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For a while now I've debated going to 8v or 12v for my '41 120. For those of you that have switched, did you encounter any problems or in the case of 8v upgrades, still a desire to go to 12v? The weak lights and slow starting just don't make it for me anymore. I could enjoy the car a lot more with a change, but don't know if just a new 8v battery would do it.

I now own a 2014 C7 Stingray (another wish come true) and the 1941 Packard, so I have the best of both worlds, old and new. I would love to hear from Packard owners who have upgraded to a higher voltage and if they are happy with it. I do show the vehicles, but the points difference wouldn't bother me. Dim lights coming home from the shows does though. Thanks guys (and girls) for any info.

You don't need 8 volts let alone 12. What you need to do is check your battery cables and make sure they aren't 12-volt rated rather than 6-volt rated. If they're skinny, they're probably 12-volt. Get yourself 00 gauge 6-volt battery cables.

If you do have 00 6-volt cables, then your connections probably need cleaning. Either way, clean your connections.

I had a 40 120 that had an 8 volt battery in it when I bought it. Nice bright lights, but the light bulbs burned out in short order. Switched it back to 6 volt and changed the wires out like West suggested and the lights worked nicely. I also replaced the wiring on my 39 120 and the six volt lights are super bright.

I'll check around for a new wiring harness or try replacing some lines. Did 8v spin the starter faster to allow for better starts?

8-volt batteries in cars otherwise 6-volt is a really bad idea. Yes, it will probably crank faster but as others have pointed out, if you have slow cranking you probably have dirty connections, undersize cables, or a starter motor in need of rebuilding. Years back, installing an 8-volt battery was the kind of thing the sleezy highway used car lots did to make a car start fast. If you wont to do it anyway, don't forget to have the voltage regulator readjusted and buy a sizeable inventory of light bulbs.

I ran my 38 Six for five years on 8 volts and it was a total disaster. Just about all of your power requirements go through your ammeter ( sorry....charge/discharge meter...it is not an ammeter apparently). If you are using the original voltage regulator, it must be temperature compensated. The 1938 Juniors were not and you were putting out 10.4 volts at initial start to maintain 9.6 volts required to keep an 8 volt battery charged. If you put your lights on within 1 minute of starting, you take a flash photo of the neighbourhood and have no light bulbs. The excessive charging current almost fried the charge/discharge meter. The 1941 regulator is temperature compensated but is not much better. You will not be happy with the 8 Volts. I went back to 6 volts and simply used a 51-54 eight cyl 6V starter with around 80% more starting torque. Forget the 8v batteries. They were invented for 6 volt Volkswagens with Bosch regulators and Negative earth situations. Good luck anyway if you decide to go that way. I have a brand new 8v never commissioned battery if you need one. Postage to the USA could be a problem. I run a 6v Positive Earth and 12 V negative earth system on my 38 Twelve and there are some amazing LED lights coming onto the market. I have 6 V LED's fitted to the rear tail and brake lights and they are amazing. PT

IIRC Bill Hirsch got 6v "lightbulbs" that are led lights

IIRC Bill Hirsch got 6v "lightbulbs" that are led lights

I use all original-type bulbs on my car and feel no need to go with LED. Sealed beam headlights are bright, and the taillights are very bright. It all goes back to getting the proper sized battery cables and cleaning connections. If I were you, I'd hold off on any modifications until you have the harness and cables in. Then take a look and see if you think you need brighter.

38 Packard Sixes and Eights had particularly small and not very visible tail and brake lights and a friend of mine with two 1941 seniors thought his to dim as well for safe night driving. We installed quartz bulbs from Hirsch and the improvement was welcome. They draw a bit more current and get warm so best not to use them behind plastic lenses unless there is ample clearance. I still have all OEM type bulbs in my 34 and find them sufficiently bright, even though not sealed beam headlamps.