It seems like the generator on my '49 Custom 8 doesn't provide any charge when the lights are on at idle. I placed an ammeter in series with the car's ammeter and drove the car for while and noted the charge rate with and without the headlights on, at normal cruising speed and at idle. With no lights on and cruising at 55 mph in OD there's about a 4 to 4.5 amp charge rate (a little high, but the battery, although new, shows a specific gravity at the edge of "good" and "fair" on the hydrometer). If I put the headlights on then the charge rate goes to about 2 to 3 amps, but when I come to a stop sign at idle the ammeter shows a whopping discharge of 20 amps! That doesn't seem right. When I do the same test on my '50 Ford, with the lights on and at idle, the ammeter still showed a slight charge. I can't find anything in the 1950 Motor Manual in the voltage regulator section that addresses this. Anybody have any ideas as to what I can adjust, or do I just need a new regulator? Thanks.

The headlights on my Custom 8 will sometimes turn off spontaneously. I've brought this up on this forum previously and others have suggested I look for shorts, which I've done and I can't seem to find any evidence of that. Besides turning off spontaneously, there are times I can't get them to turn on at all and I have to cycle the switch many times to get the lights on. I noticed that in some Tech Bulletins (see 47T-36 for example) they talk about an accessory circuit breaker and a separate headlight breaker. And indeed it looks like there is some kind of breaker or relay type thingy near the headlight switch although this is not indicated on any of the circuit diagrams from the 48-49 years. The accessory breaker is shown on the 22nd Series diagrams and I see that just above the clock. I notice that this breaker is missing on the 23rd series. Tech Bulletin 47T-36 says the headlight switch should go through the accessory breaker and not the switch breaker and it looks like that's how it is on my car as I do see a wire that goes to the accessory breaker and comes from the general direction of the headlight switch but I can't be certain. Anyway, does anybody have any insight into this? Thanks.

Ron

Hey thanks, found it!

The instrument lights on my '49 Custom 8 work fine, but the labels above the switch knobs do not light up at all. I would assume there would be a couple of lights bulbs behind the labels but the wiring diagram doesn't indicate any. They do show a light bulb for the headlight indicator, is that supposed to provide the light for the entire switch label strip? Does anybody know how to get at that bulb without removing the dash?

For what it's worth, the noise was due to a leaking exhaust manifold gasket. I used an air mattress air pump to blow air into the exhaust pipe and sprayed some soapy water on the manifold-to-block interface and saw bubbles. I got some new gaskets from Olson's (kind of pricey I thought), but that did the trick, the noise is gone.

Thanks for the tips. I ended up keeping the carb on, disconnecting the throttle linkage, fuel and vacuum tubing to the carb, the big vacuum tube to the electromatic clutch, the shroud over the fuel pump and the tubing to the fuel pump, and removing the drain tube on the bottom of the intake manifold. Then you can remove the eight or so nuts that hold the whole unit on the block. It's possible to get a 9/16 box wrench on all of them, although it's a time consuming job. I was able to lift it out myself, but if I had to do it again I'd get somebody to help me. I had my son help me re-install it. All in all it wasn't that difficult, I don't think I swore once (really). And the good thing was that it fixed the problem of a funny tappet-like noise the engine had been making.

I replaced the front valve cover gasket on my '49 Custom 8, 356 and it leaks worse than the old one which had a crack in it. At first I installed it with just enough TiteSeal to keep in in place on the cover. When I discovered it leaking I took it off and put TiteSeal on the other side and it's still leaking, I can see little puddles in the recesses of the oil pump, which is just below the cover. What am I doing wrong?

Thanks.

Anybody have tips on how to do this. Are the exhaust and intake manifold one unit? Can I just remove the carb and the four bolts attaching the exhaust pipe and then the bolts to the manifold, or is there more to it than that?
I'm trying to decide if it's something I can realistically do myself, or should I bring to a shop? Thanks.

Ron

Interesting. Well, I guess I'm not that surprised. It's a '49 Custom 8 and when I purchased it the left from blinker kept blowing fuses and I had to rig up a separate wire to get it to work since I couldn't isolate the short. I guess I'll have to take a good look at the wiring again and see if there's something obvious ( stripped insulation or something). I'll check that breaker too. Thanks a bunch for the info.