I converted the ground on my '53 flathead to negative ground, reversed the coil connections, polarized the generator by sparking the arm and bat connections on the voltage regulator. It started and ran fine, but after sitting about two hours, the battery (six volt) was drained and the generator was hot. What did I miss? Should I have reversed the connections on the starter solenoid?

 

That doesn't sound like the correct polarizing procedure. Do a search, there was a good thread on this about 3 - months ago. You don't "spark" the connection, you hold it for a couple seconds. I'm not sure which wire you do it to tho.

 

I found these links, I hope they help;

http://www.starautoelectric.com/Technical.htm
http://web.utk.edu/~tprather/Foothil...Generator.html

Bobby

 

Sounds like your trouble was restricted to your charging system. You may have fried your generator. The first link Bobby gave on lucas generators doesn't help with our stock stuff. The second has good info up to a point and describes what you likely did to your gen, but is wrong on the procedure to polarize our stock generators. That one sounds like the procedure for polarizing Ford's 3 brush gen. but not our later models.

The shop manual outlines the procedure. With the ignition off, remove the field wire at the regulator. Briefly touch it to the Batt terminal of the regulator/relay. You should see a light blue spark. Reconnect the field wire. You're done.

Do not use a jumper wire. You will also want to swap the wire(s) at the ammeter 'cause it'll indicate backwards.

 

I checked the regulator contacts and the ones on the Bat side were fused. That's the reason the battery was drained and the generator was hot. I probably at least fried the regulator. I'll replace it and try again. Thanks.

 

mtflat,

Thanks for clearing that up. I'll delete the links from my system so I don't pass on faulty info to anyone else

areed,

oops, sorry. Yea, it sounds like your regulator might have taken the worst of it

Good luck
Bobby

 

I guess I assumed you also went to 12v when you did this? What regulator are you using? One from a late-50's Ford? Did you have the gen field coils replaced w/12v ones, or are you just running the 6v gen at 12v now?

 

It is still 6V, but I was considering converting to 12V. This might be a good time to go ahead with it.

 

Did you hear that everyone??? That is the sound of the first tentative step into the darkside...
...careful now, its a very slippery slope that you're embarking on.

It starts out innocently enough, swapping out positive to negative ground, then maybe upgrading to an alternator and tossing the old outdated generator aside. Well, heck, maybe electronic ignition would be a nice touch. I mean, what can be the downside to consistant, dependable, spark to all the plugs right?

Then...without warning, you catch yourself at 2:00 in the morning pouring over the latest Speedway Motors, Summit, and Jegs catalogs deviously planning on how to order all the parts for a custom 4 link rear suspension complete with air bags without the wife's knowledge. The guys at the local tire store know you by site and are assure you that those big polished beauties in the window will fit under your fenders (and yes they have a payment plan). Maybe a little more horsepower under the hood...a 6 speed manual tranny? sure,that would be excellent, disc brakes, fancy paint, ooohhh, maybe we should have independant front suspension..........chrome? did someone say chrome? we need chrome!!

Just kidding

Tell us a bit about your truck, what are you plans, etc, etc, etc. If you have some pics take a few minutes and get a gallery set up (when you get time) We love pics.

Welcome aboard
Bobby

 

I stayed with the stock looking generated but had it converted to a 12 volt positive ground system. The starter is also getting a once over to make sure it is ok.

 

It's an unmolested '53 flathead, 3 on the column. The engine was rebuilt by the previous owner and I've replaced the fenders due to rot where they join the running boards, but no other body work. My plans were to switch the ground, then 12 volt with new wiring. I was then thinking about lowering the front using the Classic Performance Products dropped axle and lowered springs (which also moves the wheels to the center of the wheel well.)

 

Very nice!

Sounds like a fun toy. (so I hit it fairly close to home about the late night catalog reading huh?)

Good luck with it
Bobby

 

Hey Bobby, that's too close on the mark to be funny! A 12 volt conversion is what doomed me. Hey, it starts great! Wow, bright lights, cd player....hmmm, sure wish I had finned aluminum heads and a 4 bbl...wonder how it would look black...those springs are saggy...etc etc. It was all downhill from there.

 

Yeah, all I want right now is good wiring, reliable starts, tunes, and a good stance -- but I can see that it probably won't stop there.

Thanks for your help, guys.

 

There is absolutely no benefit to changing to 6v/neg ground unless you have something that is set up for it (I can't think what that would be). If you need a new reg, buy a 12v reg and you're done! The 6v gen will put out about 30 amps like that, and that is plenty for a stock truck. Ooops, now you've got to buy a new battery, and to change over the heater fan. And the bulbs. And the electric wipers... but go for it! Those are all transparent changes and there won't be anything but the battery to tip someone off that it isn't stock!

For god's sake don't forget to change the battery connections! I've heard of it happening!