Hi HAMB. I'm thinking about the sound system I want to put in my Pontiac. It's not going to be over-the-top, but it is going to include a subwoofer, and with a good amplifier, it looks like the rated power draw is going to land somewhere around 700 watts. The car is 6 volt right now, so some form of 12 volt setup is definitely going to be needed. What I'm wondering is how many amps I can get out of a Delco-Remy generator. I've seen Delco-Remy generators for Lincolns rated at 50 amps. Do they come any stronger than this? And this one's gonna get me laughed at ... anyone ever run two generators on an engine? I think even with 2 generators I could beat the price of a Gener-Nator. Please don't tell me about alternators. I know the benefits of them, but if the way my engine compartment looked wasn't important, why would I still have a straight 8? If you think I'm an idiot, kindly keep it to yourself and keep browsing. Thanks.
I had a considerably obnoxious stereo in my 63 galaxie with a straight six and generator. I replaced the brushes twice in 4 years of daily driving.
Was your stock generator able to keep up, so you didn't have battery trouble? A 700W system, even assuming a constant 14V and 100% efficiency, would need 50 amps ... if it's putting out a true 700W. I don't know that much about amp ratings yet ... whether they're peak ratings, RMS, or what-have-you.
you can get a higher rated regulator which will help. obviously going two miles per hour with the system cranking and the headlights on is gonna kill it. you figure that out when the ignition cuts out around 6-8 volts but for highway and decent cruises its fine
Yeah to both. Some old firetrucks, ambulances, wreckers with electric winches, and military vehicles had 100 amp generators. Keep in mind however that more the output goes up. Them things are BIG like 12" diameter and 12 to 18 inches long. Kinda like some body lost a paint can under the hood. A ham radio guy I knew mounted two generators on six cylender Chevy and two batteries and two regulaters, one for the car and one for the radio. Generators are antiques like these old cars we drive-700 watt stereos are from a different era. 65 years olds should avoid humpin 19 year olds-some thing may burn out.
If you're dead-set on keeping the gennie, just get some big deep-cycle 12 volt batteries (the kind bass fishermen use for their trolling motors) and put them in the trunk. Then when your stereo batteries go dead you're still gonna be able to drive away on the 6-volt system. Secondary benefit...the batts in the trunk will lower the car.
I'm sitting here thinking about this and let me offer a thought from left field. If you are thinking of trying to stick with one or more generators to be 'traditional' in the HAMB sense then I would point out that installing a sound system that draws 700 watts isn't 'traditional' in the HAMB sense. That isn't to say that I don't think you should install the sound system. On the contrary, I would say go ahead and install it, but then realize that the practical thing to do is to upgrade the vehicle to appropriate 12v electrics (including an alternator) at the same time. Keep in mind that according to Wikipedia "major American manufacturers had made the transition to alternators by 1962" so it's not like they didn't exist back in the day.
I understand what you're saying ... but the only visible portions of the sound system will be the speakers, and a volume control. The volume control is going to get a factory Pontiac knob on it, and the speakers will be mounted as unobtrusively as possible. The amp and sub are all in the trunk, which I don't show off. I do, however, love to pop the hood at shows for people who have never seen a straight 8. If the Pontiac was a show-going car only, I wouldn't insist on a nice sound system-- but this car is also my daily. The little 5W system (maybe less) that I built isn't cutting it for me anymore.
Do what you want and enjoy it. My vote is to wire a second charging system, with a second battery in the trunk or if you want stealth you could get one of those overpriced gel batteries that can be mounted in any direction. I have seen guys run an alternator off of the drive shaft. Not much good if you are going to be sitting around listening to music in a parking lot but if your cruising you should be golden. Plus your car starts off of the other battery.
What about tossing a caddilac or lincoln generator in there instead?, I'm assuming they had higher outputs, Motors repair manuals have output ratings in them Also you might check into what damage the unconsistant power supply might do to your radio, i'm no electric guy, but just a thought I really approve of this though, F' alternators!
