LOL!! 500k miles? Thanks for proving my point - they are pretty damn good.

It isn't simply a matter of function, though there is that. What the trend has always been from a manufacturing standpoint is a reduction in the number of steps required, as I'm sure you're aware, and also the number of parts. Ease of manufacturing, and a reduction in cost and complexity.

On the user end, the trend has always been towards less maintenance. Spark plugs today last 150k - 200k miles (or more) At one time they were replaced once or twice a year, or 15k miles, as part of a "Tune-Up". Before that, going way back each spark plug was made of several discrete parts, designed to be disassembled and cleaned. Today? Nobody even hardly knows what a "Tune-Up" is. The trend is clearly towards "No User Serviceable Parts Inside". This is both good and bad. Service is rarely required, but if major maintenance is needed, watch out.

You said it yourself, changing generator brushes a couple times a year gets awful tedious.

Same with points and condenser, carburetor cleaning and adjustment, chassis lubrication, valve adjustments etc. Tires used to go flat constantly back in the day. That's how "GoodYear" got their name. If you got a good year out of a tire, that was really something.

I just sort of enjoy obsolete tech, and learning how it works. I know modern trucks are (obviously) technically superior, that's why I don't fully understand the desire to buy a 60 or 70 year old truck, and then proceed to rip everything out of it and replace with new. It would be a lot easier to just drop a fiberglass shell over a Ranger or something like that.

Nobody "needs" to drive an old truck if you stop and think about it, It's a choice. Kind of an expensive one oftentimes in fact.

 

I damn near killed a guy when I lost a right rear wheel cylinder. Someone changed lanes up ahead and hit the brakes in front of the guy ahead of me. I panic-stopped and the pedal went to the floor. I hit the guy doing 40 and crumbled his little car. The impact broke the hinge on his driver seat and he was in the back seat.
I never saw anything wrong with the wheel cylinder when I later took the truck apart but it was obvious that’s where all of the fluid left the system.
To each his own. For me safety is no longer optional.

 

Anything mechanical even a 2020 Ford F250 right off the dealers lot can fail. Airplanes crash trains derail and ships sink. When your or anyone else's number is up there is no amount of disc brakes or dual master cylinders in the world that is going to keep you alive. So back to the topic SixTFour keep the gen it will work fine keep the drum brakes but maintain them like they were meant to be maintained. Don't just run them like todays cars are designed to run and then park with little to know maintenance and you will have no problems whether it is a daily driver or a cruise night driver. I drove my 64 for many years in stop and go traffic and on the highway even in the winter pulling snowmobile trailer in the mountains and never once felt unsafe. This is just my opinion and I am entitled to it but with my statement of when your number is up you are going you should be able to tell who my pilot is I just hold the steering wheel.

 

For your use with no significant added electrical loads the generator will be just fine. As electrical loads increased in 60's especially since HVAC systems were becoming more common Generators could not keep up with the amperage demands at idle so the switch to alternators was made. But in a stock unit with no added electrical loads the generator is more than adequate. No point in hacking up a stock truck and spending the extra cash for what amounts to no measurable gains for you or the use the truck sees. You can still charge you phone from the cig lighter or any other lighter load items with no issues. As noted just be aware that at idle the gen will be putting out little if any amperage.

 

I looked on line and there are adapter bracket to easily remove the generator and install an alternator on my 292. I looked on YouTube and didn’t find any ford specific how too s . Anyone have any diagrams and what year alt to actually buy when I walk into the parts store?

 

Heretic!!! Burn him!!!

 

There is also a thread - somewhere, maybe in the 53-56 or 57-60 - on how to do it without buying additional brackets. It uses 3/8 threaded rod cut to length, some spacers to fit, nuts, bolts washers, and the brackets from the generator.

Found it, it was not on FTE, though. Some of the links in there are dead, but some good photos.

Y-Block.Info