How Good Is 6 Volt System In Cold Weather??

[Norm's Coupe]

IMHO, just as good as any 12 volt. I'm still running the original 6 volt system, with what I think is the original wiring, except for plug wires and battery cables. My coupe has not been started for at least 3 or 4 weeks, when I drove it a few miles to go to the store. Hasn't been started since then either.

Was only 2 degrees outside this morning and is now about 18 degrees. Went out to mix some gas for the snowblower. After that I got in the coupe and she started right up. Ran it for about 20 minutes to operating temperature and just came back in.

So, if you have trouble starting your 6 volt cars, something is wrong with it because it should work fine. Remember people drove these every day without problems back in the day. Changing over to 12 or 8 volt simply because your car doesn't start is only hiding some other problem that may haunt you when you least expect it.

[Don Coatney]

Remember people drove these every day without problems .

Norm;

Problem is you dont drive your car everyday and that is a big problem:confused:

[1948Skip]

Norm,

All I can say is your one lucky son-of-gun to have your car start at 18°. when I was driving Mopars all the time back in the early sixties here in eastern PA, they never started when it was that cold. I would start the car and run it to temp before I went to bed and get up four hours later to go out and start the car and run it to temp just so it would start when I was ready to go to work. My first 12 volt was (1959 Cadillac) like dying and going to heaven.

Skip

[Norm's Coupe]

Skip,

The only 6 volt I owned back in the early 60's was my 52 Dodge. The only time that one failed to start was due to a dead battery. That car had 100,000 miles (actually, 99,999.9 when I drove on the car lot) on it when I finally traded it in.

I have always started my coupe up at least once a month during the winter months since the rebuild in 1998. It's started when even between 0 and 10 degrees outside without a problem. That said, I do run 10W 30W oil in it all the time. If you have 30W oil in it during the cold months, that could be a problem when trying to start it when at these temperatures. I even ran 10W 30W in the 52 Dodge I owned years ago.

[1948Skip]

Norm,

Back in the sixties the '47 sedan was my only car. After getting married money was tight while we were getting started. I always put 10 weight oil in the engine during the winter. 30 weight in the summer. All my Mopars were dogs when it came to winter an starting and I had 3 of them starting in '55. I keep my present '48 coupe in the warm garage so it does not catch cold.

Skip

[Oldguy48]

In years gone by, my experience with the mopar flatheads (a 1948, 1949, 1953, and a 1957) in cold weather (also in N.E. Pa) was that standard equipment for winter was a dipstick heater, a can of ether, a floodlamp placed on the head, directed toward the carburetor, and a generous portion of luck. Maybe, just maybe if you were lucky, the engine would fire up. If it started, you were good to go, but starting in very cold weather was a roll of the dice.

[1948Skip]

I even resorted to putting a quilt in on the engine after shut down to hold the heat in.

Skip

[55 Fargo]

How about a block heater, my 47 Chrysler with it's flattie and 15 W40 weight oil starts harder evben at 20 degrees, as the Rottela T 15 W 40 oil is thick, unless I am having other problems as well...........Fred

[Normspeed]

I moved from the northeast before I had to deal with winter driving, but I recall my family having lots of starting troubles with Mopars, Chevies and Mercs, all the old 6 volt stuff. My dad's 46 and 48 Fords would start right up, but the Plymouths, chevies and Mercs were bad news. Starting ether was standard equipment. Of course, battery technology was not up to today's standards, and being daily drivers, these cars were not as fine-tuned as many of ours.

Glad this came up, I'll toss a can of ether in my tool kit for my NM trip. No chokes in my carbs, should be interesting.

[49roadster]

keep in mind the Chrysler C300 in 1955 had a 6v. system, and seem to start.

(I know, in '56 they went 12v.)

[62rebelP23]

i think like many other things, the way the cars were treated made all the difference. our previous generations raised in the Depression or the War years had to squeeze every bit of use out of vehicles and fuel and fell into two camps of thinking; one camp was almost religious in doing upkeep and maintenance and the other camp lived on Tobacco Road, running their vehicles into the ground and getting another instead of doing repairs. sometimes it was simply cheaper for them to buy yet another barely running clunker than attempt to repair the car they had ( and this is STILL TRUE today...) and minor troubles put many cars in the weeds. my folks had three cars i can remember through my childhood; two practically built by my dad and one new car which gave us 115k miles cheerfully (Pinto!). Six volt systems ran everything on wheels for decades; twelve is better, but why change? if six isn't doing it, there's something in the CAR needs fixing.

