1955 Converting to 12 volt

[Thunderguy]

I am converting my 1955 to 12 volts. I bought a kit to convert to an alternator. Any tips or suggestions?

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[fordrodsteven]

See attached PDF.

 

[Jaybyrd]

I am a new owner of a 1955. Is it advisable to convert to a 12 volt or stay with the 6?

 

[Bill Spencer]

I made the coversion with very little work. It was due to a breakdown on the road and could not find a 6V generator. There are several kits that include everything except the 12dc lights. All lights need to be replaced. Also I got a shock once due to that
1965 Positive ground.
Bill

 

[fordrodsteven]

I made the coversion with very little work. It was due to a breakdown on the road and could not find a 6V generator. There are several kits that include everything except the 12dc lights. All lights need to be replaced. Also I got a shock once due to that
1965 Positive ground.
Bill

I hope that's a typo. and you meant 1955 Positive ground. Ford went to 12V negative ground in 1956.

Also, to the original poster. You can get a "Y" block generator that should be able to go right in. I personally would convert to an alternator. It will probably require a little extra effort due to bracketry for the fit up. I didn't have that problem on my car because the whole drivetrain was swapped out to a newer (289 - 3speed) setup. I have since changed it again to a 302 automatic out of a 1981 Thunderbird.

I am a new owner of a 1955. Is it advisable to convert to a 12 volt or stay with the 6?

I and friends have converted our cars to 12V. We left the original 6V seat motors and they work fine because it's rather momentary. I changed my car window motors to 12V but some guys leave the 6V motors. You just have to be careful when putting the window up and down because it moves very fast. The previous owner of my car left the 6V window motors and the window glass cracked when it jammed up very hard and quickly to the hard top frame. Some guys even leave the 6V starters. It's fine as long as you don't crank it for an excessive length of time.

I am a new owner of a 1955. Is it advisable to convert to a 12 volt or stay with the 6?

As far as advice whether or not to convert I think it's a matter of personal choice. I know at some sites people get all uppity about it saying the car was designed as 6V and will work fine as 6V. If you plan to show the car it probably should stay 6V. If you want to drive / use the car and take advantage of available accessories (radio, GPS, MP3 players, updated gauges, convert to electric wipers, LED lights) then my advice is to make the conversion to 12V.

 

[Mel56]

I too am thinking of converting our 55 Tbird from the 6volt to a 12 volt, negative ground system. Is there a list of what bulbs and how many will need to be changed? Yes, I know all of them but, was wondering if there's a list with the bulb numbers so I can pick them up before I start this project.

 

[fordrodsteven]

12V bulb kits: (it appears that the kits do not include the headlights)
National Parts Depot - T-13465-2K - $12.75
Concours Parts - 13465-BK - $24.95
Hill's - 13465-BK - $24.95
Casco - 13465-6E - $24.50

Upon further review it looks like the NPD kit does not include dash and radio bulbs. That explains why the price is half of what the others are.

 

[Tater Salad]

Im gonna change my car to 12V, and I am wondering if there would be any issues running the alternator wiring to the voltage regulator(12v reg) of course

 

[CSPIDY]

if you use a single wire alternator the regulator is part of the alternator, there fore a seperate regulator is not necessary.

 

[JDJ]

I’m doing complete restoration on my 1955 Thunderbird and would like to know what everyone thinks of changing the ignition to electronic. I’m definitely changing the car to 12 volt. I’d appreciate any advice.
Thanks, JDJ

 

[Dj-Dan]

What a difference in my 64 T-Bird. But I still need to advance the timing around 15 degrees. A lot better then points. I put in Petronics 1 and it was easy to do. Good Luck on your 55 T-Bird. One other thing, I rebuilt my original 4100 carberator but it just couldn't produce. I ended buying a new Holley and it perked up my 390. Unload the old, it just isn't worth the hassle.

 

[Birdman57]

I’m doing complete restoration on my 1955 Thunderbird and would like to know what everyone thinks of changing the ignition to electronic. I’m definitely changing the car to 12 volt. I’d appreciate any advice.
Thanks, JDJ

Great idea I’m doing the same thing for my 57

 

[Cruzer Pete]

I’m doing complete restoration on my 1955 Thunderbird and would like to know what everyone thinks of changing the ignition to electronic. I’m definitely changing the car to 12 volt. I’d appreciate any advice.
Thanks, JDJ

Then you will have to deal with the lights, radio and fan etc. to convert them to 12 volt - right?

 

[Thunderguy]

I’m doing complete restoration on my 1955 Thunderbird and would like to know what everyone thinks of changing the ignition to electronic. I’m definitely changing the car to 12 volt. I’d appreciate any advice.
Thanks, JDJ

I converted my 1955 to 12 volts. What a job! Not sure I would elect to do that again. My main motivation was so I could use modern accessories. Then, I found out I could buy a $30 part that would have allowed me to use 12 volt devices on 6 volts. All light bulbs have to be changed, which was the biggest problem. Working under the dash of a '55 is a lot of work, and not fun at all! I bought the electronic ignition parts, but ended up just changing the points and condenser. Mine starts right away, and runs great. I had the carb rebuilt by Larry's. That made the biggest difference in performance.

 

[JDJ]

I’m now at the stage of getting my engine back from the machine shop and have learned a lot about the 12 volt “upgrades” in doing it. Two things I learned is that you can use the 6 volt starter and also with modifications you can use the 6 volt generator! I’ll have an easier time with my dashboard wiring as my dashboard is on a bench. I’m going to post a thread about the dashboard lights to see if I can use LED BULBS. I’ve been told that they are much brighter.
Nice looking Goldenrod 55 you have!

 

[Clous]

I want to upgrade my 1955 to 12volt, any idea how much this will cost? I’m not a mechanic but one shop quoted 3500.00 is this the average cost?

 

[doug7740]

Wow! It sounds like either that shop has never done a 6 volt to 12 volt conversion before, or they do not want to do the job and they are high balling you.


doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue

 

[55birdman]

I ordered a set from NPD that included all bulbs except the headlights. I’m sure other Tbird suppliers would also have such sets. I had the dashboard out while doing the upgrade but I can imagine that some bulbs might be difficult to access otherwise.

 

[55blacktie]

While my father was still alive, I converted his 55 to 12v. He said that the 6v system did not have enough cranking power, making it hard to start. He was very pleased with the way it started after the 12v conversion.

6v probably was enough to crank low-compression flathead engines. However, with the increased compression and displacement of the 55 Y-blocks, Ford shouldn't have waited until 56 to go to 12v.

As it's been said, the electric windows go up very fast, if you retain the 6v motors. If you don't replace the motors, or use a reducer, warn your passengers before they attempt to roll up the window with the top up.

I hadn't thought of cracking the window; thanks for the tip.

 

[Florida_Phil]

When I purchased my 1955 Tbird, a previous owner had converted it from 6 volts to 12 only they left it with a positive ground. This caused all kind of difficulties with modern accessories, so I switched to a negative ground. The only thing that didn't make the switch was the radio because it had been modified to work with the positive ground. Unless you are a purist or building a Concours car, you will be better off with a 12 volt system. Generator repair is getting almost impossible to find. A 6 volt generator will not keep with with accessory fans, electronic ignition or modern electronics. While you are at it, swap in a 1957 Thunderbird battery tray and HD battery. Your 6 volt starter will work fine. My car has a Casco alternator conversion and I couldn't be happier.