

Now that I have my 1949 Kaiser running again, I am a little nervios with the 6V electrical system. I have never owned a 6v system before so I am not sure what is normal and what is not.  I would like to keep the car as orginal as possible but want it to be reliable.  I dont like being stranded side the road.  Every time I drive my car off I hold my breath that it will start.  I have noticed that if the car does not start almost immedately, the battery will soon drain and the car will either have to be pulled off (pop the clutch) or the battery charged.  Most of the time it cranks, but it misses cranking enough to make me nervious.  The gage shows the generator is charging and I know nothing about the battery as they did not remove the applicable sticker to show the date installed.

Is is possible my battery is bad, my generator weak, or is this normal for 6v cars?  My headlights are very dim and at present my dash lights are not working. 

I did some searching on the forum and saw where some converted to 12v, some to 6v alternaters, one guy had two 6V batteries feeding the starter. 

[BigDave LM6174]

Take a serious look at the 6 Volt Optima Battery.  It has over 900 Cold Cranking Amps, and it starts my 51 Kaiser like it is a 12 Volt.  Parked in the garage, I keep a battery tender on it to keep it fully charged.  Ever since I got the Optima, I never worry about 6 Volt Power.

[retired wrench]

  The world drove billions of miles with 6 volt systems and they are as dependable as anything. But as with anything the have to be maintained. They dont spin a motor as fast as 12V but if a motor is in decent shape it will start. Hell we used to start them with a crank. The big difference is a generator wont last nearly as long as an alt.

[MilesP]

Best of both worlds get an 8 volt bat you will ned to adjust gen up and will burn out bulbs sooner also look at headlight switch rheostat likely shot just jump the rheostat  an dash lights will be on bright all the time

[JoeKeys2010]

My starter may be draging a little.  Some times I can hear the bendix spring wind down. I took the starter of the parts car and the generator and will have both rebuilt and the install them on my car.  That way I will know both components are good and I will have a spare set just incase.  I'm going to try to stick with the 6 volt system.  I just want it realible.

[retired wrench]

  I am not a proponent of 8 volt batts. You crank the regulator up to charge the batt. and you overload every electrical component. You also shorten the life of your gen. dramatically. Been there.

[brian.b]

im new to the 6 volt system to but i have to say the battery in my car is a beast it will crank and crank but now that i have lined out a few problems the car fires right up every time ..this morning it dipped down into the 40s and a friend of mine stoped by to see the car hit the gas once and fired right up...and the car has sat for 15 years ,,im going to stick with the 6 volt system...

[joefrazer]

A 6V system needs clean and tight connections to perform properly. Subbing in an 8V battery will just put a band aid on the problem and not fix it. Until about 1955, just about everything on the road ran on 6V. Check your connections, especially your grounds as most issues lie there. Also, with the running at about high idle, check voltage at the battery. It should at 6.8 - 7.2 volts.

[Fid]

Also, modern batteries are good for about 5 years and that's it. If  you don't know how old the battery is, you may just want to replace it.  I've been driving KF products for 40+ years and never converted one to 12 volts. They work fine on the 6 volt systems they were designed with. Another problem is, if the battery cables were ever replaced, and many were because they do corrode away, they may have been replaced with modern 2 gauge cables which are made for 12 volt systems. If you get the correct 1 or 0 gauge cables, which you can get at any farm equipment shop, they start just fine.  I've driven my cars from Minneapolis to Auburn, IN, Sioux City, IA, Missourri Valley, IA and Sublette, IL all with the original 6 volt system with no problems at all.  It is important to have a known good battery, and a good working charging system. If you have that you should be good to go.

[JoeKeys2010]

Thanks for all the comments. I'm convinced to stick with the 6v. I'll check/clean the connections cables and with a rebuilt starter will be in good shape. Most of the time it cranks right up but if it misses it dies quick.

[JoeKeys2010]

My starter seems to have a weak bendix spring, as it does not take much grinding on the starter before it wines down.  I pulled the starter off of the parts car and sent it to be rebuilt by a shop that is supposed to be real good.  They do all the work on our equipment (locomotives, forklifts and so forth).  He said the starter from the parts car is good and does not need to be rebuilt, so I cleaned it up and swapped starters.  It does hold better but the bendix will ocassionally wine in it as well.  Is this normal?  I plan on sending the original starter from my car to him to be built.

I also sent the generator from the parts car.  It does need building.  With the other starter on the car it is not leaving me stranded so much and most of the time will crank up right away.  Sometimes the car sits for a week without me cranking or driving it but even then it seems to be doing fine.  I'll stick with the 6v system.