Technical Generator or Alternator

Beeno, I am a firm believer of trying to use what you have on hand, that school bus alternator mas have been removed when no one was looking. HRP

 

If you have access to Mill & Lathe anything can be accomplished

 

10SI multi wire alternators on everything for me. ... and no electric fans or aluminum radiators. I have had problems with multiple one wire 10SIs needing high revs to start charging and they are not as readily available at parts stores. It is simple enough to “clock” a 10SI, so that makes them even more adaptable/available even if the parts store does not have a direct replacement in stock. I usually try to low-mount the alternator so it is less noticeable. It is my recollection that generators were frequently mounted low as well in the sixties. I think I did that on my 327 powered Model A in high school (1964). ...need to look at some old photos.

Addition:
This photo is from an install I did around 1969 and it looks like the alternator, by then, was mounted low on the left side.

 

My old roadster had a low mounted alternator. HRP

 

My 1968 Massey Ferguson tractor has a Delco Remy generator with the tach drive on the back and its still working and never been touched


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Summit has a PowerGEN Alternator but they are pricey. HRP

 

Generator in all my cars ! My old cars that is.

 

My 58 T)-35 is supposed to have that same generator. Someone swapped it out years ago for a standard generator without the tach drive. I wish I could find one with the tach drive that wasn't a gadzillion dollars

Bobby

 

So, how about an old AC generator, best of both worlds?



The ad is from a heavy equipment magazine, so the generator might be ginormous . Ad found at Bangshift.

 

Plus their customer service is outstanding. When I first installed it there was a whine that I didn't think should have been there. They sent me a new one and told me to send the other one back once I changed it out. They said that they didn't want me to lose any cruising time (since the original worked fine, I just didn't think the whine should be there). AND they are made in the USA. The factory is only about a hour and a half away so I decided to return it in person. Walked in the office, returned the part and they asked if I wanted to tour the factory ! Sure, why not. Not a lot to see but it was interesting. GREAT people to deal with.

 

Surely disguising an alternator as a regulator is a matter of basic fabrication, especially if the aim is not to replicate a specific make and model of generator but merely to peg the overall look. It might make a cool tech thread.

 

Looks like a corvette generator


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My '59 El Camino is still running a generator. A while ago, I switched from points ignition to Pertronix. Now, sometimes when sitting at idle, the voltage will drop too low and the engine will die without warning, especially on a warm night with the headlights on. It always starts right back up and if I remember to keep the revs up a little, it will stay running. It's mostly just a nuisance. One of these days I will switch to a PowerGen alternator. This will keep the look of the generator and allow me to avoid the hassle of changing all the bracketry.

 

An OG, real Henry Ford 1929 Powergen Generator

 

That's an interesting symptom. Sounds like a defect in the Ignitor module itself or how it's setup. It should work fine on battery power alone after all.

 

Not if the voltage drops too low!

Ben

 

Ignition draws maybe 3 or 4 amps, something like that.

Should be able to run a few hours at least on battery power alone, if not running headlights of course. I run the Ignitor 1 and generator for years without a hiccup.

 

I’d say it depends on how period perfect you’d like your car to be. It’s a shame to see someone that’s gone through a lot of trouble to have a period car, and then, bam!, alternator. From my experience with my own cars and friends, I’ve seen just as many alternators go bad on the road as generators.

 

I like alternators on my long distance vehicles due to ease of replacement on the road but I have been thinking about going back to a generator on my 37 Chevy p/u since a alternator looks out of place on a 235 and it does not go very far due to lack of room in the cab.

 

I live in Phoenix where during summer it is often still over 100 degrees at night (sometimes well over). The operation of the old voltage regulator that is used with a generator is very much affected by heat. On a hot summer night with the headlights on, significant drops in voltage will occur.

 

Pertaining to ignition, voltage is just as important as amperage. If the voltage is too low, you will not get proper spark.

