Packard Forum Index » Project Blogs

It looks great! I recall seeing reproduction aluminum tags somewhere too if you want to go full restoration in the appearance.

I believe the repro tags are done by Pulfer and Williams which is owned by Lavine now. Might also be some on ebay.pulferandwilliams.com/data-tags/

If I get really adventurous I might just paint the black background on the tag by hand. Haven't decided yet.

Right now I'm just trying to get as much done as possible so I can get the car up and running. I need to figure out where all the trans fluid is coming from, need to change the oil and filter, replace the starter solenoid, and a few other things before I can start driving it again. Then there's the list of everything else....windshield, interior trim repainting, door panel fabrication, etc. So much to do!!

-Kevin

I got adventurous.

Should hopefully wrap up the rebuild tomorrow. Couldn't find a good way to get the bushing out, so I may leave it there.
Anyone know if the pulley on these things was black or silver?

Attach file:

---

  Painted tag.jpg (90.32 KB)

Kevin;

I’ve got a ’55 Chevy shop manual that has a few detailed photos of a generator rebuild. With respect to the question about the finish on the ‘end caps’, fan, and pulley . . . all of the photos indicate a low gloss black on those parts. The photos are surely a Delco unit, and I suspect independent of customer all of those units left the ‘generator factory’ with the same finish. All of the surfaces that come in contact with another component were unfinished allowing metal to metal contact . . . this is likely done for two reasons; 1.) Painted surface to painted surface will likely wear and the assembly loosen, 2.) Those interfaces are the means to complete the ground circuit and the paint would represent an insulation layer. That lack of paint includes the pads where the generator meets the bracketry. I’ve never seen the long thru bolts, or the oil cup painted.

dp

You can reuse the end bushing if it is not worn. A worn bushing will let the armature rub against the field coils and ruin the generator. Strongly suggest replacing the bushing.

We used to use a cutting tool to cut the bushing so it could be removed. Sometimes we would damage the housing doing this. Tricky job.

Try for a new housing with a bushing. A starter-alternator-generator shop - if one exists near you - should be able to re-bush the housing or provide a new housing.

By the way the generator is looking very nice. Good job.

I couldn't find a replacement for the bushing, and it doesn't appear to be too bad. It doesn't really rock on the shaft at all. Worst case scenario if it totally fails then I'll rebuild another, or just get a 6 volt alternator. Or go 12 volt alternator.

I finished up the rebuild on the generator. I cleaned everything up the best I could and polished the commutator. The open front bearing was replaced with a sealed bearing that was a perfect fit (NAPA P62032RSJ), and the brushes were replaced with NAPA R423.

I went with the natural aluminum on the front and rear covers, and painted the pulley and fan aluminum. I found some evidence that maybe some of these generators were black and silver, or at least restored that way. One came from the a Caribbean chassis at the National Packard Museum (http://www.delcoremyhistory.com/Museums/natioanalpackardmuseum.htm) and another was from Ross's video on setting the timing. That generator looked like it had clean aluminum on the front and rear. But I've seen some that were all black too. So I decided to dress it up a bit and go with black and aluminum. Correct or not, it does look nice I think...though it certainly won't win any awards.

My generator belt was about to break, and the PS belt wasn't doing much better. I replaced both with NAPA parts (7410 for generator and 7460 for PS).

I also have been pulling some parts off for cleaning and painting while I have access. The fresh air ducts were all removed, everything wire wheeled off, rust converted, then painted. All bolts were sandblasted and painted. I cleaned, sanded and painted the side skirts as well. Really to do it right I need to disassemble the whole front of the car, but that's not on my list to do right now. I just want to get the engine bay looking nice enough to keep me from wanting to cringe when I open the hood. Eventually the engine will get pulled, or the whole front end will come off to give me complete access to everything. At that point I will make sure everything is cleaned and painted correctly. But for now, this at least gets things looking more presentable.

I need to test the generator, then it goes back in the car. I believe I need to polarize it too. That'll have to wait until next week, as I'm going out of town.

-Kevin

Attach file:

---

  New sealed bearing.jpg (175.74 KB)


  Polished communtator.jpg (116.16 KB)


  New brushes.jpg (126.17 KB)


  Generator complete 1.jpg (101.60 KB)


  Generator complete 2.jpg (93.54 KB)


  Cracked generator belt.jpg (74.78 KB)


  Stripping parts.jpg (102.41 KB)


  Freshly painted.jpg (109.04 KB)


  Cleaning and repainting parts.jpg (160.35 KB)

Here is the easy generator test: Hook the + lead of your battery charger to one of the end caps. Hook the - lead to the A (armature) terminal. Use a little jumper wire to hook the F (field) terminal to one of the end caps. Turn on the charger and the gennie should run as an electric motor and will draw on the order of 7 amps. Oh, and you just polarized it.

I usually let them run for an hour or so to let the brushes seat in nicely.

Thanks Ross, very helpful. I'll do that when I get back in town. Do I need to put the condenser thing back on the generator before I do this? It was attached to the ground screw with the wire going to the armature terminal.

-Kevin

It is not essential for proper generator performance to have the condenser installed, its purpose is to improve radio performance by supresssing interference from the charging system. New ones are sold my NAPA under the Echlin part # RC-1.