My '38 hdlte reflectors were tarnished, tried to polish them but just wore off the nickle to the copper. So I sprayed them with supposedly 'chrome like' paint which dried a flat silver, not shiney at all!! I'm still at 6V but wonder how to get bright enuf for safer nite driving. Tks~JH

 

Ever thought about having your reflectors re-chromed?

Best of luck with your '38.

 

That's a good idea but no cheaper than buying fresh ones which would be quicker!! Tks~JH

 

Have you read this article? It might give you some ideas.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/article/...r_Brights.html
AL.

 

Tks Dealford, I printed it out and will try it.

 

Do you know if this relay stuff works with 6V? I'd think it would! Tks again~Dan

 

Dan, you have been asking a lot of questions lately about your 38 truck. I get the impression you are undecided in what to do. I hear ideas about staying with the 6 volt, then I hear ideas about converting to 12v, then partial conversion to 12 volt, then back to 6 volt but modified with fuses and relays.

Here is my 2 cents on this. You need to make decision between two options.

1. Keep the truck totally original with 6 volt. What I envision how you would do this is restore all the 6volt components to working order. Get it running and do any troubleshooting and wire patching you have to do to get everything working in a preliminary fashion. Then take the wiring harness out and make a new one. Any original diagrams or literature you buy or find will help in this process. After you do this you will live with the dimmer 6 volt lights, and the slower cranking of the starter, and not very many modern add-on accessories. It will work fine though since everything will be in good working order, so you will have a truck you can definitely use if you wanted to.

2. Change to 12 volt. Completely. Go buy a new aftermarket wiring harness from one of the street rod vendors. One that has a good reputation and has good instructions. Go buy a one wire alternator and fit it to the engine, or get a GM delco mid 70's alt and mount it to the engine. Get a later model column and fit it up, or get a clamp on turnsignal switch from Napa. Put new sockets for dual filament bulbs for the front turnsignals, halogen headlights, mount two cool looking taillights in the rear, get a conversion windshield wiper system or get a an old vacuum wiper system till you get the money for the 12 volt motor. Buy a set of aftermarket guages to monitor anything you want in the dash. Get a 12 volt coil, pertronix may have a module to fit your distributor, get a resistor for the heater fan or get an aftermarket heating and AC system. Get a nice little stereo in there or get the biggest one you can find with the biggest speakers you can find with amps and speakers mounted in the bed. Buy a airbag system for the suspension with a 12 volt air compressor, etc, etc.

I think you get what I am talking about. I think you need to either stay original and leave it like an old truck, or the skies the limit if you go ahead and convert to 12 volt. This is just my personal take on the situation. I respect completely original trucks just as much as the modified ones. But I don't think you are going to get very far trying to make the 6 volt system do more than it was originally designed to do. I remember one of the other posts where we were talking about multiple post batteries with 6v and 12 volt terminals. That to me is just too much hassle and you end up with a hybrid electrical nightmare.

 

Dave; You sure got me pegged!!!!
Don't know what to do or how to do it. The wife likes the orig. looking stuff but the lites are terrible, no turn signals, no heater, etc.
I know to upgrade is mostly visible with the alt. and maybe the tail lites and signals,no real big deal as far as changing the 'look' of it being a '38.. So I should just make my own harness and wrap it in cloth loom from Mac's! I could even use 12 or 10GA. wire so it would be heavy enuf.
I really need to just start it next spring and get some help from other car club members here in town.
One more thing. Would a rebuilt 12V gen. in the old hsg be much of an improvement??
See ya & tks~Dan

 

Is there a 12v generator that will fit your engine that looks original?

I'm a stickler for NOS stuff when I have to replace things. Did Ford still use the style of generator case that your 6V uses when they went to 12V?

Is your '38 a V8? I wouldn't want a new style AC generator, or the wrong generator sitting there between the banks. If its a six, well, its up to you, friend.

 

My 65 mustang had dim taillights. The bezels were tarnished and had overspray. Instead of chroming a part I'd never see I put aluminum foil in as a reflector. Shiny side out naturally. It works great and costs next to nothing.

 

I've heard there's a place near me that can upgrade the old 6V hsg with 12V stuff! I'll have to ask ard again. My truck has a rebuilt '36 @ 85HP in it, someone did a nice job with it!!! Tks for your input.~JH