Thanks for this explanation. I am about to reconstruct the
sheet metal that is under the cabin space of the car. I have the inner and
outer rocker panels, the front and back floor pans new. Does any one out there
have a diagram or explanation of what all the pieces are under the carpet that
comprise a floor? Thanks.
Tom Taylor
55 Dodge Royal Sedan in this case
From: Rich Barber [mailto:c300@xxxxxxx]
Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2007
12:56 AM
To: 'Tommy Taylor'; Forward Look
Server
Subject: I'm positive it's
supposed to be negative.
When I received my 1955 Chrysler
C-300, someone had accidentally reversed the polarity to negative ground.
Easy enough to do if one assumes EVERYTHING is negative ground. It worked
ok, except the ammeter read backwards—indicating discharge when charging and
vice-versa. If your ammeter is showing the correct indications, someone
has done a pretty thorough job of converting the system. My radio did not
work then or now, but I suspect the vibrator may be polarity sensitive.
(Anyone have directions on how to remove it for service?) I reversed the
polarity to factory-spec and shortly thereafter had capacitor failure in the
distributor. That may have been a coincidence.
As I recall, Chrysler and GM engineers
had a basic disagreement on which polarity gave the longer spark plug
life. The thought being that it may be better to force the spark to jump
from the rim to the tip to minimize metal loss. Similarly, there was and
continues some disagreement on which side of the car was/is safest for a gas
tank filler.
The 8-Volt system should not impact
the polarity issue unless the 8-Volt battery has the connecting posts in the
wrong corners, making cable connections difficult. Most light bulbs were rated
at 6-8 Volt.
In the ‘50’s, I saw a lot of Buicks,
Packards, Pontiacs, Chryslers and other straight-8 cars with 8-Volt systems in
Iowa. 6-Volt systems just did not cut it when the temperature dropped
below zero. The ’46 Dodge Power Wagon at the service station where I
worked was always busy jump-starting whole neighborhoods on sub-zero
mornings. They would wave me down as I drove by. Had to watch
polarity carefully, otherwise HUGE sparks from the jumper cables. My ’50 Windsor always started
with 20W oil in the crankcase and parked outside.
12-Volt batteries guaranteed
nothing. Since they were about the same size and had twice as many
partitions, the standard batteries that came in new cars had pretty low storage
capacity—and were pretty crappy quality. A new battery every fall was the
norm. Charging systems seldom worked just right and ended up overcharging
or undercharging a battery. It was soon possible to get HD batteries but
the Sears DieHard did not come out until 1967.
Rich Barber
Brentwood,
CA (Not missing those sub-zero
mornings).
Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2007 08:51:10 -0400
From:
Tommy Taylor
<ttaylor530@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject:
Positive vs. negative ground
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I
have two 1955 Dodges with one being a Coronet and the other a Custom Royal
(recently
acquired). The Coronet has a positive ground 6 V system. The
Custom
Royal has an 8 V battery and the positive cable goes to the solenoid and the
negative cable to the engine block. This is the exact opposite of my
Coronet. The Custom Royal spins the motor over faster when starting and
everything works fine on both cars. Can someone help me understand what
has happened here? I know people used to put 8V batteries in the 6V cars
and tweak the regulator some but the differences in grounds throws me off here.
Tom
Taylor
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