• Hi Guest!
    If you appreciate British Car Forum and our 25 years of supporting British car enthusiasts with technical and anicdotal information, collected from our thousands of great members, please support us with a low-cost subscription. You can become a supporting member for less than the dues of most car clubs.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

While I was out driveing today

Share this page

jlaird

jlaird

Great Pumpkin
Country flag
Offline
I decided that as all else is new I will just remove the generator and take it down to my local auto electrical shop for a checkout monday. Can't see the regulator being bad and all the wireing is new of course.

About another four miles today, think the carbs are still a bit lean hehe. I will be messing for ever.

Boy does she sing at 4K.

Think this engine sounds a bit louder than my others as it is .60 over. Exhaust sure sounds great.
 
You're having WAAAY too much fun, Jack!!! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smirk.gif


Good plan with regard to the genner. Find the oldest guy there and you'll get a proper result. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif
 
Attaboy, Jack! I have a great mental image of you driving around the neighborhood with no bonnet, no seats, and a huge grin on your face!

On the generator front, I had mine rebuilt by a local generator/alternator shop last summer. They did a good job with it, and were able to source the lucas specific bits as necessary.
 
If it turns out to be unfixable Jack, I have one off my 71 midget. I had just went through it all and put new bearings and brushes in it before I decided to tear the car apart for the resoration. Good regulator too (minus the cover).
 
Florida, 70ish, KC, 30ish, I am jealous. But happy for you! When it warms up, I plan to be out. If your gen. prob. continues, I have switched to an alt. and I do have a working bugeye gen.
 
Just a polite inquiry, Jack: Did you by chance put a set of brushes in that genny? They're relatively cheap and a polish of the commutator with some red ScotchBrite can embolden the electrons enormously! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif
 
DrEntropy said:
Just a polite inquiry, Jack: Did you by chance put a set of brushes in that genny? They're relatively cheap and a polish of the commutator with some red ScotchBrite can embolden the electrons enormously! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif
Click to expand...
I figure he already did that , being an old AirForce guy and all. I also remember from my days in England fooling with those old minis that the brush springs are bad to just break. They are just made of spiraled spring steel and when it rusts it get brittle. There was nothing wrong with the genny on my midget but back when I drove it, I was working the 12 hour shifts that I am now and end up being driving at dark when I went to work and dark going home. After a week I would be roll starting it until I put it on a charge. I hope the alternator will cure this. I have the owners manual for my 71 and it says not to run the headlights, the heater fan, and the wipers at the same time for very long /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/lol.gif Sometimes you need all that /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/lol.gif
 
Glad you're having fun Jack, you deserve it.
 
Actually I'm an old Air Force guy, too. And I ran my first ('66) MGB for 250K miles... a lot of 'em between Langley and western PA twice a month for a few years. Rain, shine, winter and summer. The rest of the time it was my daily. NEVER did I have an issue with the charging system giving out. There were plenty of eight-hour trips running ALL the electrics: lights (H-4's AND Flamethrowers), wipers, heater and a silly cassette player we'd stuffed under the seat wrapped in a towel to isolate it from grounding... it was neg earth, the car wasn't. The charging system would give plenty of warning if it was goin' flakey.

...mebbe I've just been lucky. With about a dozen LBC's personally. Many dozens professionally /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/devilgrin.gif
 
Actually I just looked inside and thought, gee that looks good, wonder if it will work.
 
DrEntropy said:
Actually I'm an old Air Force guy, too. And I ran my first ('66) MGB for 250K miles... a lot of 'em between Langley and western PA twice a month for a few years. Rain, shine, winter and summer. The rest of the time it was my daily. NEVER did I have an issue with the charging system giving out. There were plenty of eight-hour trips running ALL the electrics: lights (H-4's AND Flamethrowers), wipers, heater and a silly cassette player we'd stuffed under the seat wrapped in a towel to isolate it from grounding... it was neg earth, the car wasn't. The charging system would give plenty of warning if it was goin' flakey.

...mebbe I've just been lucky. With about a dozen LBC's personally. Many dozens professionally /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/devilgrin.gif
Click to expand...
My drive wasn't long enough and half of it was stopping at red lights. I would always have to run the heater and the headlights. I just wasn't putting back what I was taking out of the batery. The lights would get real dim waiting at a red light and then brighten once I got up to speed again. Maybe it had more to do with the small battery of the midget. heck, I may run into the same thing again. I have also thought of moving the heater farther forward so a bigger battery might fit.
 
Time to look into an OPTIMA!! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/devilgrin.gif
 
Oh, yeah. Last time I looked at one of those it was megga bucks. I have not decided on that yet. What I would prefer to do is have a battery that would work in my Midget and also my Kia sportage 4wd as well and I could swap the battery along with insurance and tag in the spring and fall and drive the 4wd in the winter and the spridget in the summer and still have my ranger pickup as backup in case either let me down. Letting a battery sit kills it quick.
 
Back
Top