Some thoughts on the alternator installation you described. My alternator is
an internally regulated Hitachi from a late '70s Datsun pickup. It fits
perfectly into a Series V alternator mounting bracket, but the bracket needed
to be moved forward about 1/2 inch to align the fan belt. It puts out a
maximum of 30-35 amps when all my electrical gadgets are engaged. I think I
paid $45 for a rebuilt one at Pep Boys including a $5 core charge. You
describe yours as putting out 70 amps, and that seems a little much for a
Lucas wiring harness to absorb. Maybe the internal voltage regulator cools
it down some, but I would be leary of that much output. As for the illusive
"wire number (3)", it is known in higher auto-electrical circles as the
"exciter" wire. Its purpose is to supply an initial positive current to the
alternator to get it started producing electricity (someone else could
probably explain this better). In any case, it is not necessary (nor, I
think, desireable) to continually supply current once the alternator has
been "excited" momentarily. For this reason, the current for the exciter
usually comes from the starter side of the ignition switch. Like the starter
motor, once the car is started, no more current is supplied to the exciter
wire.
All this sounded great, and I hooked everything up this way initially. What I
found was that my starter motor kept running after the car had been started
and the starter switch was off. Reason: the exciter wire was feeding back
positive current to the starter motor through the ignition switch. After
consulting my Series V Alpine manual (the series V was fitted with a Lucas
alternator). I found the fix that Rootes used. They wired the exciter wire
through a "Field Isolating Relay". The lead from the starter switch actuated
the relay, and there was another hot wire hooked to one side of the relay to
actually provide the current. When the starter switch is turned on, the
relay closes sending current to the exciter wire. When the starter switch is
turned off, the relay opens, current to the exciter is cut off, and no
current can feedback through the relay to the starter motor. Slick. I
installed a 30 amp Bosch relay which is smaller and more reliable than the 30
year old Lucas field isolating relays I have.
As for your ammeter problem, I have no clue. I assume that you've got it
hooked up in series with at least 10 ga. wire going to and from it. I would
go ahead and install the field isolating relay on your alternator anyway,
because it can't be good to have a steady current from the battery going to
the exciter wire.
As for the "simulator" wire that is supposed to run the idiot light; I
couldn't get mine to work, so I bagged it (that's why I installed the ammeter
in the first place, so no big loss). Someone suggests that this light is
needed in order not to overcharge the system, but I havn't had any problems
with this at all.
The alternator mod is the best thing you can do for an early Alpine's
electrical system. When I had my generator, my ammeter would often show
discharge when running lights, wipers, radio, heater & sundry other gadgets
at night. The culprit is usually the contacts on the old voltage regulator,
brushes on the generator, or something as subtle as breakdown of insulation
in the windings on the field or armiture of the generator. Often it only
shows up under load. Most of these things are 30 years old, and even
rebuilding can't bring them back to full efficiency. One night, after a long
rainy trip on our New Mexico backroads, I pulled into my driveway, shut the
engine off, and opened the garage door. When I went to start the car and
pull it into the garage, the battery was dead. It could easily have happened
on a dark back road. The alternator solved these problems once and for all.
It's been on a couple of years now with no problems.
Now I've got a few for JLAIFMAN. Did you do anything to the compression
ratio of your Holbayized Series V, or is it essentially stock? I'm assuming
the Holbay cam provides high lift to get the gas mixture into the cylinders.
Are you experiencing rough idle because of the cam? How wild would you say
the cam is? How is your gas mileage? Have you done any 0-60 or 1/4 mile
tests? And finally, how is your driveline holding up (clutch, trans, rear
end). Take care, and keep 'em running.
-------------------------------------
Name: Rex Funk
E-mail: rexfunk(at)ni.net
Date: 04/16/95
Time: 22:03:41
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