6 Volt Hallogen Light Bulbs

[johnRFain29U]

I bought my LED Tail lights from Brattons and modified them.  Several Model A parts suppliers have them. 

[12905]

John:

Where did you get the 6 volt LEDs? I'm sure a lot of us would change if we knew where to get the parts.
Thanks, Brian

[FourDoor]

You would be surprised how bright 6 volt lights actually are. If all the connections are redone and the sockets are cleaned and grounded the lights are no different from 12 volts lights of those days. I see 1950s and 60s leaving the meets in the dark with lights no better than 6 volters.
Have you ever watched a 1958 Chev pull out onto the highway after dark? A 1960 Valiant? A '58 Ford? I have and 12 volts apparently makes no difference.
I think the whole problem is in condition of the connections and sockets. And to some extent the charging system. Do you know ,that with the lights on, any 6 volt line on the car must read 7.5 to 8 volts. Hook up a voltmeter to some part of the car's voltage supply (one of the studs on the ammeter is a good spot),drive down the road and turn on your headlights. The reading should hang around 8 volts. Ever wonder why a bulb base says "6-8 v.". This is why.
If the system does not run around 8 volts you will experience hard starting on the warmest best day in July!!!!! Just like it's January in hard Winter. These systems were DESIGNED to run at 8 volts. And the lower you get towards ground in voltage level you will notice that the auto makers made up the wattage by using CURRENT. And current needs lots of copper and GOOD solid connections at the terminals.
Anybody who changes their 6 volt system for a 12 volt one because of slow cranking and low light levels is just bandaiding a sick wiring harness.
FIX the electrical system. The original 6 volt system was very good. I know. My Mazda 1000 32-32 cp. headlights glow WHITE. The only thing I have done is painted the inside of the tail lights a highly reflective silver. From what I can see they were just plain steel.    

[Wm Steed]

Most of the viewers of this forum are, or should be aware that my '39 Plym conv cpe is a highly modified car. It has been my goal throughout to restoration process to keep the car as stock looking as possible and at the same time make the car as safe as possible.

The original reflector head lights leave much to be desired... they were marginal in the 1930's and completely unacceptable by 1940 so the US Government required all 1940 vehicles be fitted with sealed beams. Within a short period of time conversion kits for sealed beams flooded the market. Many states started to require the use of reflectors on the back of vehicles as a safety devise.

Since my car has been converted to 12v, it would have been easy to pickup a set of sealed beam conversions, actually I picked up two sets, one made by Arrow and another of unknown origin. In lieu of using the conversions I had my reflector re-plated and installed halogen conversions.... This conversion proved to be a mistake because the prisms built into the lens were not compatible with the halogen bulbs.. The original style of bulb is whats called a "pre-aimed" bulb... the prisms in the lens defused the halogen light in lieu of directing it.. Lots of light with no direction. The answer to the problem was to get a another set of reflectors, have them re-plated and install Ron Francis "bright bulbs".

Turn indicator/stop and hazard markers were another problem. I replaced the sockets in my tail lights so they could accept 12v bulbs and painted the inside of the recepticals white. The problem of turn/hazard lights was solved by having special LED lights made that are 1/2' wide by 3-1/2" long and would fit the curve of the bumper guards. Cutouts were made into the bumper guards to fit the LED's. The lens in the LED's are clear with red lights for the rear and amber for the front. Matching the clear lens to the chrome of the guards makes the LED's almost  invisible until they are activated.

I am not to worried about fast moving cars coming up on me in the dark.... the driver would have to be doing in excess of 75 mph to overtake me.. ;D....Bill

[36 Ply]

I agree with John concerning the safety aspect of lighting. There seem to be two camps in POC, with some overlap; those who show their cars and those who drive them.
Since I got my first Illinois driver's license in 1960, vehicle registrations in Illinois have doubled. (Source: IL secretary of state webpage). If you're one who gets caught out after dark with your Plymouth, you'd want the brightest lights possible, to compensate for the fact that, in many cases, traffic will be going faster than you are.
I attached a red reflector (the size of my tail light lens) to my rear, reflectorized, antique vehicle license plate, also a reflectorized Chicago Motor Club tab that attaches to the rear plate.

I also mostly stick to the back roads as much as possible any more, day or night. Lots of impatient drivers out there, ans my '36 has a stock engine; I cruise at 52 mph.

Regards,
Pat O'Connor

[johnRFain29U]

Yes, it still is six volt positive ground.

