David,
I guess I'm just a firm believer that one makes one's own luck. Also, if
you look hard enough, you should be able to find someone who can be trusted
to rebuild your Lucas alternator, or generator to OEM specs & reliability (I
found a guy about two miles from my home, who has a shop in his barn, and
rebuilds aircraft electrical components, but has a soft spot for old cars
w/Lucas & Bosch electrics). They aren't that complicated, really.
While I have to disagree with you about them being "barely adequate" for the
stock application, I will agree that there wasn't a lot of excess capacity
built in. Before I "learned my lesson" twenty-some years ago, I too recall
a dark, rural road, at speed, and what happened when I pushed the stalk
forward, for high beam, from my Cibie' conversions, w/high-amp bulbs.....the
total darkness REALLY got my attention! BTW, in case you haven't already
figured it out, the high current draw, and associated heat softens the
plastic around the contact rivets, and makes the contact "iffy". I was able
to take the switch apart, and tighten up the rivets ("we tight"????? OOOHHHH
YEAH!!!).
Bud Osbourne
-----Original Message-----
From owner-spridgets at autox.team.net
[mailto:owner-spridgets@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of David Lieb
Sent: Wednesday, February 08, 2006 4:41 PM
To: Spridget List
Subject: Re: GM Alternator
> In over 40 years & hundreds of thousands of miles of driving & maintaining
> Brit cars, I've yet to have a PROPERLY MAINTAINED Lucas system leave me
> stranded.
Sounds like you had better styart knocking on wood, Bud ;-)
I agree with you as far as the wiring harness and switches are concerned, I
love the consistent colour scheme and the ease of diagnosis, but when it
comes to alternators the stock Lucas unit was barely adequate at best. NO
WAY were they intended to last 30 to 50 years. Likewise, I am not
particularly interested in paying top dollar to have some neanderthal
rebuild a Lucas, just to have it go out again in a year or two. Why should
I, when there are far more reliable and better-engineered units available
for far less money? I am not that stupid yet! If I could buy a Lucas
alternator in new condition (not a rebuild) for the price that I can find a
Delco or a Festiva alternator, I would consider it, but, since I cannot, I
intend to find a Festiva alternator for Mickey before we run the BabeRally.
I also run relays for my headlights. Yes, the stock Lucas headlight switch
and dip switch were capable of handling the load of the headlights thirty
years ago, but those switches are expensive to replace and if I can avoid
that expense and aggravation by asking no more of them than to handle the
load of operating the relays, I would be foolish not to. It also means that
my headlights are brighter, since they do not have the voltage drop incurred
by running those electrons ragged trying to find their way from the battery
to the headlights. Last Sunday I had the fun of pulling the cowl on Mickey
so I could remove and repair the dip switch and the wiper switch. Yes, they
are both working now, although the dip switch shows signs of being a little
worse for age with a bit of over-heating. Nonetheless, there will be relays
in there before the rally.
David Lieb
1972 Midget with GM Alternator
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