Congrats!!

I found that one of those cheap Harbor Freight sound stethoscopes works well in locating and identifying engine knocks.

Cheers, Dean

@rustoholic I may have a real stethoscopes somewhere. My wife was a nurse. Not sure she kept her equipment but that is a good idea. Thanks

Mechanic scopes are a bit different from medical, mainly in the 'transmitting' end. Medical scopes have a large flat diaphragm. Mechanic scopes also have a diaphragm but they also have a metal probe that transmits the sound to the diaphragm. Other than that they work exactly the same way. I have a mechanic's scope I bought years ago. It's remarkable what you can hear with one. The probe allows you to pinpoint the exact spot a noise originates.

@tiny Tiny, I drove the car a little today and it sounds much better. I think what I was hearing was just old engine that sat too long. After warming up it ran pretty smoothly and the noise seemed much quieter. The car only has a partial exhaust with al old donut so it is a bit loud. I may pick up a mechanics stethoscope if I need one. 

I checked the generator output at the battery today and with engine at a moderate rpm I was getting 8.7 volts at the battery. Seems high to me. I think it should be in the 7 range.  I may need a new regulator or find out if there is a way to adjust or rebuild the ones I have. I have 3 of them. 

I am also am apparently going to have to get used to dbl clutching. Never did that’s before.  

@stovebolt-6 

Hi Rich

If you have the original or original style of generator and wiring on your car...

I don't think you will have a voltage regulator.

You will have an adjustable "third brush" in the generator that feeds the fields off of the commutator and can be adjusted to give the desired charge rate.

PS

The little tin box on the generator is just a cut-out.

@ole-olson thanks Ole. I will look at that.

@ole-olson Ole, I adjusted the 3rd brush and I am closer to the range of voltage. I was at 8.9v and now around 7.7v. I can’t push the 3rd brush any further as the lug Is in the way. I have a new digital meter and if I have the right info a digital meter can be a little flakey on an analogue generator. I say this because I got several readings from the meter. At a lower rpm it was actually higher… like 8v. At higher RPM it was about 7.7v but I did get some odd ball readings as i checked several times. 7.7v was the most consistent. 

See the pic below where the 3rd brush is as far as I think I can push it. Am I going the wrong way?

Thoughts on this?

Rich 

@stovebolt-6 

If I've got myself oriented right here, it looks like you are going the right way (pushing the brush back towards the back of the picture).

It is possible for the generator to produce more voltage at lower revs than at higher speeds.

This is because the magnetic field is actually "dragged" around the generator by the rotation of the armature, and higher speeds "drag" it farther around.

So, a stronger point of the field can be in alignment with the third brush at lower revs, and be rotated farther out of alignment at higher revs.

What is your dash ammeter reading (assuming you have a fully charged battery)?

@ole-olson

Ole, Your orientation is correct. I read that to raise the voltage push the brush in the direction the engine turns. So I pushed it counterclockwise if you’re looking at the generator from the front. It is all the way back to the lug for the other brush and can’t go any further. My last volt reading was 7.7volts at high RPM. 

Yes I have a new battery that has been on a tender so it reads out at 6.4 volts. The ammeter reads about 8 amps at idle and drops to about 4 amps when I rev up the engine to what I assume is a cruising speed. This seems odd to me as I think the ammeter in my 53 goes up when I rev the engine but that is a 12 volt system with an alternator now so it’s an apples to giraffes comparison

I suppose revving the engine draws power to the coil and plugs which could make the ammeter drop but I'm guessing. 

Before I made the adjustment to the generator, the ammeter was clocking much higher closer to 20.

One last thing. When I had the metal band cover off, the brush I could see had some small spark activity at the very corner nearest the back of the generator. I couldn’t see the others so I couldn't compare them. 

What do you think?

Thanks for all the advice. I really appreciate it. 

Rich 

@stovebolt-6 

Eight amps may be a little high, but sounds okay overall with the 4 amp charge at higher revs.

Just the same, watch for signs of over-charging at the battery.

These would be a sulfur smell at the battery after running/charging for some time,

the battery uses more water than normal,

or the battery seems to be running warm.

Hopefully others will add their expertise here also.  🙂

PS

I wouldn't be too concerned about a very small amount of arcing.

PPS

Actually, I just stumbled on Chevrolet's own recommendation.

With the engine running at what would correspond to 25 mph, turn on the lights and set the third brush until you see a maximum charging rate of 3 amps.

This should give the recommended average charging rate of about 12 amps (which seems somewhat high to me).

Hope that helps.  🙂

@ole-olson It’s a shame they don't list RPMs instead of MPH. MPH seems variable to me. I will monitor this for a while and make sure the battery stays healthy. I know 7.7 volts is a but high but I am not sure how to lower it if the 3rd brush is bottomed out. I dont have my headlights connected yet but I will be working on that today as i just got the pigtails over the weekend. 

I read somewhere else on a Chevy site to set the amps at 0 with the lights on. Go figure. I guess in the 96 yers since the car was built there have been a lot of methods developed. 

Thanks for the extra info. I will just keep an eye on the charge for now. 

Rich 

@stovebolt-6 I put a regulator on my 32. It was supplied by James Peterson of Bend Oregon. I have had it for over 5 years with no issues. It installs in place of the third brush and keeps the original looks.

@steve-d

Steve, I looked him up.Peterson retired but there is a guy, Jeff Stevenson 208-800-2691 on the west coast doing similar work.

@stovebolt-6 Thanks for the info. If it is a similar fix I would highly recommend it as it eliminates the need to adjust the third brush to suit the type of driving you are doing,