49 Tudor 12V conversion

[Mad Mux]

Warm greetings from SOCAL. New member, first post, loooooong-time Ford Fanatic. I've coveted my Uncle's '49 Tudor since I was about 10, when I first saw it sitting in back corner of his barn, outside Sterling, KS. It's got 111,214 miles, original 8BA never opened, and was trailered out to SOCAL about 10 years ago. I'm finally off the dime and committed to getting her running.

12V conversion first; I will do the entire harness eventually, but for now trying to get away with only what I need to safely run the engine. I figured Google could help me find a definitive 12V conversion wiring diagram, but not so much. Bought Randy Rundle's book, and have amalgamated a hodge-podge of many diagrams (mostly 8N and 9N tractor conversions) for myself, to come up with attached diagram.

Would very much appreciate a look-over and suggestions. My main question is: should I connect the ignition switch "bottom" pole (for lack of knowing the formal names for all three poles) to the "fused" (protected) side of the fuse block, as some diagrams show, or should I keep to the "hot" side, as original? Thanks in advance.

[Black Fifty]

Welcome to the site. Nice story about your Uncle's car. I have a 6v 50 Tudor. I looked at the idea of converting, but the car is all original with 64,000 on the clock. I didn't see the benefit to it at this point.


Can I ask why you want to change to 12 volts?
Kind Regards,
Mike

[tubman]

Ditto to what Mike said. A 12 volt conversion is NOT an automatic solution to electrical problems on these cars.

[Mad Mux]

I debated for a long time to stay 6 or go 12...I even debated going small block ford vs staying flattie...I guess enough people argued for 12 that I just gave in to it. It's not too late, still have all the original compnents except need new battery.

[tubman]

Buy an Optima, check out your wiring, and clean your connections. Worked for me!

[slowforty]

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6 Volt works well with proper sized wires and Ground and Battery cables. Try ClassicCarWiring.com for a good wiring diagram.

[JSeery]

I see several issues with your wiring diagram. If you decide to go to 12v need to work on that. As already stated, 6v will work fine if done correctly which includes proper sized wiring (larger than 12v), clean grounds, etc. The original 49 wiring diagram should work good for you.

And, Oh, welcome to the Barn!!

[51 MERC-CT]

If you are contemplating adding any 'goodies' that require 12 volts, by all means convert to 12 volts.

[LuckyFordGuy]

Welcome I would say with the 6 volt I have one on my 50 works great just keep every thing clean

[19Fordy]

First, get it running with 6V system. Then drive and enjoy it.
Then decide what you want to do. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[flatford8]

Welcome to the ‘Barn!... my ‘50 Fordor is still 6v and works fine. The ‘51 Tudor I’m working on will be 12v. I plan on adding electric wipers, third brake light and directionals. It’ll be good to charge cell phones and Bluetooth acc. and I may pull a vintage camper. Lots of great advice here on this site.... youll love it!!....Mark
PS... we like picture!!!!

[Black Fifty]

Originally Posted by 19Fordy

First, get it running with 6V system. Then drive and enjoy it.
Then decide what you want to do. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I was thinking the same thing!

[Mad Mux]

Thanks all for the welcomes and suggestions, looks like I found the right place! You convinced me to keep it 6 for now. I will get an Optima as Tubman suggested.
Mostly original wiring harness, good shape under dash, will keep that as is (except for start button, that one's frayed badly). Some wires in engine bay need replaced, and are difficult to trace 'cause they're in the original wrapped bundles...
Should I cut open the bundle tape to trace and replace, then zip tie or use the split plastic bundle wrap?
Should I have the Generator (and Regulator?) tested before I try to crank it up, so I don't risk killing an expensive Optima?
Thanks all.

[Mad Mux]

Originally Posted by JSeery

I see several issues with your wiring diagram. If you decide to go to 12v need to work on that. As already stated, 6v will work fine if done correctly which includes proper sized wiring (larger than 12v), clean grounds, etc. The original 49 wiring diagram should work good for you.

And, Oh, welcome to the Barn!!

Thanks JSeery! My Mom lives in Wichita, I consider myself a Hutchinson native, car was bought new in Lyons. Dad and I used to go to Starbird's show in Century II every year. He always wanted a '32 3-window highboy, wish I could have got one for him before he passed.
I'm going to keep the car 6v original for now, but in future if I go 12 could you give me some specific fixes on my diagram? Don't want to break or burn up anything! Thanks!

[flatheadmurre]

If you just want to get it started...the wires in the bundles are usually in good shape while the loose ones are missing the insulation...so some electrical tape on the ones that are bad and you can run the car.
The less you mess and bend the loom the better chance it will stay in one piece.
Or you end up changing the complete wiring...
Generator/regulator usually don´t fail in a violent overcharge mode so try starting it up and measure what voltage you get.

[Mad Mux]

Originally Posted by flatford8

Welcome to the ‘Barn!... my ‘50 Fordor is still 6v and works fine. The ‘51 Tudor I’m working on will be 12v. I plan on adding electric wipers, third brake light and directionals. It’ll be good to charge cell phones and Bluetooth acc. and I may pull a vintage camper. Lots of great advice here on this site.... youll love it!!....Mark
PS... we like picture!!!!

Thanks! I like yours too! Wish mine was that clean! It has decades of oily Kansas dirt caked all over...but I did clear enough off to see a little bit of original blue on one head!

[leon bee]

When you have a lot of junk like me, one advantage of 12v is being able to just grab a battery out of something else. In my case with my 50, I decided to stay 6v when I priced new 12v overdrive solenoids and knew there was a good chance my old 6v one was still good. Then I bought a spare 6v solenoid so I guess I'm locked in. (Since then I've heard of using 6v solenoid on 12v.

So after reading here I bought a 6v Optima. And a 6v battery tender. Big fat wires everywhere. Then I read maybe new Optimas ain't so good?

Anyway, had the battery for 6 months or so, cranks the flathead over almost as fast as my 12v cars.

[JSeery]

Originally Posted by Mad Mux

Thanks JSeery! My Mom lives in Wichita, I consider myself a Hutchinson native, car was bought new in Lyons. Dad and I used to go to Starbird's show in Century II every year. He always wanted a '32 3-window highboy, wish I could have got one for him before he passed.
I'm going to keep the car 6v original for now, but in future if I go 12 could you give me some specific fixes on my diagram? Don't want to break or burn up anything! Thanks!

Good approach IMO, and if you ever do decided to convert to 12v there are very few wiring changes required.

[tubman]

The wiring on my '51 was in pretty good shape, with the exception of the harness between the headlights and signals, etc. That was cheap and easy to replace. I had a couple of frayed connections (at the terminal end of the wire) that I repaired with 3X shrink tubing. It's big enough to slip over the terminal, but will still shrink down nice and tight. Sometimes two layers work better. It's expensive, but it's out there. I wouldn't go out and try to repair a crapped out harness that way, but for just a bad terminal or two, it works great.

[dumb person]

Originally Posted by flatford8

Welcome to the ‘Barn!... my ‘50 Fordor is still 6v and works fine. The ‘51 Tudor I’m working on will be 12v. I plan on adding electric wipers, third brake light and directionals. It’ll be good to charge cell phones and Bluetooth acc. and I may pull a vintage camper. Lots of great advice here on this site.... youll love it!!....Mark
PS... we like picture!!!!

Modern 5 volt chargers for phones will work on 6 volt too.
My dash cam loves it. It didn't like 24 volts & went pop.