Thanks Miker. I'll be asking a few more questions later on regarding the 6 to 12 conversion.

Brad
Sierra Vista Arizona
1954 Lincoln Capri

Miker....if your logic is correct then why is the sending unit for the '56 Ford a one year only part described as "12 Volt" (Part # 9275-B) whereas the the sender for '49-'55 is described as "6 Volt" and a different (Part # 9275-A)?  If what you are saying is correct, that B-Rad's 6 Volt sender will work on a 12 volt system, then '49 to '56 should all use the same sender.   

The question I have now is, is there a need for a reducer for the fuel sending unit if there's a reducer for the gauge?

Brad
Sierra Vista Arizona
1954 Lincoln Capri

Alan,

For reasons not clear to me, 56 was the only year Ford ran the gauges on 12 volts. When I did the 12 volt conversion on my bird, I bought the 56 senders and gauges for both fuel and gas. I later read I could have used the 57 voltage drop resistor and kept the originals. My gauges were faded, so I would have replaced them anyway. Since voltage to both gauge systems is supplied to the gauge and the sender provides a variable ground (more complicated than that on the King Seeley really) the sender then only sees the voltage coming thru the gauge.

So adding that 57 part, or any number of others including modern solid state units, should run the Lincoln set up. Assuming both the gauges and senders are working properly. Very light load, so it’s a small unit. Heat dissipation is not a problem. For the heater blower, or maybe an overdrive solenoid it might be a large unit with a heat sink. Don’t know, I’ve never done that.


B-rad. Wire the resistor to the wire feeding the gauges (in my bird the hot wire went to the temp and then to the fuel gauge). Now that whole circle only sees the 6 volts. They are not polarity sensitive.

miker
55 bird, 32 cabrio F code
Kent, WA
Tucson, AZ

Thanks again Mike. I owe you a whole lot of beers where you come down this way. It'll be a while before I get to the point of converting but, having the knowledge out there sets me at ease. When you coming outta the rain?

Brad
Sierra Vista Arizona
1954 Lincoln Capri

Haha. As soon as the grandkids looking at colleges down there, and the grandkids going to colleges down there clear out, I’ll be back. Grandpa’s Christmas gift to them. Much cheaper for grandpa if I’m not there. LOL

miker
55 bird, 32 cabrio F code
Kent, WA
Tucson, AZ

So what I'm hearing out there is that there's not a way to check a fuel sending unit with a meter???

Brad
Sierra Vista Arizona
1954 Lincoln Capri

What makes this difficult to answer is your sender is a different design than the rheostat type sender most are familiar with. The safest and most simple way would be to have a known good gauge on the bench to hook up in series with your sender and a 6 volt power source.  Simply move the float arm and see if the gauge follows. Establishing the ball park current through the sender would be another way to make the sender respond but if the current is not right, there is the risk of damaging it. Unless you are familiar with this type of work, I wouldn't advise doing it.  The gauge itself would be very easy to test on the bench with a flashlight battery or if in the vehicle, the electrical system would need to be functional. When the electrical system in the vehicle finally becomes functional, the instrument testing will be a piece of cake. 

64F100 57FAIRLANE500

OK, thanks for the info. So if I have a 6 volt battery and hopefully the gauge still works, how would I conduct the test? I can set it up in the car and hope the gauge works to test. No idea how to wire it to test.

Brad
Sierra Vista Arizona
1954 Lincoln Capri

If the battery was installed  in the vehicle then the system would be live. Since your engine is still out of the vehicle, I would be concerned with all the stray wires dangling about and possibly shorting out or grounding out making sparks and smoke. One of the ways to at least test the gauge for movement was mentioned earlier in this thread. That is, with the ignition in accessori, very briefly touch the wire that was attached to the sender to ground. The gauge, if working, will start to move to the full position. I would guess that the gauge probably works as they are very reliable. If ever there is an issue, it's usually the sender. If indeed you do get the battery in the vehicle, then why not, with sendere in hand, ground it , then attach the wire to it and see if the gauge responds by moving the float arm?  

64F100 57FAIRLANE500