Pros/Cons on 24 Volt. Help please!

[Rocky]

Is there a downside to the 24 volt system on the M37? Are there upsides as well? If an M37 has been converted to 12 volt is it best to leave it alone or better to go back? On the other hand, if it is 24 volt, would it be best to convert over to 12 volt?

Thanks

[NHM42]

As the old saying goes, "it's six to one and half a dozen to the other" or something like that.

If its 24V I'd leave it alone. If its 12V and the conversion parts are known and readily available leave it alone. The cost to convert everything over from one voltage to another voltage is cost prohibative in my opinion. I never quite understood why people convert other than it possibly being a foreign voltage rating to them. Changing a coil, distributor, voltage regulator, generator/alternator, and all lightbulbs over can be costly unless the parts just happen to be in your junk box. I've never found any odd or costly problems to the 24V system or regular 12V auto/truck systems either.

Just my two cents. Others may have more enlightening experiences.

[Charles Talbert]

24 volt more reliable

The 24 volt is the more reliable system if all components are in good shape. It will be much more likely to crank after long idle periods than will the 12 volt system due to the waterproof distributor. We have proven this many times in fire service trucks. Now that an all electronic ignition module is available for the military distributor, it's even better, this unit produces a much hotter spark. I would never convert a 24 volt over to 12 volts if using the original engine, if doing an engine conversion, other factors come into play.

[HWooldridge]

I agree with Charles. I have owned a variety of vintage vehicles and the M37's 24v system is very robust and reliable when it's in good condition. I always breathe a sigh of relief when other engines finally catch fire but the M always starts on the first crank. Many people want to immediately convert to 12v after buying a truck but I always try to discourage them - especially on the stock engine.

[Rocky]

Gentlemen. Thank you all very much!

[David H]

to Charles Talbert

I'm not familiar with the electronic conversion for the M37 distributor. What can you tell me about it?

[Charles Talbert]

Re: ELECTRONIC IGNITION MODULE

Originally posted by David H
I'm not familiar with the electronic conversion for the M37 distributor. What can you tell me about it?

It's an all electronic module that replaces the points & condensor in the distributor. I have a few in stock, will be getting more. The ones I've installed produced a much hotter spark than did the original system. It greatly lessens maintainence as there are no points to foul, burn, etc. Send me an e-mail if you are interested. Just go to the web site below, click on the contact us link.

[Rocky]

Charles, do you have any Electronic Modules in 12 volt? Unfortunately mine was converted to 12 from 24 by the previous owner. Grrrr....

Thanks

[Charles Talbert]

12 volt is available

Originally posted by Rocky
Charles, do you have any Electronic Modules in 12 volt? Unfortunately mine was converted to 12 from 24 by the previous owner. Grrrr....

Thanks

I have a couple of 12 volt modules, different ones are used in different distributors, if you can e-mail a photo of your distributor with the cap removed, I think I probably have what you need.

[JStinson]

Resurrecting this thread...

The 24 volt is the more reliable system if all components are in good shape. It will be much more likely to crank after long idle periods than will the 12 volt system due to the waterproof distributor. We have proven this many times in fire service trucks. Now that an all electronic ignition module is available for the military distributor, it's even better, this unit produces a much hotter spark. I would never convert a 24 volt over to 12 volts if using the original engine, if doing an engine conversion, other factors come into play.

I'm resurrecting this thread because it's a good one and I need to know more about the difference in a 12v and 24v system. As it stands, My M37 is 12v. It was converted by a previous owner. The engine (230) will be getting out of the shop soon from a rebuild.

Charles, you say that you would never convert one from 24v to 12v. Factoring in cost, would you convert one back to 24v from 12v, knowing that you already have all the correct 12v parts at hand? Are the advantages worth it?

Also, do you have more of these modules?

[Charles Talbert]

I'm resurrecting this thread because it's a good one and I need to know more about the difference in a 12v and 24v system. As it stands, My M37 is 12v. It was converted by a previous owner. The engine (230) will be getting out of the shop soon from a rebuild.

Charles, you say that you would never convert one from 24v to 12v. Factoring in cost, would you convert one back to 24v from 12v, knowing that you already have all the correct 12v parts at hand? Are the advantages worth it?

Also, do you have more of these modules?

I do have 24 volt modules in stock.

As to whether I would stay with the 12 volt system you have in hand or go back to 24 would depend on several factors; what the end use of the vehicle will be, and the quality of the conversion you have. That is to say I have seen some conversions that were of high quality in both components and workmanship, have also seen some that looked like they came from the crap dept. Only you can make the better decision in your case.

[JStinson]

Good deal, I think I'm willing to convert it back to 24v at this point. Thanks for the help, Charles.

[Charles Talbert]

Good deal, I think I'm willing to convert it back to 24v at this point. Thanks for the help, Charles.

Let me clarify; we have converted systems from 24 volts to 12 volts any number of times. These were mainly in fire service trucks where they were dealing with a bunch of 12 volt accessories in a 24 volt system. It's always better to be one or the other in my opinion instead of having a bunch of high $$$ converters, etc. In a fire truck, it's usually cheaper to do a nice 12 volt conversion from the get go than to buy good quality converters. You are just adding more components to give trouble down the road, and a royal pain for a technician that isn't familiar with what took place in a combination system.

Bottom line, nothing wrong with a 12 volt conversion done right, but if I had a good original 24 volt system in place, I'd never convert to a 12 volt unless I had good reason such as what I mentioned above.