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To gbhrps Re: Change over to 12v on a 55 Bird. People who worked on these 55s way back then haven't forgotten--they have either died off or are retired at this late date ! I'm retired but just haven't died off yet!.I'm working on a guy's 55 Bird now where he swapped engines for a 12v- 56. Well a long story short he burned the 6v Fuel guage , Temperatre guage and fuel tank sending unit to useless. The one line sending voltage to the Fuel & Temp guages MUST have what Ford calls a "Constant Voltage Regulator" spliced into the voltage feed. Ford used the CVR clear up to 66 Birds that I know of. The CVR drops the 12v input to 6volts to feed the guages the correct voltage. Other problems converting to 12v: The 6v starter will spin teriffic with 12v applied---but it overheats very quickly. The overheating will shortly ruin the 6v starter. No problem , just replace with the 12v starter used on the 56 & 57 Birds. The fuel tank sending unit has to be replaced with the sending unit used on the 56 & 57s . The ignition coil has to be changed to the 12v coil used on 56 & 57. Bulbs & Headlights have to be replaced with the 12v used on the 56 & 57. The radio won't stand the 12v either requiring 56 or 57 radio. Don't know about the Tach yet. Don't know if power seats will stand 12 volts. Don't know if stoplight switch will stand up to 12v. Don't know if headlight switch or Hi/Lo beam switch will stand 12v. I have limited myself to 61-66 Birds, so haven't gotten that far into 55 birds. Good luck
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