It will prolly need it. Most I have ever seen do after being hit or dropped
or rebuilt.

 

I had to polarize the gen when I first got the truck as the PO had it hooked up negative ground and I switched it back.

 

I think it's usually needed after a rebuild because they use a growler on the coils and armature, so it loses its residual magnetism.

 

Ditto, I don't think you did anything to cause it to lose its polarization. Although, if your luck is like mine Murphy might have visited in the night.....LOL

Bobby

 

Well, it's easy enough to check and it's easy to polarize, so I'm not worried about that. Yet...

Hey! the smilies are back. They haven't worked for me in a while. And I bet some of you were glad.

I just got to my room in Richland, WA. It's been a long day. Maybe I'll get a chance to see Wayne while I'm here.

 

 

I've been thinking about this bent pulley on my generator for a while now. Ray said the sticker by the terminals looked like a rebuild sticker, and it probably is but I can't read it.

So the generator was rebuilt at some time in the past, and when that happened, they used the newer style '56 onward rear plate with the brushes attached. Thanks for that info 38 Coupe! That may be the only thing they did to it.

I bet after it was rebuilt, whoever was putting it back in the truck dropped it and bent the pulley. But, it worked, so they never tried to fix it.

Looking at the video I took of the new fan (thanks Ross) installed shows the wobble at the generator.

New Fan Video by JollyRogerJoe | Photobucket

 

On a side note... I was able to hook up with Wayne (52 Merc) tonight for a fine dinner. This kind of opportunity is one of the few things I like about traveling for a living. And that will be ending in just under 4 months. Thanks again Wayne!

Then the rest of you guys better watch out, because after I'm retired, I plan to look up a bunch more of you "old Ford" guys while traveling around the rest of the country.

On that note, my wife thinks we ought to get a big truck and car trailer to drag Betsy around the country. I'm one lucky guy...

 

Thank you, Joe, for a fun evening and great company. Hope you get to drop by again soon. Don't forget to take the high road on the way home. It's worth the drive.

http://www.columbiariverhighway.com/...er_highway.pdf

Historic Columbia River Highway

 

The picture brings back good memories of flying in a small plane up the Columbia River to the tri cities area on a beautiful many years ago.

 

Is that Multnomah Falls? I've never seen it when it wasn't raining...

 

Historic US 30 is the original road that was built through the Columbia Gorge, about 100 years ago, for travelers heading to Portland. A preserved section of it (in the map, linked above) goes by many beautiful water falls, including Multnomah. It's one of the most incredible drives anywhere in the world. Highly recommended for anyone coming through the area to take the extra hour and experience it. Joe and I discussed it at dinner last night. This time of the year with the spring runoff at it's peak, all of the falls will be spectacular.

 

Now that I look more at the pictures of your generator, I think the whole generator is 1955. The back of the armature is smaller diameter to fit into the rear bearing; armatures going into bushings are larger diameter. The front and back plates include mounting ears. Originally H six cylinders used the same generator as the 8BA V8s. There was a separate bracket with a strap that held the original generator. Check out page 139 of the illustration section of the 48-56 Ford Truck Parts book (page 974 in the PDF). You can see the bracket and generator in this picture I found on Photobucket:

 

Stopped on at Multnomah Falls at least twice times on our trips back home from Wenatchee, WA. Last time we drove the narrow road (maybe it was US 30) and saw several other falls in the same area. I agree with Wayne, that drive is beautiful! A hike to the top of Multnomah is breathtaking, but we never had the time to do it.

 

Interesting observation. I, too, thought the only difference in the generator could not possibly be just the back plate because the OD of the rear of the armature has to match the size of the bearing, or bushing. In the stock generator for 51, the rear bushing supports the armature. In my generator, the rear of the armature is supported by a bearing. After I discovered I have a later model rear plate with different brushes and a bearing instead of a bushing, I wondered if the generator was original. So what you say makes sense. I do not have a "mounting" band around my generator. But I have three bolts to secure it to the engine.