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I need to rewire my 1950 Chevy Styline Coupe with Powerglide. Switching from 6 volt to 13 volt is out of the question financially at this time. Is it possible to rewire it using a harness for a 12 volt system and maintain it as a 6 volt until later?
Not recommended. 6v systems pull twice the amps of a 12v. A 6v harness uses heavier gauge wire.
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1938 Master Business Coupe
1953 210 Sedan
Since 6v draws more amps as Tiny said it will require larger wires (lower gauge) to handle the amps required. Watts = Amps X Volts. Therefore a 50 Watt draw = 8.3 Amps X 6 Volts or 4.1 Amps X 12 volts. Remember that in electrical circuits it is the Amps that will get you in trouble first.
When rewiring the car also remember to take the length of the run into account. The longer the run the more resistance. This will potentially cause a larger wire to be required to complete a circuit on a longer run.
Good news is that if you wire the car for 6V the wiring will take 12V without issue. If there are no other changes to the system the 6V should work just fine. Just make sure that all of the grounds are good.
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