12 volt conversion of a 1963 2000

tex prexhurst · Jun 18, 2016

I am converting my 6 volt to 12 volts. I have previously converted an 8n and a Farmall h. In those two, I used the old coil, and just put a Chrysler big ceramic ignition resister in series with the coil. This worked fine. Is there any reason that I can't do this with my 2000? People talk about varying resistance (Ohms)for 12 volt coil, but won't the resistor simply reduce the 12 volts to 6 volts? I was told that is why Chrysler used the resistor on their cars.
I did change the bulbs to 12 volts.
Thanks,
Tex

wi11y · Jun 19, 2016

There wont be any issues really with the change over. On the older John Deere tractors the starter would engage too quickly (going from 6-12 volts) and knock teeth off of the flywheel. Ford bendix doesnt suffer from this. The only real annoyance you may discover is if you have any lights. 6 volt lights dont like 12 volts and burn out quickly. So if all you had was a dash light, the first time you turned it on will be toast. Yet that is only a bulb.

Yes, using the ballast resistor in line to cut the voltage is the correct presumption. It will also help cut the amps that would otherwise fry your points in the distributor.

Oh and post pictures so we can drool. grin

dmbinva · Jun 19, 2016

I am not a fan of the resister, I replace the coil with an IC14SB coil from NAPA about 230 bucks , The more connections you have the more places to foul up in my opinion. If you go the resister route be sure to change the wires on the coil. as the 12 volt is - ground.

tex prexhurst · Jun 19, 2016

Thanks for that tip. I don't know if I did it on the other conversions, and I'm not too sure why the coil is polarized, but there probably is a good reason . . .

Texasmark1 · Jun 19, 2016

Maybe I'll answer this myself. My '63 2000 is OEM 12v but it's a diesel. Maybe that's the distinction. Anybody know?

JMOR · Jun 19, 2016

(quoted from post at 21:40:58 06/19/16)
Maybe I'll answer this myself. My '63 2000 is OEM 12v but it's a diesel. Maybe that's the distinction. Anybody know?

ep, you got it!

sfcrusscanter · Jun 20, 2016

I'm in the middle of converting my 1959 801 to 12 volts. I converted my 1960 641 several years ago with no problems. This time it's not so simple, the brackets in the kit don't match and I've had to improvise. Now fighting the wiring harness. No amp meter like in the directions, so I'm using the original bus bar to make the connections match. I found a better wiring diagram off the internet that matches my 641, so I'm going by it. Just bought a new 12 volt ignition coil and was going to work on it this evening, until the wife reminded me of our grandson's birthday party. I've got the resistor installed, but do I have to change out the points? Is the fuel sending unit also need to be changed since I'm changing the system voltage. On the 641 the fuel gage never worked anyway, so it wasn't a concern.
On my 641 I also went with an electronic ignition that works well and I've thought to do the same with this one. Time to get this back up and running, I have to cut the hay...
Russ, in Kansas

wi11y · Jun 21, 2016

To Russ

The ballast resistor cuts the amps that get to the points. It is the amps that fry the points not the voltage. As to the fuel sender? The fuel sender is a potentiometer, it changes how much of a short is created to ground and the fuel gauge is actually measuring the proportional voltage. It doesnt care 6 or 12 volt. So you are fine there. The only thing that has a issue with voltage increase are any lights. A 6 volt bulb will burn out on the 12 volts.

Sean in PA · Jun 21, 2016

The ballast resistor cuts the amps that get to the points. It is the amps that fry the points not the voltage.

The resistance, voltage and current are all inter-related through ohms law, so you can't change one of the three without causing a change in at least one of the others.

It is the lower current that keeps the points from being damaged, but it is the voltage drop caused by the resistor that causes the lower current through the coil. With the proper resistor in line with the coil, one that is approximately equal to the internal resistance of the coil itself, only half of the total voltage gets applied across the coil, and since the internal resistance of the coil hasn't changed, then the current through the coil will be cut in half of what it would otherwise be without the external resistor.

wi11y · Jun 21, 2016

Thankyou for that clarification.

JMOR · Jun 21, 2016

I'll be waiting to read his report on fuel gauge operation at twice design voltage.

Sean in PA · Jun 21, 2016

(quoted from post at 11:30:29 06/21/16) I'll be waiting to read his report on fuel gauge operation at twice design voltage.

For that you need a replacement sender that has twice the resistance across the entire range of movement of the float as the original, which gets tricky if either end of the original range produces either zero or infinite resistance.

JMOR · Jun 21, 2016

(quoted from post at 14:00:26 06/21/16)

(quoted from post at 11:30:29 06/21/16) I'll be waiting to read his report on fuel gauge operation at twice design voltage.

Click to expand...

For that you need a replacement sender that has twice the resistance across the entire range of movement of the float as the original, which gets tricky if either end of the original range produces either zero or infinite resistance.

es, Sean, I predict that it will show empty all the time until the smoke comes out of the gauge ....& then it may still show empty.

12 volt conversion of a 1963 2000

tex prexhurst

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