I think the claims of inconsistent voltage from a generator are exaggerated. My last daily driver was a '60 F100, had it for 6 years with the same stereo. When I swapped the motor I added some gauges, including a volt meter. With a good generator and regulator, the voltage was very stable. When I first hooked up the volt meter, I found out my regulator had been bad for the past 3 years, because the voltage was jumping all over the place. But the stereo had been working fine even on that. This stereo was just a deck and two speakers.
Okay, I see where you are coming from, and now that you've explained it a bit more, I think I can understand what you're trying to achieve. I'm going to throw another thought at you. The January 2005 issue of American Rodder magazine had an article on page 86 about how to hide a 70 amp alternator inside an old generator case. The article is called "the old and the new" and it used a small cased alternator intended for use on an industrial tractor. It required modifications to the cases for both the generator and the alternator, but the internals of the alternator are unmodified so it's possible to service the resulting unit using stock alternator parts. I don't have a scanner to scan the article in, but the article does indicate that the conversion was performed by Steve's Auto Restorations 4440 S.E. 174th Ave. Portland, OR. 97236 503-665-2222 They have a web site HERE.
dual batteries will solve your problem. iv'e done this on plow trucks with electric plows because of the extra amp draw.
Yeah Cadillac's especially ambulances had higher out put generators. You'll need the matching higher out put voltage regulator to match it. It's not what the amp puts out...it's how much it draws putting out that wattage that matters. You might check with the hearse and ambulance people for leads on high output generators. You are my hero for not taking the easy way out. Any sissy can bolt on an alternator.
I would also have to go with the alternator in a generator case. I'm looking to run one on a flathead and still keep the right look.
I didn't mention this in the original post, because I didn't want to confuse the question ... but my actual plan is to run two 6-volt batteries in series, charged by a 12-volt generator & regulator. For now, everything but the stereo will run off one battery. This way I won't have to bother with converting anything else on the car to 12V until I want to. I plan on later changing the lights over to 12V, but the starter is going to stay 6 volt. I already have the cool super-long ass-kicking 2E-series 6V battery in the engine compartment, and I have another 6V battery sitting around at home that I'm going to stick in the trunk.
You do know you can run a 6V starter for a long long time on 12V with no real issue, right? Seems to me keeping a generator and trying to run something with that kind of power draw is going to be a headache long term, when I was running my '60 Pontiac as a daily I had to change generator brushes every few months and the stereo was just a $120 JVC tapedeck running some old 80s GM factory speakers. Most 6V generators are only rated to put out around 25 amps. And the only high output genny I've run into is like twice as big as a regular one and I could not find the number on it in any book to see just what it was supposed to be or what the output is. But for the trouble to put it on a motor it didn't come on, you could just as easily put a high output alternator on. Just put a tin cover on it painted black and 95% of the people who look will never know the difference.
Someday down the road I will probably end up with a Powergen or a Gener-Nator ... but those things are expensive. I'm trying to build this sound system and put gas in the car on a part-time salary.
O.K., do it up like you said, with generator. But wire in a shunt wire (8 ga.) with Zenor (sp.) diode...connect this to a Delco 3 wire alternator, mounted on the diff, driven by a universal pulley bolted into the U-joint. Car moving, 70 amps charging. Nobody sees it, it's as invisible as the extra 6 volt battery and the stereo. Just don't park next to me and turn on all that bass...the 'Thump, thump' energizes my fist hand, to the beat of the music...
There is a thread about how to disguise a alternator to look like a generator. I admire that you want to keep the Generator look. Its stupid to get a stock alternator and then paint it black.
It might not appeal but I spotted a little alternator on the net yesterday that could be hidden down out of the way and run a totally separate electrical system for the sound system. Get a small high out put alternator, paint or powdercoat the frame a dull black so it doesn't sit down there and wave at people and tuck it down low on the engine. Run cables to a 12V battery in the trunk that just runs the sound system and still run the car on it's original electrical system. It would be similar to what they run on an rv to run the coach and house systems on. No changes to the original system this way.
Haha, you've got me all wrong. I don't listen to that kind of music ... most of the time! I'm only using one subwoofer ... it's for maximum quality, not maximum volume.
FWIW I've been running a 6V starter on 12 V, daily driver only vehicle '49 Chevy 1/2 T for over 10 years.
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