[Mgs] [Spridgets] Electrical Saga & A+ engines

[Charley & Peggy Robinson]

Hmmm....... Well, I didn't ask a question.  Nor am I suggesting that you 
should have "thrown parts at it."   I do think that you could have done 
some electrical troubleshooting with the generator on the car.  I'm 
assuming that you know your way around a DC generator charging system 
and how to use a VOM.   If not, any of the late 50s - early 60s Motors 
or Chilton auto repair manuals would give you the troubleshooting 
instructions.  I still have a couple laying around.

As far as DC generator charging systems go, just about everyone of my 
generation (I'm 74) put thousands of cross-country miles on cars so 
equipped.  No big deal; they were all we had. ;-)    I think my first 
alternator-equipped car was a '66 Corvair Corsa coupe w/turbocharger.  
Just one of those things; I always drove older or vintage iron. :-) MY 
'69 B has an original type 5 wire alternator on it.  But I truly don't 
care about super originality.  It's a driver not a show car.

Anyway, peace,

CR
On 7/26/2012 12:25 PM, dwoerpel wrote:
> Ahhh yes.  The simple answer to your (and several others) question  
> is, I'm deranged and stubborn.  I'm one of those originality people 
> that when I found out the generator that came with the car when I 
> purchased it was dated a bit before the build date of the car, I had 
> to keep it.  It has the screw on connectors rather than Lucar (spade) 
> connectors and I like those better anyway.  The rear plate has the 
> nylon insulation and but would prefer the phenolic.
>
> You are correct, I have 12 generators lying around, 3 of which have 
> the tach drive rear plate for the Bugey and MkII Sprite (MkI Midget).  
> All are Lucar connections (except the tach drive units) and their 
> front plates have a longer distance between mounting holes, which I 
> find interesting, but I would then need a longer adjustment arm.  
> Apparently the one on my MGA is shorter (may not be original?  Barney?).
>
> The REAL answer is: I DO NOT like throwing parts on the car if I do 
> not know the underlying cause for the problem.  I wasn't sure if it 
> was the generator as it checked out in the shop.  It could have been 
> the control box and Bob Jeffers and I did all we could over the 
> phone.  He offered to check out both the generator and his control box 
> and that is what I was going to do until I had the 
> "just-one-more-look" moment.   In short (pun intended), I didn't want 
> to blow some other part.  If this were 45 years ago and the car my 
> sole transport, I would've thrown parts at it.
>
> I may very well change to an alternator in future.  I drive my cars, 
> they are not trailer queens.  When I look at another person's car and 
> see an alternator, I think, "Yes! This car is driven and the owner 
> probably doesn't have the drama of driving long distances or after 
> dark that I do.  When I see a generator on a car I assume the poor 
> owner suffers from much the same affliction as I or doesn't want to 
> change over for whatever reason.
>
> I'm not defending my position at all...I know it's "just me".  :-)
>
> What a great list we have.  AND thanks to all who answered my queries 
> about A+ engines.  I was doing well until Daniel threw in the bit 
> about about the Morris Ital A+ engine not having 11 studs. I'll have 
> to dig up that book.
>
> Regards,
> Dave W.
>
>
>
> On 7/26/2012 7:16 AM, lotuspilot at frontier.com wrote:
>> Dave,
>>   Interesting read - all parts of it.  I enjoyed it thoroughly.
>> However, all through the read, I kept wondering why you didn't simply 
>> toss the
>> generator and install one of the five or six that are undoubtedly 
>> sitting on
>> the shelf way in the back of your garage?
>>   Mike
>> ________________________________
>> From: dwoerpel <dwoerpel at wi.net>
>> To: MGs
>> <mgs at autox.team.net>; Spridgets at autox.team.net
>> Sent: Wednesday, July 25, 2012
>> 3:25 PM
>> Subject: [Spridgets] Electrical Saga part 3 of 3
>>
>> PART 3
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