Hmmm, What is it?

smccoy · Post by **smccoy** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 11:48 pm

Hello! What a great site! Love reading all of your helpful suggestions- maybe some of you can help me too?

I just bought a 1966 Beetle and love it to death- Drove it all the way home the very first night- what an adventure! Have been tinkering with it ever since, but have discovered some strange things...

The previous owner had a modern pioneer stereo rigged into the dash somehow- didn't look very safe, and didn't work- it was obviously a 12V, and '66's ar 6V, right? So I stripped it out...

Then found strange wires coming off the positive terminal of the battery- a red and a couple of whites in addition to The Big One that is supposed to be there. They run to a button in the kick panel, then over to what looks like a Bosch voltage regulator under the other seat... no clue what they do- especially one of the whites that isn't hooked to anything(have taped the end until I figure out what to do.) None of this is on the wiring diagram I found for a '66- they simply show the batery heading through to the generator and starter- no detours under the other seat.

Finally, the battery went dead(too many dry starts adjusting the carb) I pull it out and... no labels. Of any kind. I hook it up to a trickle charger and switch it to the 6V setting overnight, and not much happened. Hook it up to a tester and the needle skips over the ranges for a 6V and leaps all the way up into the yellow for a marginal 12V battery.

What is going on? Was my lil' 66 converted to 12V? How would I know? What should I look for? What should I test or try? What is the deal with that button and extra voltage regulator under the other seat?

Blue Baron · Post by **Blue Baron** » Tue Sep 21, 2010 11:09 am

It should be obvious whether it's a 6 or 12 volt battery. A 6 volt battery has three caps on top. It sounds like your car was converted to 12 volts and the regulator was moved from the engine compartment to under the seat. Check any lightbulb to confirm.

Those extra wires and push button sound like an ignition switch bypass somebody wired up for when the ignition key doesn't work. This problem can be solved by adding a hard-start relay.

Here's a crazy question: Are you certain it's a '66? The first three numbers of the chassis number should be 116.

Congrats on your car and welcome to the forum.

smccoy · Post by **smccoy** » Tue Sep 21, 2010 11:47 am

Sure enough- the first three numbers are 116, so we have a '66!

There are only two posts on top of the battery- no caps, so we have a 12V battery!

Now for the tricky part- what am I looking for on the light bulbs to confirm if it was actually converted? I want to be sure someone didn't just drop a 12V battery in to get the car to start so it would sell- at the expense of burning up a 6V generator or starter or something else I can't see or don't know to look for yet.

Thanks for your help- we're already on the right track!

Brian T · Post by **Brian T** » Tue Sep 21, 2010 1:00 pm

check th generator 12 volt would be a bosch gn15 I believe a 6volt is a gn11 The 6 volt starter should work fine on twelve volts it just spins fasterjust dont crank it too long and overheat it

smccoy · Post by **smccoy** » Tue Sep 28, 2010 3:54 pm

Thanks Everyone! Sure enough! It's been switched over to 12V- and I'm happy. It wasn't a project I would have tackled on my own, but since it is already done, now I can set about installing a radio!