Item Subject: cc:Mail Text
I had my generator apart to take a look at the brushes, when I came
across the following:
The two ends are some kind of white metal, and the main part of the
body is steel, so there was some of the usual dissimilar-metal-
corrosion-activity between them. Also, one of the two through-bolts
was nearly impossible to remove, while the other was merely very
difficult. Once apart, I saw that the one brush provides ground by
being connected directly to the white metal end piece.
My thinking is that if one leaves the bottom two nuts and bolts that
secure the generator to its mounting bracket not-quite-totally-
absolutely tight, to aid in belt tightening, then the electron path to
the block is mainly through the fan belt tensioning bolt. That is, the
current flow is from brush, to rear end piece, to generator body, to
front end piece, to motor. OR: from brush to end piece, to through-
bolt, to other end piece, to motor. Now in either case, there are two
dissimilar-metal interfaces, which over time could become rather poor
electrical paths.
If my theory holds true, generator performance on these old cars could
be improved by doing a few really simple things:
1. Take the end pieces off and wire-brush the interfacing areas, and
maybe apply a light coat of conductive gel,
2. Likewise clean up the area where the through-bolt heads make
contact,
3. Tighten down the bolts holding the underside of the generator its
mounting bracket (if you really want to), and
4. Make sure there's a good connection between the generator mounting
bracket and the block as well.
I'm doing these things now that I'm in there, but it will be several
years before my car's on the road, so I'll never know if it made any
difference. Can anyone advise whether they've taken these steps and
it's helped? Could it be that generators are not that bad?
Final note: Please don't flood me with "Just replace it with an
alternator." That's a different discussion. Thanks.
Jim Wallace
'60 TR3 TS81417
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