Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

"I wonder if the pulley on the generator or water pump are the wrong size spinning the gennerator too fast and blowing them out?"

Not likely. Not at all. Measure the pullys and report back. MOST likely the generators u recieved were bad to begin with.

IF the generator was spun too fast for it's design then there would evidence of thrown armature windings.

newly and hopefully correctly rebuilt generator turns silently ,lights bright, and the engine has lost a lot of valve clatter and runs great ,the voltage regulator works well ,lights on the dash work including the battery light big difference !

I have a rebuilt generator and everything is great but the battery doesnt hold a charge well now, and I believe i've damaged it with the deep discharge /charge cycles over and over again ,and plan to replace it .
I hear tht a 6v 1100 cch battery is what I need for the big straigt 8 and there is a napa number thats active . The usuall 6v battery from the auto parts store is a 6-700 cch
I saw on an earlier post that the napa number is 7212 or delco 717a but I think these are the numbers for a 30's car I have a 52 with an in the engine compartment battery

The NAPA 7212 (or Delco 717A) will not fit your battery tray, they are for the prewar seniors with under-seat battery compartments. Won't fit a prewar junior either.

You're probably going to have to settle for something in the range of 715 CCA @ 32 Deg. F, which translates roughly to about 520 CCA @ 0 deg. You'd wish you had more, but it's adequate.

I suppose for more capacity, one could install two 6-volt batteries in parallel.

Or us an Optima battery. Expensive, but they last. I have had one in my 34 for 11 years, and it is still going strong.

I can also give a recommendation on the Optima. My car gets little use and a 12v Optima has been in about 7 years. The battery doesn't get the best treatment but so far, it has outlasted a couple of the regular types in before it. If you don't like the modern look, you can get a fake cover to disguise it but that's another expense.

Hello Packard guys ,
I ve had a optima ,At one point it wouldnt hold a charge ,I was wondering if the bad generator Id had ruined it with the repeditive charges on the charger because the generator wasnt keeping it up .It seems like the regular wetr cell battery's are more forgiving but just dont last more than a couple of years .
There would probably be room for two 6 v optimas that could be wire in series (parrelel?) in the tray /This would look funny ,but not any funnier that the heat shield I made for the carb out of a tomato sause can and the heat reflective fuel line sleeve I made after reading about vaporlock on your site

To disguise the look of the optima cut a section of inner tube and stretch it around hte battery.

To retain a 6-volt system using two 6-volt Optimas you'd hook them in parallel. If you hook them in series you'd have 12 volts.

But i don't really know why anyone would do it.

My experience with lead-acid batteries is that I typically get 8 years or so from name-brand ones. The "boutique" batteries like the Group 60s were very short-lived for me, 24 months about all they had.

And yes, I do believe lead-acid batteries are MUCH more tolerant of repetitive discharge/charge cycles.