I have experienced another low voltage / ignition issue on cars and 6v systems with lead acid 6v batteries. The battery would have good cranking amps and spin the engine like a champ, but the voltage would drop so low that the engine would have trouble firing or not fire at all. Push start the vehicle in the drive way and it would fire right up. I suspect that the main cause of this is the poor quality of the 6v lead acid batteries made these days. My cure for this was to run 6v Optima gel cell batteries, they will hold higher voltage while cranking the engine.

 

The battery should be able to run the ignition for hours and hours (whether points or electronic module) shouldn't it?

The generator voltage regulators are temperature compensated, the correct charging voltage is quite a bit higher in cold temps to compensate for increased internal battery resistance, and is a fair bit lower in high temperatures. Generators are different from alternators in that they are completely cutout from the charging circuit at low RPM. Generator systems need a fairly large battery in terms of reserve current capacity for this reason. Everybody looks at CCA, but that is only part of the equation. A generator system will smoke a battery quick if it's not up to the task. What kind of battery are you using?

 

Most of my cars have been fairly stock and i used whats they got from factory.
And have never had any trouble with charging what ever they had.
But on my hotrod i could use whatever i want. With a lot of 58 stuff visible i land in
early 60:s maybe 61-62. Thats put me in generator era. So i bought me a cheap alternator
in generator house and intended to use that. But when i had thinking about it i did not
really like the feeling to use crap that could give me trouble on the road.
So i got a generator for mopar instead to use.
But a alternator would be alot easyer to fit tight to the engine becouse they are shorter.
Mopars alternator came in Valiant 1960 wich mean it could be used.
And i got one of the early ones to use if i want. Not sure at the moment wich to use but
the fake one is excluded. A bit ridicilus to sweat this things couse my car is not gonna to
end up period correct anyway to make it streetlegal. Its more to where i put line to keep
the "old" feeling in it.

 

Last night when I fired up the 37 at the local cruise in I noticed the lights flickering so if the alternator is going out I will go back to a generator if I can find one of the bigger GM version.

 

Yep. My Dad's '31 is like that...........I'm embarrassed by it and it's not even my car. I've thought about sabotaging it so he'll have a reason to replace it............with a generator.

 

I'm old enough that the first few cars I had were generator equipped because alternators weren't out yet. No doubt the alternator is better and cheaper. But I wouldn't worry about running a generator if I had one on a car.

Get it rebuilt by a local rebuilder who knows his business. Don't tighten the belt too tight, they only have bronze bearings where alternators have roller bearings. You should be able to depress the belt 3/4" in the middle of its run with light thumb pressure.

Oil the bearings with synthetic oil at every oil change, just a few drops is plenty. Too much oil can foul things up. Get a new regulator if you need one.

With decent care a generator will give you 30,000 to 50,000 miles of reliable service between rebuilds.

 

My avatar has a one-wire Powergen while the '58 364 Nailhead in my present 32 5-window project will have a 1-wire alternator .... the other two projects in the wings will have alternators as they are running newer powerplants .....

 

What do you have in the trunk.....wax and a lawn chair, or do you have a tool box?

 

I've got all three...

I've owned plenty of cars with generators, never again. It seems they don't like high RPM much, I can't count the number of them that I threw the windings off or exploded commutators. Plus the mundane; bad bearings, brushes, or regulators. But back then, replacements were cheap and easy to find. Good used were only $5 at the yards, or you could walk into almost any parts store and walk out with a rebuilt.

It's been over 50 years since a generator was used as OEM equipment on an American car and the supply of rebuildable cores is drying up. And finding a competent rebuilder isn't such an easy task these days either. If you don't live in a well populated area, that can get difficult. Very, very few parts houses stock parts for them anymore, and when you can get parts, the quality can be iffy. Those of you willing to put up with them, more power to you.... but it's alternators for me, thank you very much...

As one last thought, alternators aren't the Johnny-come-lately to cars like many think. While the early '60s was the first common appearance of them as standard equipment, expensive optional or aftermarket units were available as early as the late '40s. Not as rare as Ardun heads or Kinmont brakes.... but very rarely seen on privately-owned cars. The appearance of inexpensive 'solid state' diodes in the late fifties finally brought them to 'production' status.