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A little encouragement for those with 6 volt blues. Victory is not that far off:

Had in a lovely 29 k miles 54 Clipper yesterday with the well known complaint of hard starting/ slow cranking when hot. This in spite of a good stout battery and fine new 1 Ga cables.

Perched on top of the starter was an aftermarket solenoid of undetermined vintage--one of those generic phenolic plastic ones. Took it it off and replaced it with a Napa ST-63 which looks and fits correctly. Also took off and carefully cleaned the bus bar from the solenoid to the starter, then replaced it using nice new nuts and lock washers. It was not necessary to remove the starter to accomplish this job.

The results were just about stunning; the car cranks up briskly hot or cold. The owner was thrilled. I was also tickled, but not too surprised as I have now seen this transformation several times upon replacing the solenoid and cleaning connections. It really seems they get a lot of resistance as they get older.

So change your solenoid once every 60 years, just like clockwork. I told the owner to pencil it in on his calendar for 2076.

Makes owner happy!

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YES! I've performed these changes for several others too and as an electrical engineer, the science of it is pretty clear. The 6 vs. 12 vs. 24 or any other voltage is simply a tradeoff of voltage and current. The Watt Power gods don't care. I know the debate is here elsewhere on this site and many others and will continue.

Further, 6 volts can deliver plenty of torque, if the conductors and connections are clean and sufficiently thick to carry the large current.

Think of some of the diesel electric locomotives: a diesel engine drives a generator which in turn supplies current to electric traction motors at the wheels. This is done based upon the capability to vary crazy high electrical currents at relatively low voltages; essentially a variable torque transmission for thousands of horsepower (or watts to us electrical guys). AWESOME.

Don't forget those ground straps to the frame and engine and to remove frame paint where you need to.