[John Mulders]

Really cold here at the moment, I heard that the temperature measured was even below 23.

Don't think it will bother my P15 to start.

Oh, is is celcius

So just around 73 Fahrenheit.

Serious, when I get up in the morning and walk outside it really feels cold !

Back from a business trip, fed up with flying and time difference for while.

Really need to work on the Wabi !

John

[maurice wade]

Man! you guys need to move to a warmer area of the country.

[Norm's Coupe]

Man! you guys need to move to a warmer area of the country.

Don't know where you live. However, if I lived in an area like John Mulders or someplace without the snow, I'd be bored in the winter. Gets boring having the same type of weather all four seasons. Gotta add a little spice to life (or is that cold and snow).

You just have to dress for the cold and it's ok. Like tonight when I went out to mix the gas and start the coupe. Put on the snowmobile suit and a knit hat over the ears and gloves. Was nice and toasty warm while working in the garage and I didn't even turn on the heater. Haven't fired up the heater in the garage yet this year and think I only did it once last year.

By the way guys I forgot to mention about starting the car. I actually started it twice. Wife was gone to church, so when I went out to the garage I locked the house door so I could close the garage door while mixing the gas. As soon as I finished mixing the gas for the snowblower I got in the coupe and started it. Plan was to go back in the house while the car was warming up. However, after about a minute I realized the house door was locked with the key on the car key ring. So..........it only ran for about a minute or so I had to turn it off and go unlock the house door. Then went back out and the car once again fired right up.

[Plymouthy Adams]

Norm..if snow add a bit of spice to your life...well..lets just say it may be a bit late to save ya....like in the Christmas Story..poor little fellow was so wrapped up for the snow he could not put his arms up or down...

[55 Fargo]

Temp in The Winnipeg Canada area is currently 3 above, with the windchill its -15, darn freezin cold don't matter which way you look at it, just came in from the garage, turned the heat off in there, but there is 2 warm vehicles in there temp is 32 inside, but the garage is heavily insulated.

[jimwheeldon]

A few days ago I had to go out and snow blow the 10" of white off my driveway that accumulated during the night. Just for the heck of it I also brushed off the 50 Plym. and cranked her over..he fired right up and purred like a kitten. (After sitting dormant for a least a month)I did have to keep my foot on the gas for a half a minute though, otherwise she'd trail off. Keep in mind I have done nothing internal to the engine. It sat in the trees since 1967. I did rebuild the carb-installed new points and condenser,plugs and replaced the cables( really-really thick cables) and a new battery. I for one have alot of respect for the little flathead to run so smooth at 2 degrees Farenheight. I noticed the starter gear sticks a little sometimes..doesn't engage and makes a whirring sound. I figure it's probably galled up and just needs a good cleaning? Also how hard would it be to put a manual choke on the B&B? it would be a little handier..or perhaps you guys know of a fix for the auto choke...it seemed to work fine this fall. Hell it still runs better than my 1997 John Deere snowblower!

[Normspeed]

Garage? I dream of having a garage. Had to button up Norm's Speed Shop tonight, those cantankerous San Franciscans are sending one of their rainstorms down here.

[Norm's Coupe]

A few days ago I had to go out and snow blow the 10" of white off my driveway that accumulated during the night. Just for the heck of it I also brushed off the 50 Plym. and cranked her over..he fired right up and purred like a kitten. (After sitting dormant for a least a month)I did have to keep my foot on the gas for a half a minute though, otherwise she'd trail off. Keep in mind I have done nothing internal to the engine. It sat in the trees since 1967. I did rebuild the carb-installed new points and condenser,plugs and replaced the cables( really-really thick cables) and a new battery. I for one have alot of respect for the little flathead to run so smooth at 2 degrees Farenheight. I noticed the starter gear sticks a little sometimes..doesn't engage and makes a whirring sound. I figure it's probably galled up and just needs a good cleaning? Also how hard would it be to put a manual choke on the B&B? it would be a little handier..or perhaps you guys know of a fix for the auto choke...it seemed to work fine this fall. Hell it still runs better than my 1997 John Deere snowblower!

