Driveshaft driven alternators?????

Anyone driving their alternators off the driveshaft? I think I remember some photos of chassis in older street rod mags with this setup. I know.....no charging at stop lights. Any pics?

 

Anouther option i've been tossing around is running one off of the flywheel, you'd have to run it through a couple gears to get the rpms down, but anouther idea though

 

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=394093&highlight=driveshaft+driven+alternators

 

Been there, done that, would not advise anyone to do it.
Used my AAA membership constantly and a portable jump box 2 many times.
Looks******in' though.

 

Friend tryed it and had vibration problems.

 

If you are***** about no one knowing that you are running an alternator paint the case black or engine color and mount it low on the engine where it isn't so noticeable and call it good. There are plenty of small cased ones that can be tucked down out of the way where they don't stick out like a sore thumb.

It's one of those things that sounds great until you put it into action and might actually work on a T bucket with no accessories but the first time you go and cruise the Ave at night on a cruise night most likely you will be looking for a jump. I'd rather be trouble free than worry about some mouthbreather calling ninner ninner because I had an alternator under the hood of my rod.

 

Shaggy,we think alike,*****ed with an old gm alt. to run off the flywheel. Needs much longer shaft. Was gonna mount it to the trans adaptor/midplate. I couldn't press off the commutator(?) from the shaft. Maybe I give up too Quick.

Anal? Who wants a*****ing wart like an alternator hangin off the front of their street strip altered

 

Anal? Who wants a*****ing wart like an alternator hangin off the front of their street strip altered[/QUOTE]

That's hilarious

 

How about regenerative braking? Would units off a Prius fit? Probably get cheap right now. Someone needs to make one that fits behind a finned brake drum.

 

LOL only if you are braking all day long from high speeds over and over again.

You can't take out more than you put in.

 

All im going to say about this..is they are a PITA!

 

you could do a power brake burn out at every stop to keep the batt charged

 

anybody ever try a stator? citroen used them in some models. harley uses them. there is even heavyduty one used in police bikes.

 

buddy put one on his 38 flathead, pain in the**** for slow cruising, i would spend the money on the powermaster generator look alt. maybe rob a bank, but atleast it will start.

 

That's why the factory mounts them on the driveshaft, 'cause they work so well there....................

 

Yeah I would say get a big sized generator and a small Mitsubishi or something alternator and just find a way to fit inside the generator....

 

With all the industrious minds on here why has'nt one of the big brain thought of bypassing all that and having custom windings and a custom bolt on to the flywheel setup and then use a conventional diode trio/rectifier and regulator! That way is is the ultimate in hidden and always charges, how about it electrical brainacs?? Impossible? NO! Cost phrohibitive? Probally!

 

Here's a good idea in this older thread, if you want to hide the alternator.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=337080

 

Personally, it seems like a pain in the**** for not much change.

 

Henry Ford already did that.

 

how bout just mount a go kart wheel to the alternator and have it touching the ground.. no fancy brackets no pulleys you could make the mount out of wood...

 

Ok this might be a dumb question but i have a electric start dirtbike and the starter stays engauged and charges the battery while the bike is running. I heard that old airplane engines also use the starter as a generator.
Is this true and would it work on a car?

 

Yeh oldguard,thats what I'm talkin about and the cable driven alternator!!! I want my motor to look like a 60's DRAG motor. No alternator,water pump, ash tray ,cup holders SHOWING. Think outside the box fellas.

 

I think it is a great topic. If others have tried and failed, that does not mean it cannot be done, it just means they gave up. I agree with you, I am also building a mid 60s drag street car. It'll be blown and not use a hood and I want a total competition look and not use any v belts just a competition blower drive.
Have you thought about using a magneto? They do not require a power source.
What I plan to do while experimenting with this idea ( and others should have thought about this ) is to carry a spare battery in my trunk. Any drag car can use the weight there anyway. With one battery mounted on each side of the trunk, it would be easy to 'jump yourself'. You could even connect them using a relay so you could jump yourself without even getting out of the drivers seat. With a mag, you reduce your electrical needs. All you would need power for is lights and to start the engine.

Another idea is to use 2 batteries but have them doing different things.
Have one battery used only for lights, brake lights, turn signals.
Have the second battery used exclusively for the starter. A good powerful battery could start an engine dozens of times without needing a re charge. You could go out on a cruise night and things would work out fine, I would think.

There is a way to do everything if you try hard enough.

If you are building a stick shift car, it could also be push started too if needed. Let's try to figure out a good way to do this Hambers.

Steve

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Over in the UK we have a system of annual roadworthiness tests for all cars call the MOT. In addition to mechanical safety it also looks at lights. It is possible, however, to get a daylight only MOT.

I know a guy with 30's racing car that has a daylight MOT so that he doesn't have to run an alternator or any lights except a single brake light. The car has a magneto so doesn't need any external power source for ignition. He has a battery on the car for starting and that usually goes a couple of weeks or a couple of dozen starts between charges. If he's ever caught out he can start it on a handle, bump start it or jump it with the leads he carries.

He also carries LED bicycle lights as a "get you home" just in case he's caught out at dusk.

 

From a theoretical point of view it wouldn't be that difficult. You could make the flywheel the rotor and make a stator that could mount like a flywheel cover. As I said.... theoretically it isn't a problem. In real life it would take a bunch of thought and time.

 

To answer the original question,I saw this one at the GNRS last year.

 

I'm looking at building a potvin blown 331 STREET motor, so with that blower setup i cant run a normal alternator if i wanted to, I have to build an adaper to put my olds hydro behind it anyway

 

i don't know if they are stillavailable but jegs and other speed outlets used to sell a kit that converted your water pump pully to a alternator.
not sure how many amps it was rated at but if its still available, it would clean up the front of your motor and save a little weight.

 

How about running a PTO off the transmission? Or, run a small ujoint driveshaft off the crank pulley and tuck it under the radiator. Old jeeps used a similar setup to run a front mount winch.