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Looking really good. Did you have to move the oil fill tube and breather?

The oil fill tube and breather were removed to make room to work on the compressor mount. They are going back on. The oil filter will be relocated or deleted.

Part of the 12 volt conversion process is getting the BW R11 overdrive operational. When the car was running on 6 volts, the original overdrive relay failed. Rather than replace it with an original-type reproduction with the glass tube fuse, a 6V overdrive relay from Vintage Auto Garage was used to replace it. It used a circuit breaker rather than a fuse and worked flawlessly with the R11 OD.
It has to be replaced for the 12 volt conversion so a replacement from VAG is also being used. It serves as the overdrive relay with a circuit breaker and also converts 12 volts to 6 volts so the original 6 volt OD solenoid can be used. 12 volt solenoids for R11 ODs are very expensive plus I have a couple of spare 6 volt units so this was the best solution. Here's a picture of the 6V and 12V relay units.

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Why not just get a 12v solenoid and relay? These are readily available.

Don,

If you price the options, the 12V solenoid and 12V relay cost $150 more than the relay/converter box. Plus, as I said, I have 2 spare 6V working solenoids.

Joe

Got the 2 Optima 6 volt batteries installed and re-wired as 12 volts with negative ground. Changed the distributor to 12 volts by removing the Pertronix 6 volt electronic pickup and replacing it with the 12 volt unit. The coil was changed to a 12 volt Pertronix Flame Thrower. The positive terminal of the coil was connected to the alternator to provide energizing battery for low RPM charging. Working on re-wiring the dash for the AC, new gauges and switches.

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Please explain, I - and perhaps others - would be interested in how this works. Thanks

The alternator I'm using is a 12 volt Delco CS 130. It's 100 amp and uses a 2-wire connection. Other GM-style alternators use 3 wires to "excite" the alternator at low speeds. The following link explains the wiring of the different types of GM alternators commonly used. There is a video down near the bottom.

Joe

vintageautogarage.com/Delco-CS130-Alternator-DA-plug-p/dsc130.htm

What Optima 6v batteries are you using? My NAPA 6v batteries keep failing, and I'm on my second one now. Thinking of going to an Optima.

I'm using 2 standard red Optima 6 volt batteries with 800 CCA each. The 2 installed end to end are about the same size as the long 6 volt original batteries. One would fit in the Series 22/23 battery box and work fine.