The '41 Coupe I recently bought has an 8 volt battery, I've not had any problems starting the car so far, so I haven't tried to charge the battery. When the time comes, will my 6 volt battery charger do the trick? The gauges and lights seem to work fine as well.
Thanks,
Sid

If you have charging problems, or any other electrical problems, I recommend you get rid of the 8-volt battery and install a good quality 6-volt. The 41 was designed to operate with a 6-volt and does a commendable job when properly maintained.

I agree Ray. I have had many cars that operated just fine on 6 volts, but this one came to me with an 8 volt battery. Everything seems to be working fine. Possibly the generator has been tweeked to increase the charging rate. It's all new to me. That's why I asked the question about charging the battery. Will a 6 volt charger do the trick? Has anyone dealt with this? Should I expect problems?
Sid

A 6 volt charger may put some charge in your 8 volt battery but it will not put a full charge in it. Your asking for trouble with all of your electric components using the 8 volt battery. The stuff is designed for 6 volts.

Firstly I would check that the starter is still 6v. If it is then your 6v charger will be good enough to get the car started then the generator will take over from there. If the generator gives out change it all back to 6v.
Tony

Start the car and put a voltmeter on it. If the voltage regulator has been set high it'll show there.

Thanks for the help guys. I checked the voltage at the battery and found it to be just above 8 volts. Without a wiring diagram handy, I didn't know which wire to check at the regulator, so I checked voltage at the heater fan motor switch and found it to be just above 8 volts with the engine off. With the engine running, the voltage at that connection drops to just above 7 volts. Would the system be okay with 7 volts? Would radio, lights, fan motor tolerate a 1 volt increase? Is the voltage for the fuel gauge critical?
Sid

Upon further checking, generator is putting out 8 volts and I read 8 volts at the regulator as well.

A normally functioning 6v system would charge at about 8v so it appears all you need to do is put a 6v battery in. I suspect that there may be an underlying issue though if you do put a 6v battery in. Usually an 8v battery is a band aid for a weak starter, bad grounds or other starter related issue.

Take the battery cables all off. Clean all connections. Make sure that someone hasn't put on replacement cables that are to small for a 6 volt system. Just for peace of mind after you get all that done you could find someone to do a starter draw test and see how many amps your starter is drawing. Don

If the car came to me with the wrong battery in it,I personally feel that the best and correct thing to do is to spend the cash and replace the 8 v. with the correct equiptment,use the 8v. in your tractor or give it away man---then your car is correct and you do not have to fool around with all that other junk,testing everything,frying stuff,etc.

I still plan to replace the 8 volt battery with a 6 volt, but have been busy with other projects. Last Saturday I drove the car about 85 miles back home from a car show. It was dark, so I used the headlights. I thought the whole time that I would blow at least one bulb, but all lights still work fine.
Sid

Take a stroke of luck anytime you can get it.

The effect of 8 volts on the lights is not immediate but the life span will be shortened.

I bought a new 6 volt battery for my '41 this morning. The starter does not turn over as well now, so I will start my trouble shooting with the cables. I have a new fat (01 gauge) positive cable. The ground strap looks good, but it is connected to the firewall above the battery. Shouldn't it be connected to the block or the transmission housing? This car also had a ground cable running from the ground side of the battery to one of the coil bracket bolts on the side of the block. Is this correct? After ruling out any cable problems, I will take the starter off and have it checked.
Thanks guys.
Sid

Hi Sid,

You have some work to do.

Get rid of the flimsy cables and go to a Farm Tractor Supply or Battery store and get some 00 or 000 battery cables.

Look in your repair manual and note the routing of the cables. The + cable goes directly to the starter. The - cable goes directly to the top starter mounting bolt.

Remove any other cables that connect to the battery.

If this does not correct your problem, then consider having the starter inspected.

You don't mention the starter reversing switch. If you have it, the installation and operation instructions are in the Service Manual also.

Forget you ever heard of an 8-volt battery.

I've seen some folks use welding cable but IMHO 1 should be adequate (that's what I use with no problems). The ground was made to the transmission housing from the factory. I moved it to the starter mounting bolt on my '38 to lessen the number of connections it needed to pass through to complete the circuit. If your connections are all good and you have a known good battery it's likely your starter in need of some TLC.

Thanks guys. I bought a new ground strap, and attached it to the transmission housing. The car now starts and runs on 6 volts! I knew it would; I'm just glad I didn't have to work on the starter. I have a question about the battery gauge. I'm used to looking at amp gauges on older cars. With this new battery, and the engine running, my battery gauge reads above the 3/4 mark on the charge side. When I turn on the headlights, the reading falls to just above mid-way on the gauge. Is that normal?
Thanks,
Sid

6 volt works...if you let it ! That's the way my amp gauge behaves after starting...it settles back to mid-way after a few minutes...Kevin

Kevin's response was about his amp gauge. My '41 has a battery gauge. With the engine running at any speed, it reads above the 3/4 mark on the charge side. When I turn on the headlights, the reading falls to just above mid-way on the gauge. Is that a normal reading for a battery gauge?
Thanks,
Sid

Never heard of a "battery gauge". It's either a volt meter or an ammeter. Do you have a picture?

On a 1941, for the ammeter gauge it is marked "Battery" on the instrument glass. However, Sid is actually talking about an ammeter.

I just went out to the car and looked again. The word under the gauge says "battery". Hope I didn't stir up anything here. I just say Dog's response. So what I have is an amp gauge. Thanks guys.
Sid

No problem, just clarifying. All properly working ammeters will show a strong charge after starting because of the current used in the starting process. Turning the lights on would lower the indicated charging rate. After running for a few minutes it should drop to near the center of the gauge even without the lights on. If it continues to show a strong charge after the battery has recharged from starting it'll boil the battery dry.

"Battery" was the polite term used in the bygone days of fine Chevrolet craftsmanship...