hi all just a bit of info needed regarding voltage..i have just installed 56 dash speedo and fuel and temp in a 56 sedan and am a bit concerned that the 2 gauges are all 6 volt even though they are installed in 12 volt cars from new..is there a resistor or something similar to drop the voltage down or have i really missed something??

The fuel and temp gauges should be 12 volts for a '56. Beginning with the '57 models Ford went back to 6 volt gauges and used a cluster voltage regulator to reduce battery voltage to around 6 volts for the gauges.

https://www.dennis-carpenter.com/bronco/electrical/battery/b9mz-10804-c-instrument-cluster-voltage-reg

I have the original 6v gauges in my 12v 55 Tbird. I can tell no difference. However, you have to use 6v sending units with 6v gauges.

thanks for the answer but how do you tell if they are 6 or 12 volt??

They might be stamped 12 volt on the back, but not sure.  If they are the stock gauges, they are 12 V





54 Victoria 312;  48 Ford Conv 302, 56 Bird 312
Forever Ford
Midland Park, NJ

should have mentioned this is for oz and we got stuff later than U.S and usually a bit mixed .for oz 55-56-57 customline used the same cluster, ,the half round with 2 gauges sometimes called moonlight dash over here . 55 was 6 volt for us and 56-57 was 12 volt with the same dash and dials.so far so good. now the fun bit. on a recent visit to the speedo repair shop he spelt it out to me very clearly that my gauges are 6 volt even though it is a 12 volt car ,of course i said they may have been mixed up over the years ,but after supplying him with variuos sets he set me straight and said they used 6 volt on all those model australian cars.so can anyone tell me how they reduced the voltage down to 6 volt for the 12 volt cars??he suggested for the temp they used the large temp sender and the resistance on that done the job .not sure about the fuel .i think i will stick a resistor behind the dash.

 THER IS A SMALL OBLONG METALE CASED RESISTER CLIPED ON CLUSTER I TERMN TO GAUGES  I TO IGN SWITCH.I GOT ONE FROM 57 CLUSTER   IT WAS POSTED .ON THIS SITE YEARS AGO. YOU DO NEED A 6VOLT SENDER FOR TEMP AND OIL PRESURE

thank you for the info,,,i have since put  a resistor in and now have 6 volts to the gauges and they are happy