I try and keep my car original, but the old tail lights are just not bright enough, so for added safety, I added the LED tail ligths.  I also have added a second tail light and turn signals, again for safety.  The LEDs are so much brighter and draw so little power, they work great.   The original glass lenses difuse the light well so that you don't see the individual LEDs, just a brightly lite tail light.  I drive my car almost every weekend, so i am concerned about safety.

[plym_46]

Are you still running 6V positive ground with your LED's?????

Personally, while the leds are bright and noticeable, I don't think they look right on avintage vehicle.  Just my opinion.

[johnRFain29U]

I put LED lites in the taillights of my 29U. They draw much less amperage and are much brighter.

[Fr Mike]

I have done this on both my 1936 Plymouth P2 and 1931 Buick 8-57. Both have retained the original wiring, no change being necessary, as the plug-in halogen bulbs approximate the same battery drain as the original tungsten ones.

One thing I did do, however, was to add headlight relays, to brighten the lights further and to take the load off the switches.

Having good connections (including appropriately beefy battery cables) and a good ground are super important in a 6 volt system. The P2's body was mounted on rubber as also the engine, so I added ground straps so that frame, block, and body are well connected. There was no problem with the Buick,

Another thing I did for nice bright lights was to have the (brass) headlight reflectors of both cars specially plated  (like modern headlights) by UVIRA.
They look like they have been freshly silvered, but are as good as the sealed beams of the '40's .

Thus, by avoiding 6V sealed beams  (which are getting hard to come by and don't look right anyway) in my cars, the original set-up has been preserved, the only exceptions being the very small relays and the ground straps (which don't show).

[plym_46]

What lamps are you considering?  I have changed my tail lamps and stop lamps to Halogen.  The running lights are 35 watt.  The stop lamps are 55, and currently I am running 3 stop lights on my 46 business coupe.  So when the brakes come on there are 165 watts being drawn through the original wires.  Recently I have suffered two instances of fuse failure resulting from having my foot on the brake while waiting for a light on a slight hill.  The fuse did ot blow so much as melt the solder out of the internal fuse conection.

The fuse I have is the 30 amp on the head lamp switch.  I plan to change the feed to the brake switch to bypass the light switch fuse, as it carries all the lighting loads on a P15.  I will run a wire direct from an ignition off hot source through a 30 amp inline fuse to the brake switch in terminal.  I believe that will take are of the brake lamps, and relieve the load from the headlamps switch fuse.

If you are considering a conversion of your headlamps, you might consider wiring them through idependent relays powered from the battery.  One for low beams, and one for highs.  While you are rooting around in and near the headlamp buckets, make sure you have clean and tight proper grounds for the appliances, same at the rear, even to the point of running seperate ground for each of the tail lamp fixtures.

I have not had an issue with the bulbs and lenses concerning the additional heat from the bulbs.

[TodFitch]

I own a 1955 Plymouth Belvedere with a 6 volt electrical system. I am considering changing my light bulbs to hallogen bulbs since they are brighter. It is mainly a safety issue for me. I found someone that sells 6 volt hallogen bulbs.
Now for my question, Has anyone done this? I have the orignal cloth braided wiring in my car. I was told that hallogen lights burn hotter. Will this cause my wiring to catch fire?
As always "Thank You" in advance for your coments and feedback.
Chuck

If you get quartz-halogen bulbs that are the same wattage as your original then the light output will be about 40% more than your original. Since the wattage is the same, the current will be the same as your original. So your wires should be okay. You might have some heat issue with the connector depending on design but the wires should be okay as long as they are serviceable for the original load.

If the quartz-halogen bulbs you get have a higher wattage, then you will have to examine the wire gauge, connectors and switches to see if they are designed to handle the current your new bulbs require. On my 1933 with a bulb and reflector system I had the option of 25 watt or 35 watt quartz-halogen. I went with the 25 watt cause that was all my headlight switch and fuse block was designed to handle.

[CHS]

I own a 1955 Plymouth Belvedere with a 6 volt electrical system. I am considering changing my light bulbs to hallogen bulbs since they are brighter. It is mainly a safety issue for me. I found someone that sells 6 volt hallogen bulbs.
Now for my question, Has anyone done this? I have the orignal cloth braided wiring in my car. I was told that hallogen lights burn hotter. Will this cause my wiring to catch fire?
As always "Thank You" in advance for your coments and feedback.
Chuck