Ford Blitz Restoration/Rebuild

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Mike Kelly

This is a well written article ... step by step . Print it out and take it to any electronics shop to buy the components .. solder it together and away you go ...cheap as chips

It's certainly a good article Mike, even I can understand it! And it certainly solves the gauge problem very cheaply, without having to modify the actual gauges. I figured there might be an external solution of some kind. In fact, reading this article it seems like the only way, because of the heat sink requirement.

I'm still not sure I see the point of the exercise though. The gauges work perfectly well on 6V, just like everything else on a blitz, except the headlights. Is it really worth doing all this work on the gauge circuits, plus fitting an alternator and a separate belt system to drive it, just to have brighter headlights? Wouldn't it be simpler to just stick in a couple of 60W halogen globes? That's more than enough headlight power for something that never gets over 45 mph. Besides, how many owners drive their CMPs at night anyway?

Likewise for occasional accessories, there's no need to go to all this trouble. You can either carry a 12V battery, charged through a converter, or carry a spare 6V battery, charged by the genny, and hook it up in series when you want to run 12V accessories. I'll probably go the latter route, just to have a spare battery on hand.

I can understand objections to 6V amongst hotrodders, who need 12V to crank over their high comp flatheads, and run their high performance ignition systems, but none of this applies for blitz owners. Unless of course you're building a blitz hotrod! Come to think of it, not such a bad idea! I'm picturing blitz drags down the main street of Corowa...