Projects Building My First Roadster in San Francisco

Hi Joey,

I agree alternators have a minimum charging RPM. You may want to check out fifthavenueinternetgarage.com. Mr. Randy Rundle designed a low rpm alternator over 20 years ago just for these applications. It has been proven many times in Hemmings Great Race. I’ve run one trouble-free for many years on a 6v flathead 6 in my Studebaker. It has specially designed rotors and stators that kick in at 450 rpm idle.

Additionally, you may want to lower your battery cable gauge/increase wire diameter. It is also good to attach the battery ground directly to a starter bolt and then a jumper to the frame. That made a world of difference on mine.

Best wishes on a great car. James.

 

I have a very much under driven Ford 65 amp alternator (I think it's a "3G") in one of my cars that is driven almost entirely in the city in winter to and from work, with headlights and heater fan on. No problems in ten years.
The alt. pulley is about the same size as the crank pulley. At 1400 rpm it's putting out 14+ volts, at 800 it's down to 12.3 volts.

 

Somewhere in the last 1,565 posts, I've lost track of which pulley is being swapped... For city driving, you want both the alternator and fan to be spinning faster while stuck in traffic.

Don't listen to the folks worrying about "over-charging" the battery on long "high-speed" trips. The PowerGen folks have that issue figured out.

Russ

 

Make it charge, your gonna run warmer with a shitty low voltage spark anyways.

I don’t think on the Highway or track that the fan speed would make any noticeable difference.

if your concerned about in town traffic I would look to your fan blade design instead of the rpm it turns at.

after two or three different figurations I got myself a 5 or 6 blade, metal, fan listed as “racing” pitch. I assume because the pitch of the blades pull a fuck ton of air it’s good for racing but it’s noticeably louder than say the plastic fan I ran before hand it’s run a lot cooler in all conditions.

If it’s below say 65 degrees I can drive 15 minutes to work in a mix of highway and residential traffic with stop lights and the thermostat doesn’t even open. I usually throttle up in the parking lot for about 5
Minutes once I get to work and it finally gets warm then I’ll shut it off

while I’m dumping random thoughts and ideas out there another is a high idle rod.

the carb I have for my model A is off a 34 Ford and is equipped with a throttle shaft on the passenger side of the carb. In stock configuration the pedal was connected to the drivers side shaft/arm, the choke rod goes on the passenger side and the high idle shaft goes on the passenger side.

so next to the choke nob would be a throttle nob. Figuring it wasn’t for cruise control I snooped around and found it was mostly used for high idling the car while it was parked. That way the generator was charging at “idle” but you weren’t using the choke to idle it up.

thought it was clever as I’ve had situations were I’d like to have it idling higher but didn’t want to choke the shit out of it to do so.

just some ideas

 

Is there such a thing as a smaller generator/alternator pulley to make it spin faster? No need to worry about running it too fast.

 

Take both pulleys with you, and if you start having concerns about charging, you can swap it over.

Of course, park on a hill!

 

I mean did it ever actually over heat? I think it’s
Getting over thought. Put the stock pulley on with a strong fan. If it gets hot take the hood off but it’s probably going to be fine

 

Just to clarify and confirm;
Stock = larger pulley which would spin the fan/water pump and generator at one speed
Aftermarket = smaller pulley which would spin the others at a slower speed, providing LESS cooling and charging but freeing a bit of HP.

My vote is to go back to stock pulley and let the regulator in the generator handle output AND have more air and water flow. You may lose a bit of power driving the WP faster, but you also have an aftermarket intake and carb along with a free flowing exhaust. Unless this trip includes RPM that is much higher than what the designer and mfg of a Model A replacement generator envisioned, there is very little downside. Yes, steady higher speed driving can heat soak and run hotter than a city drive duty cycle in fog, but the bigger OEM pulley will help, not hurt. Bring extra water, just in case.

 

John Babcock is an absolute gentleman, and an expert, not just someone who owns the company. I had the pleasure of being one of the spokes in the wheel that built his 40 Merc custom convertible.

 

Put the crank in the trunk.

