Bill,
I have thought about trying that too, but I don't know if I want to or not. I'm thinking it wouldn't be a bad idea necessarily to just get rid of the old wires as I had some other wiring issues last year also. Some of the lights don't work all the time and some don't work at all. I've started with the bulbs but that hasn't fixed all the issues. For a few hundred I'm thinking it will be worth it in the long run to know I have a solid electrical foundation. This is only the second time I've heard of an 8 volt battery, up until I bought this car I didn't even know they existed!
Thanks for the idea,
Rusty