Re: Power to the people!!

Posted by Tim Cole On 2011/3/27 10:11:46

Dear kts68:

Okay, visually you have a problem vis a vis the poor regulator installation.

So to determine if the fields have been damaged, disconnect the field brush and check for lack of resistance between field wire and the generator case. If zero, then yes your fields are grounded and will not work.

If that test is negative then remove the regulator and jump armature directly using a test light with the motor running. If the test light glows, then you have a short circuit. If not, then jump the armature using a fused lead and ground the field wire. If the unit shows over 7.0 volts then your generator is good.

If nothing happens then either the brushes are bad, the armature is open, or the fields are open or internally shorted.

Somewhere I had a jig for testing generators using a pulley instead of a gear.

After the generator issue, given you don't have a cutout, then you might as well put a good regulator on the car. These can be hidden somewhere and the only visual change is two wires going to the generator. You can gut a non-authentic cut-out and use it as a junction box.

The original system was unreliable and hard on batteries.

I like the Standard Motor Products VR-8 which fits 1954 Chevrolet. However, the last time I checked they were running out of stock in the USA. Given the economic depression I doubt if they will ever be produced again. So solve your problems now and thus for life.

Good Luck