 

I have never used a Powergen, but I do know that some alternators that do not charge at idle straight off at
startup , will keep charging at idle once the engine has been revved enough to trigger them begin charging. Your ammeter should show this . I sometimes drive my Mum's modern (90s) car which has the problem, all I do is hold it at over 1600rpm for a few seconds after start and all is normally OK for the trip. If I omit the rev up and the lights are on it becomes noticeable almost immediately, with very poor lights and a slight stumble , and it will stay like that unless you rev it quite a bit higher( over 2500rpm) while driving... I guess the other systems , lights etc using power being the difference between the rpm required. It soon flattens the battery with short trips around town.
Something else you could check , a battery will discharge through dampness and dust settling on the battery case between the terminals. San Francisco fog/dampness and the location and open bracket for a Model A battery could provide a slow draw current path . Even between the metal of the bracket and the power terminal could still get back to ground. Keep it clean and use dielectric grease or spray around the battery trerminals and grounds etc . There are some chemical soaked felt washers which push over the battery posts , underneath the wire terminals which help prevent corrosion and shorts.
https://www.google.com/search?q=bat...on+washers&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b

 

A Model A shouldn't go anywhere without the crank! In fact I think Joey should use the crank all the time, even if it is just for getting a little more of that early motoring vibe and showmanship!

 

I know you bought the expensive leakless water pump, however you could of course keep the stock size crank pulley and change the water pump for a more efficient early V8 one with an adapter as was done back in the day.

 

You'd be one 21 stud water pump closer to the flathead conversion.
My house runs on a battery bank and dialectic grease ended a long battle with corrosion on the terminals.

 

That's a Lil' Wild Ole Deuce Coupe...wasn't perhaps once blue with flames and a devil on the nose was it? It's said it disappeared...there is clones of and well done at that...



I like it...

You are sure living Hotrod in a big way...fun times...

Thanks for sharing the Good Ole Days and what it inspires Joey...

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So he could have less power, less torque and bigger expenses?

Did your battery bank have mystery power losses before you used the dialectric grease?

 

Some "mystery" power loss and some no mystery at all. Just dirty connections.

 

Some one doesn’t know a T from a A

 

...Owned by a fellow Hamber @530sandman I thought you would appreciate this Joey...

Credit to Photographer, Owner

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I certainly know a T from an A , I was only showing the idea of the crank held in a crank sling. I did look for an "A" picture with the crank handle (in a sling ), but I couldn't find one. I could have used a picture of an Austin or a Dodge, or a 38 V8, or something else, they were all available. I chose the T.
It is very obvious that this is a T , but that is/was not the focus! In fact the whole post was tongue in cheek. I would not recommend anybody using the hand crank permanently , as eventually there will be a timing mistake and a backfire followed by a sore if not broken hand.

 

This is the very car Joe drove at the RPM nationals when he gapped the fastest V8 powered roadster.

 

I was there when my uncle broke his arm cranking an old drag type combine. This uncle on the tractor and this combine. Although the tractor pulled the combine it had it's own engine to run it's machinery. It was originally horse drawn. We had to crank the tractor too.

 

Always pull UP to start and crank with your left hand, that way you get a sore hand, not a broken hand when you forget to retard the spark!
Old school mechanics used to use a folded piece of rope and pull up, rather than mash their hand on a car which could possibly have a timing problem!

 

F'kn A...salu...tay to the V8...but in many ways understanding how get more from less...this challenge goes on today...what an event not to miss...there are so many...

Awesome Hotrod...

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I think that Banger Spanked that v8 flathead..

 

I’m using this set up on the Zipper and I recently had to replace the modified pump I bought 15 years ago with a reproduction piece. Spent half a day modifying the adapter as the repro pump was crappy! I do recommend this set up as it was 90+ today and engine ran at 180 degrees.

 

The port for temp sender on the water pump you bought tells me it is a 35 or 36 pump, the 33/34 pump is slightly different which could be the difference which forced you to modify the adapter. If you think the pump is so crappy , I would suggest you send the original one off to Skip Haney in Florida for one of his famous upgrade/rebuilds?

 

@Stogy - do you have the details on that banger?

He tore it up. Beautiful car.