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Has anyone had experience with a center tap 12 volt battery? I haven't seen a listing on one in some time. Are they still available? If so where? If they are available, that seems like the best choice for conversion to 12V starting and running all 6V accessories, etc. could simply be run off of the center tap. Seems logical to me. Am I missing something?

I have thought about the same thing- of course you will have to change to a 12V charging system but the only slight snag I can think of is being able to turn on and off both voltages with your single key switch. You could use 2 6V batteries in series if you can't find a dual voltage battery.

This solenoid switch was available to provide 12v starting and 6 volt car. I bought this one thru JC Whitney some years ago but didn't find it again doing a quick search. Unknown if still available.

Would keep the charging and car 6v but not sure without much study if it could be wired to allow any 12v accessories such as AC as well as 6v everything else. Maybe someone needs a project to see if modern relays could be adapted to provide that function?

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G.day all, I am running a 12 volt battery in my 38 120. I am using a coil ballast resistor in series with the feed to the instruments to drop the voltage to the instruments to around 8 volts. Everything seems to be working ok for tha last few years. I have also included another ballast resistor in series with my 6V radio feed, as the valve radios do not like the extra few volts at all.
The main difficulty with a 6v tap into a 12 volt battery is avoiding overcharging the non-tapped 6V portion of the battery. As mentioned before you could also go for two 6v batteries so long as your charging system is set up for it. I would suggest that your best bet is to improve the starting on your 6V system. The easiest way to do this is to get a higher torque starter from a late model Packard 51 to 54 engine. The 1949 starters were between 8 and 16 ft/lbs torque whereas the 51 to 53 starters were between 16 and 25 ft/lbs torque. Those late model starters really fling those early engines around. Best Regards Peter Toet

Thanks! I was asking for a friend. I like the idea of a 53 or 54 starter. But, I'll let him know all of your thoughts.
Again, Thanks.

G'day all especially 49 Packard, I should add that I converted to 12V because the 38 120 isn't all that original with a souped-up 54-327 engine and Pckard Overdrive. I appreciate the 100w headlights etc and it is a bit of an experiment, as was fitting an 8v system which I hated in the end (5 years on my 38 Six). Tell your friend to look at the Starter specification section of any of the old Motor manual books. The 25 ft lb starter was more common in 51 to 53 than the 16 ft lb starter so he should have no trouble finding one. I can give you the serial numbers of the starters if you need them. Best regards peter Toet