Subject: [Healeys] Ammeter query in a generator to alternator conversion project.

From: "Simon Lachlan" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2013 16:22:40 -0000

Another one for the guriest of the gurus....

The car is a MkII BT7. (Negative earth, of course)

So, let's do this stage by stage.

1)      When the car ran with a generator, I installed an ammeter. I
disconnected the brown wire that ran from A1 on the control box to the
solenoid at both ends. I ran a new wire from the solenoid, through an
ammeter and back to A1. This worked well.

2)      I bought a Lucas ACR17 alternator on eBay and installed it. You will
all doubtless know these Lucas alternators. There are three terminals. The
two large terminals are connected inside so that one can connect more than
one heavy duty cable for whatever purpose. For reference I used this:-
http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/electric/ac101.htm

I have to laugh when I see his advice to just "physically mount the
alternator". (Almost as funny as the reference in the BMC manual to "gently
easing the gearbox rearwards". Me and Superman.)

3)      I bought an old control box on eBay and gutted it. I soldered a
large wire across terminals A & AI inside this control box. I then used the
control box as a junction box per the site's fourth diagram. (At this stage,
remember that the brown wire is still cut at A1 and the solenoid).

4)      Per the MGAgurus suggestion (safety first) I did install an
additional heavy cable from the alternator to the solenoid.

5)      I switched on and everything worked fine - I think - except the
ammeter needle which twitched about feebly. The dash charging light behaved
as it should.

6)      So, I suspect that the ammeter is wrongly hooked up.

I suggest that I need to link both big wires from the ammeter together at
the solenoid, run a cable from the solenoid through the ammeter and back to
the joined terminals A & A1.

I think that the brown cable remains disconnected, but that I could connect
it to the first feed from the alternator and use it to run the connection
down to the other feed at the solenoid.

Am I right?

I have no particular area of expertise in cars, but electrics would be at
the bottom of the list. And I don't want to wreck everything.

I would be most grateful for some help,

Thank you.

Simon
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