Generator

Bill Head

Bill Head

At parade speed, the federal 28 sucks the power out of the battery, and now I am refurbishing a vintage Q1B hopeing to put it on the 55Meteor. Any suggestions about powering this monster?
 
Sirens (particularly a Q) were never intended to be operated at slow, parade speeds. I'd say, rev the engine a bit if you're using it in a parade. (Then watch your temp.)
 
I assume you're using the original generator.

1. If you want to keep the car as original as possible, see if your local generator/starter shop can increase the amperage.

Be sure you have the highest CCA battery possible and that it's fully charged prior to a parade.

Consider replacing your beacon with a #17-D or -B. You'll save a few amps; plus, the four-bulb models weren't introduced until 1958.

Stick with the #28, as it takes a little less juice than a Q.

2. If reliability trumps originality (at least under the hood), I would suggest swapping the generator for the highest amperage alternator you can get as well as a battery - or better yet, two - with the highest CCAs available.

Whichever direction you take, use the siren sparingly at low speeds.
 
the two batteries would probity do it for you. have the Q wire to run off one of them and then switch the car over to the other to run it and the rest of the stuff. when you get back home put the charger on the one you run the q off from be for going back to both of them.
 
Optima

I switched to an Optima Yellow Top battery in my Superior and have not had a parade problem. I generally run the Q with a crank and a coast as it were. The marching bands hate me....
 
Bill, good speaking with you on the phone recently. Just noticed this post. I have one of these Gener-nators on my 56 CDV. It works great and you can not tell it from the original generator.

http://www.gener-nator.com/

With the engine going slowly or at idle, conventional generators do not put out much charge, if any! This is an advantage of an alternator, but the new alternators look just plain wrong on a vintage engine.

I have a dual battery setup on my flower car and it works great with the original generator. However I still may be replacing my generator with one of these.
 
thanks for posting that link. from there description it sounds like they run it threw the original voltage regulator. the modal A boys have a conversion for there system for some time now. but one that is the original housing is what we need.
 
Gener-nator

I checked this product today the core exchange price is $845.00, I think I will keep a trickle charge on the 55
 
some times the expense is just not worth the convenience. do some other checking around remember a alternator is different then a generator as they only put out amps not voltage. seen a lot of the gm internal regulated alternators on a 6 volt tractor. they are most likely other places out there offering a similar unit. the A people started out slipping one of the smaller imported cars alternators inside a generator case.
 
I run 8 volt batteries in my 1950 Ford I have not had a problem running the 6 volt B&M s8. I had the generator rebuilt and told the rebuilder I was running an 8 volt battery in the car, he bumped the amps and voltage up on the generator and regulator. I was concerned about the extra 2 volts hurting the electrical system everyone I spoke to said the extra few volts would not hurt the system. The 8 volt battery made a huge difference on everything. The car starts better, runs better, the lights light better as well. The best part was it all looked stock.
 
I got tired of the generator failures on my 59. One day, I decided that driveability would have to trump originality. I fabricated a bracket for a Delco 27 SI-100 alternator and wired it with 4 gauge cable. For good measure it got a second battery as well. No problems since.
 
Leece Neville Made high out put alternators for ambulances and fire trucks etc in the 50s. My 52 Packard High Top had a huge one 6 volt with rectifiers mounted on the pan in front of the radiator. The 12 volt ones were used on many Philadelphia cop cars I bought over the years. Can you picture a 63 six cylinder Studebaker cop car with this huge leece neville mounted on it but thats how they bought them. I have had several Caddy ambulances with Leece Nevilles on them. Also Delco made again a huge alternator (12 volt) lots of GM ambulances were equipped with them. I am not sure if Delco had one in 54-55 you would need to check. The Leece Nevilles can be found on dump trucks. most any fire truck, snowfighters,cop vehicles.
 
Kevin O'Connell said:
Joe, that option was actually a larger pulley to run the alternator slower on high RPM performance engines. I had one on my 70 Z-28.
Click to expand...

The Chevy parts catalog 1929 to 1954 used to list one for low speed service. Also, Delco did offer a alternator in 1954 for Chevy, it was listed briefly in the 54 Supplemental Service Manual.

I too remember the larger diameter alternator pulley back then. My friend used to EXPLODE alternators on his 55 Chevy. Of course he used to shift at 8K......
 
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