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I was able to crank a small task out on the Caribbean. The car always had the issue of "clunking" the suspension when the nose would go sky high. Well the reason for that was due to not having the upper bump stops installed all those many years ago. Well I was able to get new lower and upper bump stops (because the lower bump stops were rock hard) installed. So the next time I get a spare minute it will be spent on the top issue.

Went home this past weekend and got some wheel time on the Carib. It runs and drives really nice!! the car does not see saw anymore with the new bump stops. however, the car is not charging now. In preparation for taking the Patrician to florida in the beginning of the month I removed the generator and installed new brushes to put in the trunk as a spare. Well, what ever I did to the generator it now doesnt want to charge. So I will have to see what I screwed up. But other than that it is driving nicely!

Sometimes the contacts are gunked up and just RNR ing will cause a poor connection. Clean all electrical connections with alcohol and/or steel wool. Of course also remove the generator cover and check you work. If you installed them reverse polarity it would not charge.

If all that looks good then just do the standard diagnoses in the electrical manual.

Just ground the Field terminal of the regulator and rev the engine modestly while watching the ammeter. If it shows a charge, the problem is the regulator. If it doesn't, the problem is the generator.

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thank you for this tip. I tried it and verified the generator is not working. Maybe it was a connection issue. So I removed it and I will disassemble it and clean all connections and see if I can get it to charge again.

While waiting for the rain to past this weekend I looked into the top issue again. The power top motor had red fluid in it so I am going to assume that it was changed over to trans fluid. it was a little low so I added more into it. I didnt see any leaks when I inspected the hoses or the rods so I am going to assume that over time when the top was operated the air was bled out and never refilled by my dad because I do not remember him ever adding more fluid or talking about doing so. The rods were shinny and didnt feel sticky, but I wiped them down with brake cleaner and applied a fresh coat of trans oil. I did use WD40 at the pivot points on the top. Given the issue I was having with the car not charging I wasnt going to push my luck with the electrical system so testing the top out will have to wait for the next time I am home with good weather.

The generator is 30 amps and the field coils draw about 1.5 amps. So if you ohm field to ground it would be like 8 ohms, and arm to ground should be not even 1 ohm.

If this fails, simply clean the connections and check again. Then remove the inspection cover and check for wear on the brushes. There are two generator sections in the manual so I would run through them both; if the brushes are worn, you’ll have to clean the commutator too.

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Oh, is that information in the FSM? because if it is I clearly missed that! thanks for the idea on what to look for!

The field info, yes. Armature I’m just guessing…

For an unusually high armature value, you can ohm between opposing segments on the commutator, or the brush wires, instead of the terminals. If you get a big drop in resistance between a pair of measurements then that narrows it down.

If you have low resistance but poor output then you need to clean up the commutator. The commutator and brushes wear down and that junk gets between the commutator segments and shorts them. Just be careful since there is insulation under the junk. You can use metal tools but it needs to be less like a flunkie scraping off corrosion and more like a dentist scraping off plaque. Instructions are in the manual too (probably). Once it’s loose grab some masking or packing tape and use that to get more of the dust out if needed. Use alcohol to clean up any adhesive residue from the commutator working surfaces.

You should also turn down the commutator using a lathe. Or any old car shop can do this for you for cheap. You just remove enough material to restore the commutator’s cylindricity.