Years ago they use to sell a choke conversion kit at the auto parts store to convert the automatic choke to a manual choke. Not completely sure, but I think they still do at JC Whitney, so check around. Sounds like your starter may need new brushes or rewound. Don't know why your automatic choke isn't working properly. It's either sticking or maybe your manifold heat control is stuck and nothing is really wrong with the choke. If your choke is operated by a lever off the manifold, try lubing it with a little penetrating oil to make sure it moves freely. Uhh, do that when the manifold is cool, some penetrating oils are flammable.

[Mr. Belvedere]

Garage? I dream of having a garage. Had to button up Norm's Speed Shop tonight, those cantankerous San Franciscans are sending one of their rainstorms down here.

I brought my Belvedere in the garage to ride out the storm, my horrible freight portable garage I normally keep it in was destroyed in those ferocious winds we had back in october. Haven't got around to replacing it yet. How often do you have to re-roof the speed shop Norm? I am lucky if the tarp portion lasts two or three years.

[Normspeed]

They last 2 years max, or less if we get some good Santa Ana winds in year two. They seem to go bad in alternate years, so $90 a year for a new top. Mine are anchored pretty well and I screwed every pipe joint together with those self tappers you install with a drill. Some day I'll have a real garage...

[grey beard]

Next time you start your flattie up in cold weather and let it idle till the temp gauge is up to normal, may I suggest that when you shut it off, you pull the dip stick and let one drop of oil fall on the back of your hand. More than likely it will still be cool. These engines weigh a few hundred pounds more than a Belly Button Chebbie V-8, and all that casting mass takes quite a while to heat up from a cold startup, esecially when just idling.

My humble opinion is that this is the chief reason why these engines sludge up inside the valve chambers - I've never torn one down that wasn't filthy in this area with compacted, coked up sludge. I do not believe that twenty minutes of idling will bring the crankcase of any MoPar flathead up to operating temperature - which is what has to happen in order to evaporate condensation and/or moisture from the oil pan and lubrication system. Even a PCV system - which is quite helpful - will not help an engine warm up more quickly. For this reason, I always use a 180 degree stat on my engines. If they had a pressureized cooling system - by B1B does not - I'd try for a 190 stat. JMHO

[eric wissing]

I envy those loving in California in the Winter. Then I think about the fires. Florida and much of the Gulf Coast get hurricanes. So I guess the snow isn't too bad. We started this season off with freezing rain so I can't get the driveway clean as I like it. The alley was a sheet of 3" thick ice so slick that I couldn't even walk on it. I get up early so the sidewalks are clear for the kids going to school but do they use them? No, they walk through the drifts along the walks knocking snow back on to them or they use the street which is scary. If only the weather would get bad enough to keep the canidates away!! Eric

[Norm's Coupe]

Dave,

I've had moisture in the oil on some modern cars. Usually, it turns the oil into a milky color. That would happen in my wifes car because she only drove it about 3 miles every day to go to work (5 or 10 minute drive), so it never got the engine warm enough. I've been starting my coupe like this every month during the winter since 1999 and have never seen any moisture evidence in the oil. I do have a 180 thermostat in the car. When I change the oil in my coupe it's as clean looking as when I put it in. There is also no steam coming out the tail pipe after running it for those 20 minutes.

I think the reason you see all the gunk buildup in the old cars is due to the non detergent oil that everyone used years ago. Had that in my engine before the rebuild too.

[randroid]

Gents,

Back to the original question, until a few years ago my '48 P-15 and I lived at 8000' in the northern Colorado Rockies where I've seen it -38 in the shade, and there ain't no shade. Never did I doubt it would start on 6v and never was I disappointed. I did eventually install a block heater for the sake of heating the oil more quickly and it made a lot of difference in the speed it turn before it fired, but I liked the instant heat from the heater the best.

I concur with the guys who say if you have troubles with it starting, it isn't necessarily the voltage that's at fault.

-Randy