52 caddy

My first car was a 1952 Caddy given to me by my uncle. What a tank!! It had a six-volt system in it but for some reason, an 8-volt battery had been installed in it -- something about the engine was the reason.

My questions:

Why was it necessary to equip these cars with 8-volt systems once they got some age on them? I remember having to hand wind my own voltage dropping resistors for the headlights as they would burn out quickly.

I don't remember what size V-8 was in the car, nor do I remember the model of car. But does anyone have an idea how many cubes that engine might have been?

I also remember that the tranny was a four-speed auto with no "PARK" position in it. You had to pull the emergency brake to park it. (Whose idea was this anyway?? It was a dumb idea for sure!)

I ran the car for about three years and traded it in for a '58 Bel-Air chevy with a 283, which I promptly built to the hilt. Now that was a good car!!

Later...

eti engineer

Lots of 8v batteries out there, my 55 New Yorker is still 6v pos gd, most people do this for better cold weather starts problem here is there is no way for the oe generator to keep it at 8v, max output short off burning it up is about 7.4 volts. Lots of folks, by now, have replaced battery cables with too small a gauge cable, so when it cranks slow the 8v battery is the patchwork fix.

It was common to install an 8 volt battery for a bit of extra starting power. It was not necessary, though; if the car started okay on 6 volts, then it could be left as-is.

The old style mechanical voltage regulators had to be adjusted to increase the system voltage too.

6 volt systems were fine in low compression engines. But starting with
Oldsmobile and Cadillac in 1949, compression ratios started to go up and 6 volt systems were not adequate in cold weather. You may recall most makers went to 12 volt systems in 1954 - 1956 to address this problem.

As for the transmission........ that car had the old cast-iron 4 speed automatic. It did not have an overdrive, like modern 4 speed autos. It had 4 gears spaced closely together, as required because it did not have a torque converter. It just had a fluid coupling which did not offer the rev range in each gear that later transmissions had.

This trans was GM's first fully automatic transmission. It was discovered that the shifter pattern was not safe. Not only was there no park, but reverse was right beside drive. Lots of people ended up selecting the wrong gear.
Auto manufacturers shortly after added a park position AND made sure the neutral position separated reverse and forward gears.
But like any safety feature implimentation, people have to have lots of accidents before the shift pattern was improved.

Guys,

Thanks for the information. Does either one of you know what size V8 that car had in it? I remember it was a 2-barrel carb and that was all.

And yes, since I lived in Northern Utah when I owned it, up in the Rockies, I can understand why the 8 volt battery was in it.

You guys take care. I was just wandering around the different forums and ran into this one and reminisced for a minute or two... I own a Nissan Xterra now and it is a great truck...

Cadillacs of that year had a 4 speed Hydramatic transmission as did my father's Pontiac of that era. The "Park" position was Reverse. From left to right, the selections were Neutral, Drive, Low, Reverse.

I have never experienced this car.But its good to hear from you.Thanks for sharing your feeling with us.Its great to know.