Generator fried car stereo.

[1956fairlanew312tbrd]

Hello all! New member here. In 1979, I drove with my Dad to IL to bring back a rough but drivable 1956 Ford Fairlane- 292 V-8. 2 door, NON Crown Vic. He drove it home, tore it apart and did a ground up restoration, largely by himself with some help from me. He bought a 1956 312 TBird motor and rebuilt that as well. He completed the project in 2012 or so. He switched from automatic to 3 speed manual... but otherwise car is pretty much the way he drove it home. It is my pride and joy... just because of how amazing he was. He did a great job. The motor probably has 8,000 miles on it after his full rebuild. The car runs really well. Starts right up... purrs nicely... but the carb needs to be changed. Anyway---

I am 60, retired LE. I don't have a lot of experience with working on cars built prior to 1973- Points, Dwell, Generator etc... etc.. HEI was a change that I saw happen and I never worked with older. I found this forum and was really excited to learn as much as I can. Many of you not only are educated... and smart, but there is so much experience. Lastly, there are such wonderful people here as well!

I first just wanted to see what everyone thinks of the generator situation when it comes to high tech electronics 'in the dash'. I am big into music and always spend money to build a nice stereo system. Before my dad passed in 2021, he was checking the power to his new stereo he bought from USA radio... and told me that all of a sudden after it worked well, that he couldn't get power to it. It was the retro radio they make and he spent $450 for it. When I looked into it this year (I have been driving with no radio), I found that there was power to the radio... but the radio was dead. I ran it direct to a new battery just by itself and it was fried. I then started thinking about it and tried looking for info on the internet. I didn't see a lot of reliable info to point me to facts as to why the radio died. I did see that it could possibly be due to the generator. A few people had mentioned after market radios having issues. When I started looking deeper into it, nobody could nail anything down. To make matters worse, I guess the 56 used negative ground... along with a 12 volt system, (which is great) but some of the cars built had 6 volt gauges. So, the 56s were in the midst of big changes, going from 6 to 12 volt... and from positive to negative ground.... Also, when he put the TBird motor in, who knows what other paths were crossed...
Yikes...

Well, I found some mid 80's retro stereo equipment that I really wanted... but I didn't want to blow any of them by using the battery and generator system- so I have a separate battery that I leave on the trickle charger in the trunk. When I take the car out, I connect the stereo to the battery in the trunk, which is fully charged.

I am guessing that I may need to change the voltage regulator setting lower to not fry the stereo if I don't use my separate battery in the trunk? I figured that even if I do that... what stops any voltage spikes that may occur?.

That is where you all come in. Haha. I know this is long... but I want to be detailed as much as I can. Also, I am sure I have forgotten things... but there were no blown fuses. The car runs perfect... the lights are always bright... I have the same headlights, taillights etc.... (nothing is frying other than the stereo) so it doesn't appear that anything is seriously out of whack??... when the car idles, the lights don't flicker or get brighter and dimmer. The battery has never had to be charged by me... and it is the original battery he got when he finished the car. I pull it during the winter, and trickle charge it... but otherwise- no issues.

I am not a purist and am not opposed to getting an alternator in place... but with the 6 volt dash it makes me think I might create issues?! Is there a special voltage reducer or special fuse I can run in line before the stereo fuse that might help? I mean, the Marine battery in the trunk works great... but I want to run an in-line power amp for my system and then it will drain the battery faster.

Lastly- does the 312 run well with an after market HEI distributor? I get a little nervous when I drive a few towns away that my points might start to fail. I am not real comfortable with the 'emergency' points repair. Haha.

So- thanks so very much for hanging in there. Any insight... or even just thoughts are very much appreciated!! I tried to be detailed just to try to paint a picture without you having to ask a bunch of questions. If this is too much, I am sorry! I will post photos when I have a chance to figure that out. I haven't even looked yet.
Peace all!!
JUNIOR

[Alan H. Tast]

(Ms. Moderator, this needs to move to the 1955-57 Modified/Custom T-bird Forum)

While the '55-'56 full-size Ford and T-birds are similar in mechanics and electrical systems, you do realize the VTCI Forum is dedicated to Thunderbirds? As a 63-year-old owner of a modified 1955 Victoria (also NOT a Crown - the '55 Victoria had a 'high' roof line vs the lower one used for '55-'56 Crowns and '56 Victorias) with a mid-'60s 289/C4 with a 12v conversion using a '65-style Ford-Autolite alternator that I've owned since Labor Day 1981 (my '63 T-bird hardtop I've owned since April Fool's Day 1981), I've "been there, done that." I am also a long-time member (37+ years) of the Crown Victoria Association (CVA), www.thecvaonline.com , which is dedicated to 1954-1956 Fords, and within the past several years expanded to include '54-'56 F-series pickups and Mercurys, though its primary focus is on '54-'56 Ford passenger cars. I strongly suggest you look into CVA - while it doesn't have a Forum like this (nor the same level of activity - I'm frustrated by how difficult their website and tech/message pages work), it should be among the resources in your toolbox for working on a '55-'56 Ford.

Now to address your questions. First off, 1956 was an oddball year for Ford in that, as you noted they were changing over from 6v positive ground to 12v negative ground electrical systems. I'm not aware that there were any '56s, especially early-built cars, that were set up with a 6v-positive ground system (i.e. battery, starter, generator/charging system). Gauges for the '56, regardless if car or T-bird, were originally set up for 12v - this was a one-year-only deal. In '57 and later years a constant voltage regulator (CVR) was placed into the system and wiring that feeds power to the dash gauges. Are you for certain you have 6v components in your '56, especially the charging system and/or gauges? I'd make sure you know exactly what you have before going further. There are voltage reducers that you can splice into the wiring to reduce voltage to the under-dash items.

Secondly, as for your stereo and charging system, you should have a 12 generator in the car as original equipment. I suspect if you have a '56 with 6v generator, voltage regulator on the fender apron, starter, etc., that either:
(A) You've misidentified your car as a '56 when it really is a '55 (ESPECIALLY if it has the Astra-Dial speedometer, round heater control head, round-face radio dial and large, round clock).
To help verify what you have, does the serial number have a '5' or '6' in the second digit, i.e. x5xV or x6xV,? The first digit is for the engine, the second digit is the model year (5 = 1955, 6 = 1956), the third digit is for the assembly plant, and the fourth digit is the body style, in your case 'V' for Victoria 2-door HT)?;
or
(B) some previous owner changed the original 12v parts out with 6v ones, probably because they has the components lying around and didn't want to spend the time or money to source the correct 12v parts.

With that being said, I'd be changing everything over to 12v. You can get OEM 12v generators, swap out the generator and rewire for a 12v alternator and related voltage regulator, or look into a 'Powermaster' alternator that looks like an OEM generator. You'll also need to change out battery, starter solenoid, light bulbs, etc. 6v motors for the heater blower fan and power seat can be left in place as long as you don't overwork them - I would change out the heater blower fan to 12v as it potentially would be used a lot more than adjusting a 4-way power seat (which my '55 Victoria has).