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For 6v to 12V conversion what parts whould be needed

62K views 18 replies 10 participants last post by  sula22 
#1 ·
As above,anyone tell if im missing anything out?
Starter,F/wheel,Alternator,Reg Box.
It will be on a 63 bug 1200.
Thanks in advance.
Dan.
 
#2 ·
Choke, coil, fuel cut-off switch, wiper motor, bulbs, horn, radio, battery, headlight and indicator relays.. If you're changing to an alternator, then you'll also need the engine pedestal.

Some say that you don't have to change the starter, but if you do you'll also need the 12V conversion bush to fit in the bell housing.

Personally I have no problems with a 6V system - just make sure it's all in good order.
 
#3 ·
I recently changed mine over to 6V on my 1200 63 bug.

Your need to change everything listed above. However if you've got the original 28-PICT Carb you cant just simply put in a 12V choke element. The quickest solution that I used was to change carb to the 28-PICT-1 which has the larger 12V choke.

Next problem your find, is that the new carb won't fit and will foul against the generator casing so your need a spacer inbetween the carb and manifold to slightly raise it.

Really wouldn't bother changing the starter, and the simple answer is, if you want to keep your original engine, you can't put a 12V starter in as you've got an old 6V crank ect... I have seen some BOSCH hybrid ones, 12V starters that you can switch over without any modifications, such as changing the flywheel and such.

You can keep the 6V horn, i've done so, it will last a while before it eventually burns out, mines kept going thus far..
 
#7 ·
Yeah, early beetles are really getting rare now, no point wrecking one.

Wreck a 1972 or something while they are still common :lol:

By the way, is there any particular reason why you are switching to 12v? There is a hell of alot of misinformation about, mainley from people who don't know how elecrics work and automatically assume that because 6 is less then 12, a 12v system is 'better' then a 6v system. Iv ran various daily drivers with 6v and it was OK, even in winter, and I did some pretty big milage in one of them.

Also its not so straight forward. If you want to fit an alternator like you said, then you end up with a starter AND alternator, both of which are different to whats fitted(the alternator will foul the fuel pump too), etc etc, so thers alot of messing around and changing stuff to make your 12v gear fit.
 
#8 ·
I always think that the reason why the 12V conversion seems to work is mainly due to the fact that you are replacing 40-year-old electrical components with lovely, shiny new ones.. Give your 6V system a bit of love and you won't be far off 12V performance :)

You can get 6V halogen headlight bulbs if you want something a bit better than stock. The only modification to fit these is to remove the little "shades" that go over the original bulbs.
 
#9 ·
I agree with everything mentioned above and of course it's your decision if you want to change to 6V, but the main reason I switched over was to make it more practical for daily-use, if I rarely used it I would prob of stuck to 6V. I maybe removing a few rare components such as the 28 PICT carb, but, i've still got my original '6V 1200 engine' with 6V features left in the car such as the horn, starter, the main wiring loom, the 6V VDO fuel guage. You are after all only really replacing main things like the coil, battery, generatr, regulator and bulbs, things that would normally be replaced in a beetles lifetime anyway.

And I've found there is actually a significant difference is brighter lighting, the ease to jump start your battery on the road (now it's 12V) connecting high perf radios and sound systems and other gagets such as ipod (which is what I wanted), sat nav, the wipers also run a little faster with a 12V wiper motor.
 
#10 ·
Hi guys thanks for all your advice,tips etc etc.
Will maybe stick with it as is only/main reason i was wanting to convert it was for a
good stereo.
Been really spoiled with my Bay as i could pretty much fit anything i wanted Stereo wise within reason.
Will play it by ear(if you pardon the pun) and if i cant put up with an ipod and ear phones at least i know what kind of headache i have ahead of me in the pursuit of music in the car.
Thanks again for all your help.
Dan.
 
#11 ·
Interasting thing that most people don't know is that ipods and other USB things don't run from 12v, the USB standard is 5.0v.

So, a cig lighter to USB adapter actually drops the voltage to 5.0 from 12-14.

So, to run an ipod with a 6v system (more actually 7.2 or so with the engine running) you just need a low-overhead 5.0v positive regulator, which is a very cheap and common component.

You can rig up a pretty decent audio system with 7v as well, but obviously you cant just use a normal off-the-shelf stereo.
 
#12 ·
I read somwhere that you can run the stereo in isolation from a 12v marine battery and just give it a charge when it needs a top up? Probably no good for a daily but ok for tune on a trip out, deff not good for a battery to keep it running flat and it wouldn't power a full on chav ICE system ?
 
#13 ·
Thats not a very 'elegant' system when it comes to engineering tho, its a bit of a bad solution.

The best solution with current technology I think is to ditch the traditional 'car stereo' completely. Use your ipod (which runs on 5v) as the interface, and have like, say 4 speakers, two left and two right, front and rear, powered by individual amps (we are talking amps in the electronic sense, not 'amps' as in 'big metal boxes with Fli written on them') running on 7v directly from the dynamo.

That way you get a combination of a modern interface in the shape of an ipod, but oldschool power amps which give you the best kind of sound, and can run from 7v.

Of course you cant just go into halfrauds and buy all this, it takes a bit of messing around, but a very good quality system can be made even on 6v cars.

I built one once and it worked pretty well. PM me for details if anybody is interested. The electronics is not that 'heavy' in it, its pretty doable even by somebody who is not so used to electronics.
 
#14 ·
You can jump start a 6V car from a 12V battery easily enough.. Just don't keep it connected for long!!

As mentioned, a 6V system in good order will be on par with with a 12V system.

Radio I could understand, but why would you want a modern radio in a classic Beetle anyway? :D Adi #2 has the best solution if you want decent sound :)

You can buy 6V-12V boosters which work pretty well :)
 
#15 ·
Thats not a very 'elegant' system when it comes to engineering tho, its a bit of a bad solution.

The best solution with current technology I think is to ditch the traditional 'car stereo' completely. Use your ipod (which runs on 5v) as the interface, and have like, say 4 speakers, two left and two right, front and rear, powered by individual amps (we are talking amps in the electronic sense, not 'amps' as in 'big metal boxes with Fli written on them') running on 7v directly from the dynamo.

That way you get a combination of a modern interface in the shape of an ipod, but oldschool power amps which give you the best kind of sound, and can run from 7v.

Of course you cant just go into halfrauds and buy all this, it takes a bit of messing around, but a very good quality system can be made even on 6v cars.

I built one once and it worked pretty well. PM me for details if anybody is interested. The electronics is not that 'heavy' in it, its pretty doable even by somebody who is not so used to electronics.
Damn, that's a good idea!

On a related note, do they still make 8V batteries fro volksies? They used to be the drop in solution for tired 6V systems...
 
#17 ·
Might be onto a winner picked up the bug and its kicking out around 13 volts at tick over.
So maybe able to go with a good headunit and some small speakers.
Thanks guys for all your help advice etc etc.
Daniel.
So it has already been converted to 12 volts then :confused:
 
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