My car is a 63 and I have all the original equipment for the generator. Just curious what it can run? I eventually want Air conditioning in the car, and I have a compressor for the air ride. Can the 30 amp gen. handle these loads? Id rather not go alternator but will if I have no choice. Thanks for any input. Rob
With a 30 amp gen your may have a hard time driving at night with Ac on and would be drawing more out than putting in. There are generators that can put out 50 amp but you have to find them.
Your standard GM alternator is 63 amps FYI. That's double what ya got. Might want to try and find a higher output generator if you want to run all that stuff. But then again if you want bags what makes you want to keep the generator?
Back then if you ordered a car with a/c they put in a heavy duty generator, I believe they were rated 40 to 45 amps. You could probably find one, plus you'd need the matching voltage regulator. However, with a/c and an air ride compressor (depending on how often you use the compressor) you may be pushing things.
Those are the thoughts I was having. I have all the stuff to run an alternator, I just wanted to keep the gen. if I could. As far as running an auxilary generator off the the drive line, how would I wire that up? Rob
I have a 35 amp Generator in my Tbird. It has P/W and a P/Drivers Seat and no stereo.(stock radio only) Of course I'm not putting the windows up and down constantly..... Just some info as to what a Stock Gen is rated for. If you're running a Compressor for 'bags and want to run A/C,go with an Alternator,you'll be MUCH happier.
Look at other posts regarding charging systems and you will information on an alternator that is packaged just like a generator. This would allow you to keep the generator look with the alternator output.
Generators and alternators don't actually power the accessories, they just replenish the power that the accessories use from the battery. The A/C is the only thing that you list that would be using power while actually driving (assuming no electric fans), so a generator should be able to keep up in most cases. A bunch of short trips with no time for the generator to replenish the battery and a lot of "hopping" after you get there may, over time, drain the battery because the generator didn't have time to catch up. If you have a bunch of accessories a standard generator may not be able to keep up if they are all on at the same time at night but in normal circumstances the generator will charge the battery back up when the lights are off the next day. The problem with collector cars is that they often don't get regular exercise to recharge a taxed battery even with alternators. Check the Sears sales fliers for Battery tenders. They are great for keeping batteries up to snuff. I think I got mine for 20 bucks on sale. The Motors manual says that Chevrolet's came with 30A generators up until 62. Cars equipped with A/C came with 35A generators. If it's a Ford my buddy has a 62 Galaxy XL with every electric option available and a factory generator that does very nicely. He does use a battery tender on all his cars. It's not because he keeps the generator. It's because they sit for extended periods of time. I used to start up my alternator equipped Chevelle and move it outside every morning and bring it in at night. Eventually we had to put the charger on it to get it in. No problems with the charging system just not enough charging time to keep the battery up so it's not a generator phenomenon. Electric fans that run constantly can be a problem for generators but I love generators and hate electric fans so I have no conflict.
The Jalopy Journal
