Going over to the dark side....

[douglloyd]

Good morning!

This is a great forum and has helped me learn a LOT about my old Ford tractors. It is also known as one of the more active AND contentious discussion groups for Ford tractors. But that is OK - "None of us are as smart as all of us" sort of thing.

I have decided to convert one of my "52 8N"s to 12volt, for a number of reasons that have already been hashed out thoroughly in this forum.

The kit is on order from Just 8N"s, and I am planning a 3 wire setup. I have the schematics from JMOR"s posts for the "electrically challenged" (thank you JMOR!) and I will be taking pictures. But I would welcome any suggestions or support while working through this project.

thanks,
Doug
Kingston, TN

 

[oldtanker]

Nope, not the dark side......yer becoming enlightened! :shock:

Rick

 

[souNdguy]

if you are going to do multiple upgrades, do them 1 at a time.

For example.. if you are going 12v and electronic ignition.. get the 12v installed and starting, and THEN do the electronic ignition.


when you do the 12v conversion remember to get the battery installed properly on the first try.. otherwise the alternator won't survive

many peple go to voltmeters.. however your ammeter is still a good tool and I'd suggest leaving it in place. ( swap the wires to make it read correctly ). if you simply MUST have a volt meter, hole saw a place out in the lower dash for it, or scab on a drop down gauge panel.. many gauges come with the hanger bezel for that.. or you can use a piece of flashing to make one. wire one side to ground, and the other side to the switched side of the key, that way the meter is not across the battery 24/7.

lastly, resist the urge to put in a 5$ resistor along with your old 6v coil, and instead splurge another 10$ and get a napa ic14sb or similar true '12v' coil.

as with any electrical maintenance.. check all wires, terminal ends and connections, including the key switch.. repalce anything suspect.

remember to get 12v lamp bulbs and adjust your fuse if need be.

any 6v gauges with lamps will need new bulbs as well.

soundguy

 

[Bruce(VA)]

It's only going to be the "dark side" if you don't know what you're doing w/ a wrench, get a junk kit or p-poor wiring diagram or expect some huge performance increase. You've researched the issue, got a good kit & JMOR's wiring diagrams are excellent. All will be fine.

My only suggestions are to simply clean all the grounds well & wire the battery/alternator correctly....as Soundguy said, you only get one shot at that!

And save the v/r & generator in case you or the next owner want to put it back to 6v.

BTW, my 740 is 12v & it will stay that way.
50 Tips

 

[8N'r--WI]

TRAITOR-----how dare you!!! :>) Remember, when you go over to the dark side, eventually you start seeing the light on the other end..

Tim ---have both 6 and 12 volt N"s

 

[old]

Never have and never will figure out why people buy the kits. You can buy the parts right at an auto parts place and save your self 50% or so. Not all that hard to hook up. An alternator that fits a 1980 Chev pick up a simple $2.50 diode a VR-1 resister and some wire and a plug and your done. Parts cost you less then $75

 

[Athrawn17]

While I agree that the parts alone (wire, connectors, shrink, and alternator) are 50% off a kit, it is the darn mounts that made me get the kit. I don't have to tools or the scrap around to make the mounts, and buying the mounts separately added up to almost 75% of the cost for the whole kit!

The other thing to know is that the belt pulley on the alternator you receive may not have the correct size pulley. So you get to have fun replacing it with the correct size (size as in the width of the pulley to accept the belt).

 

[Ed S.]

Do they call it "the dark side" because so many folks have problems getting a 12v conversion to work?

:lol: 8)

(ducks and runs)

es

 

[Athrawn17]

 

[old]

On most tractors the mount is a very simple modification and most people can do it with only common hand tools. As for the pulley most of the time you can take the one off the generator and put it on the alternator

 

[carlntexas]

(quoted from post at 12:47:00 03/29/12) On most tractors the mount is a very simple modification and most people can do it with only common hand tools. As for the pulley most of the time you can take the one off the generator and put it on the alternator

did my conversion for less than $50 with the help of John Smith's site. I made my mount using a cheap Harbour Freight welder which pretty much paid for the welder. No more buying $40 regulators and grunting starts I like it on the dark side.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Doug....just follow the instructions that come with the kit and you will be fine.Do not try to modify anything,you are getting the best kit you can buy. don b

 

[Ultradog MN]

Smart man.
With 12V and EI you will likely not have touch your electrics between battery changes.
More and more of us as we grow older we will come to appreciate not having to get on your knees to do that biannual pull the distributer and fuss with the points thing.

 

[John (TR)]

I second that. Get it running BEFORE the EI ignition kit.

 

[souNdguy]

yep.. compound problems are hard enough for experienced people to deal with.. let along less experienced. much harder to diagnose over the internet too.