1951 B 6v to 12v Questions.

Thanks, MH

Thanks for everyones input, MH

The reason I am asking is I have a couple of those
what I beleive to be resitors lying around, and when I check them with my meter, I have 12v in and 12v out...

Do they have to have a load on them to drop voltage?

Thanks in advance, MH

I went to Radio Shack, and all I could find was a 10 watt 10 ohm resitor. That was the closest thing they had to a (3-5watt 10 ohm) so I tried it. I put in a ballast resistor 12v to 6v then put the 10w/10ohlm between it and the distributor. I have 5 volts at the dist, and the engine won't start or run. I need a few more volts.

Are the 10 watts to high?, or the 10 ohlms to high? Just point me in the right direction.

Thanks in advance for your timely help...MH

A really nice style of regulators I have used before is the LM 309 K, in the metal (TO3) can. It looks like a large power transistor, and is spec'd to take an input from 10V-35V, and give out a constant 5 V. They use them to power TTL logic circuits that require 5 V constant. Afraid that even with heatsinking, you could only count on about 1-2 amps capacity each, but you could parallel them onto a piece of PC stock, and tuck it under the hood (I don't think you'd ever see them up there. I was thinking at one time of using two to three to feed those sensitive pony coils. Someone else might know of another part number that has different output voltage, but if you can get by with 5 V, this model works really well.

Frank-in-Tallahassee
70D // 855

It's a Wico distributer. I'm getting 12 volts at the dist wire with the ignition switched on. So I guess I'll try a ballast resistor first. If that doesn't work I'll go back and find a High cca 6 volt batt and go all original.

Thanks

If it does need to handle that much amperage, and be regulated, you're into much more of a device. Short of building the entire thing from discrete parts with a nice big heat sink, you're into a 70 or more dollar device to handle that kind of load, from an industrial electronics house. At that rate, you could almost buy a rebuilt mag to replace it - if it is truly a Wico distributor. Or, go the dropping resistor route to the dist and hope for the best. For real Mickey Mouse, get a little 6 volt gel cell.

Not an easy conversion if it's a distributor, Moto Head. Good luck.

Steve

Moto Head,

If it looks something like this picture, it's a Wico magneto. You shouldn't have to worry about it with your 12 volt conversion. The starter motor should be OK as is also.

Steve

True enough. Good point.

As it's a 51 B, it should have a Delco, as they as they started with Delco distributors after S/N 275531 - which looks a lot different that the picture. But I see the Wico XB or XD distributor was optional then and surely could have been stuck on over the years.

Best way is to ohm out or trace the wire to the "thing" to see if it ultimately runs to ground or the battery. And if it turns out to be a distributor, Moto Head, it would probably be easier to replace it with a mag.

Steve

You can also get halogen bulbs to replace the old 6 volt bulbs from some classic car outfits. They draw around 12 amps per bulb - but sure are bright! They also give off that blue tint. If you're going have fun like that, maybe get 2 six volt batteries and run them in parallel as the old generator might not feel up to the task. Actually, at 10 mph you probably won't over drive the light from the old bulbs. With a good battery and generator you'll be fine.

Steve