On this stuff you need a fictitious car model to ask...tellem it's a 1960 Ford 292. They will then read off 87 different amperage levels...pick the low one. Others are for nearly non-existent generators used on ambulances or something. NAPA type places offer 2 levels of quality and price on this stuff. Guess what you need.
Yeah, after asking the kid to punch in various years and models (of any Ford 58-63) and him continuously come back with smallish 4 post boxes, I just reached across the counter and looked up what I needed in the book. Kept the box and part number when I got it this time too. Had to order it but it was at the store my 9:00 this morning. Installed it this evening and everything is working great. Took a few miutes to hook up my heater motor before going on a long drive tonight. I just got back. Thanks for the help everyone.
Add in one more wire on that diagram...it depends on path through engine and frame and body to ground, something Ford fixed later. Run a wire direct from ground post on gen to mounting plate of regulator. Even better, add in another from the reg one direct to ground cable of bat and another from gen end to a manifold bolt. All the volts lost going through paint, engine mounts, rust, body mounts, more paint and rust, etc. come right off the top of your electrical system.
In those diagrams it is ass-u-me d that the block, chassis, and body are grounded well... You are such a smarty pants.
...but on an older car they will not be. If it is a relic, there will be rust and dirt in the way, if it is fully rebuilt there will be too much thick paint, new gaskets, and silicon goo. Ford started out with no ground wire on these for a couple of years, then solved a lot of problems by adding one in late 1940.
Original regulators had a terminal location or threaded hole so ground wire from gen was firmly attached directly where needed. Some current ones don't have that, leading to improvisations.
The Jalopy Journal
