1954 naa(jubilee) ignition upgrade and other question

I purchased a 1954 Ford (Naa)jubilee tractor.
The old girl has had allot of use and I wanted to have a piece of equipment on my 5 acre second property to assist with some building and improvement. So far I spend more time and money trying to get her started than actual use.
My question involves the following: Has anyone installed an electronic ingnition upgrade in this type of tractor which is a 6 volt positive ground and if so what are your thoughts if any or any suggestions in the installation process.
I have researched some videos on you tube and saw something that I also need to know.
Is this tractor supposed to have a ballestor resistor installed between the ignition switch and the voltage regulator?
Thank you in advance for any and all assistance
 
Great question...I have a 53 jubalee and I was wondering if a elect ignition was a good idea or not and how do you know if it is a pos ground or neg ground
 
Hi Dan
In my case that was the set up when I bought her and I believe unless someone has made any significant changes to the electrical system that is the way they were built back then.
 
Could be set up either way now, but came from the factory as 6 volt, positive ground.
I have no personal experience with 6V electronic ignitions, but have heard that they aren't the greatest - if your battery is a little low, they won't make spark. 12V EI on the other hand, works well. I've put those in, and have had no problems with them. If I were going to put EI in my Jubilee, I'd convert it to 12V at the same time.
 
On all my tractors I switch to 12 volt - ground and put an alternator on them. I keep the point system and almost NEVER have any problems with them. I depend on them to run when I want and most of the time they do and they are all pretty old the oldest being a 1935 machine. I spent years in the Navy working on electronics and would NEVER go that way on a tractor
 
Hey Fordfarmer, thanks for your thoughts. I had researched many of those options and to do a 12 volt conversion involves replacing the generator,voltage regulator,starter,coil,battery and any upgrades to EI. It really comes down to cost to some degree. I think I will try the 6 volt EI and replace the coil with a higher performance model which was recommended and I will continue posting on what I discover in the process.The cost to attempt the 6 volt option in parts is less than $175.00 so if it doesn't work all that well It won't be to hard to swallow
 
Alternator from a 1980 Chev pick up no power any thing no AC works great and cost is only about $45 with a $10 core charge. Then a VR-1 ballast resister from O'Reilly's and wire up and your good to go. I go with 12 volt systems so I can switch a battery out if I need be and when you have as many tractors as I do you do that some times due to the cost of batteries now days
 
(quoted from post at 14:56:02 07/27/14) Hey Fordfarmer, thanks for your thoughts. I had researched many of those options and to do a 12 volt conversion involves replacing the generator,voltage regulator,starter,coil,battery and any upgrades to EI. It really comes down to cost to some degree. I think I will try the 6 volt EI and replace the coil with a higher performance model which was recommended and I will continue posting on what I discover in the process.The cost to attempt the 6 volt option in parts is less than $175.00 so if it doesn't work all that well It won't be to hard to swallow
You don't have to change the starter.
 
Right.
And if going to 12V, why not use a internally
regulated alternator, thus doing away with the need
to change the voltage regulator over to 12V.
 
" involves replacing the generator,voltage regulator,starter,coil,battery and any upgrades to EI."

Please re-do that research. With a 12V conversion you toss the
generator and voltage regulator, not replace them.
Or you can sell them to recoup some cost.

The starter is good as is, the NAPA IC14SB coil is about $15,
battery can be any 12V battery that fits in the box.

Personally, I would convert it to 12V and get it running on points.
Then see if I need the EI. The 12V conversion on my Jube cost
me less than $100 bucks. Never did do the EI. Haven't needed it.

I can jump it if need be from any booster pack or car/truck.
Swap in a battery from any other vehicle out here.
Run a 12 volt sprayer or other attachment.

Grant you, the majority of my tractors are still 6V or less and
none have EI. I don't have any trouble with them starting.
I converted mine mainly so I could use a 12V salt spreader.

Here's a 15 second video of my 6V 9N starting. Link
Your Jube should not start any harder than this.
 
Hey Royce, Thanks for your thoughts I guess I will
keep learning I have had so many differing reviews over the past year from conversations and on line sites, on what you should do when converting to a 12 volt system that It was hard to know which way to go.I have always liked the KISS principle I like the sound of your tractor I will post mine in return when I finally solve the problem.
 
Please do! What I see a lot of the time is guys convert to 12V or
EI or both trying to solve a hard starting problem and [b:871d6f44c3]if[/b:871d6f44c3] that
fixes it, it is only a band-aid.
In good shape, these machine don't start hard.
The Jubilee is only 134 CI, not a dragster! :)
 
ballast resistors and voltage regulators don't interact.

a front mount ford would use a ballast resistor and a sqaure coil. When ford went to round coil 6v machines, ballast resistors were not used. when ford went to 12v machines in 65 they again used the 6v coil and resistor wire.

ei is your choice.. however.. IF i went EI.. i'd be running on 12v neg ground FIRST.
 

KISS approach would be to convert it to 12V... They are a perfect candidate for 12V.... I would spend my money on a conversion then make the call on EI later.... All those parts are maintenance items and will fail in time 6V parts are not what they use to be... I don't think anyone would argue the point 6V part quality has gone down hill,,, 12V parts are generic and reliable for now and as time goes on...

The readability and quality issue is what is killing 6V's.
 

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