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I'm looking for comments, recommendations, procedures and kits for this conversion. I would like to eventually add an aftermarket AC. My current status (pardon) is that my voltage regulator (6V) has failed again and so has my battery. For one thing, will I need a different starter?

You might check out some of the previous posts here on the forum. Do a search for 12v conversions. There are a lot of threads, some will come up with details about individual items and some older posts with owner's experiences. It is not a terribly hard job but can be a bit tedious and time consuming as several items do need to change, some of which may have been forgotten until you go to use them. Just accessing and changing all the various bulbs can take a good amount of time. Depending on what is needed and where you choose to buy it, obtaining new parts can get expensive.

You might check out Vintage Auto Garage and see what is involved and supplied in their kits. Kits are convenient and can be a good start but you don't really need to buy the kit as virtually everything needed is available at parts stores, vendors, or on ebay. Just takes more effort and time to find everything. 5th Avenue Internet Garage also has some parts and if you wanted a how to book more formal in writing than random forum posts they sell a booklet giving 12v conversion pointers and ideas. I don't know if the booklet is detailed enough to warrant the cost but maybe someone else has seen it and can say.

On changing the starter, while many with ordinary Bendix type starters have kept and managed to use the original 6v unmodified motor by only changing a solenoid there are others who have had bad experiences which comes on very suddenly. On the pinion shift type starters there are not many options as solenoids are specific to the brand and style starter on those cars. Replacing 6v pinion shift solenoids with a 12v version is usually not a possibility.

Using an unmodified starter might last a month or even much longer depending on how frequently the car is started but ultimately the worst will happen. Original starters are becoming scarce and expensive so at the least I would suggest having the motor converted at an auto electric motor shop to run on 12v or maybe just buy the modern hi torque style starter and keep the original if you or someone bought the car and later wanted to convert back. You could also sell to someone else who still had a 6v car and needed another starter.

Is the primary reason for the conversion to accommodate AC? As Howard mentioned, putting 12v into a 6v starter can cause you to end up with a busted starter.

I haven't researched 12v conversions, but plenty have been done so somebody should be able to give you some good direction. For me and my car I don't like the idea of a 12v conversion as I like to keep my car very original and the 6v is part of the charm of my 53 Cavalier, but I'm not trying to add AC either.