Points and generator for me (and bias plys too for that matter.) (please excuse my T-5 as I didn't know any better, ha!)
I have put overkill alternators on all my projects. They worked great, were OT, and came from the factory with them. This is my first car with a generator, with a 6 volt system, and with a positive ground. If I change to an alternator, a lot of work is going to be spent in the rest of the conversion and money to keep the radio and other stuff working. The generator works and looks good. It stays.
Good discussion here. Concensus seems to be run what works, run what you like. Regarding breakdown parts on road trips: Close inspection prior to the trip may save some grief. Look your car over for unique or unobtainable repair parts. Pack fan belts, rotor, points and condenser, if your the nervous type, coil, ballast resistor,voltage regulator, generator,fuel pump. Use your cell phone and credit card for the obtainable stuff.
Valid points on both sides and neither is "wrong". It's all about personal preference and if you want to have your ride that much more period correct or if you lean towards the side of ease of availability for parts or service out on the road. I think if a guy did some research all though the years the HAMB has been in existence the number one cause of break downs on the side of the road while a guy is on a road trip to an event is generators crapping out. That may be simply because a lot of guys who get mid/late 50's cars don't service the generator or have it checked out before taking off on a road trip. Personally I am building the 48 for serious road trips and since it already has a 68 model 292 it will get an alternator to power the ac and other comfort items that my wife of 43 years has had to do without on road trips for the past 43 years. It's 2052.2 miles from my front door to my mother in laws front door and I don't plan to do it again in a truck with no windows or no ac like I did it before in the 48 and later with no ac in the 51 Merc.
That's a pretty big assumption. Especially when you consider that most of the HAMB cars are equipped with 1 wire alternators. You will never convince me of that statement but do what you want.
I said that Gens were fine for those old cars that had them originally because those cars didn't need the amps. But once you've update that 54 Chevy with A/C, Stereo system, Power this, Power that, then it's a good idea to install a Alt. New cars need too much Amps so they need a Alt. Gens are easy to work on and as long as you maintain them (brushes,oil) they will do their job.
Well, I don't really care if a hot rod has an alternator. Hot rodders used the best parts they could. If they had alternators available to them, they probably would have used them. My '64 Galaxie had an generator when it had the 289. I had it rebuilt, on a cold morning with the heater fan and the CD player running, the "gen" light was on at all RPM's for at least two miles. It was barely enough, in fact, it wouldn't keep up. If you drive your car very far, and/or you have more than lights and gauges running off the battery, an alternator is probably the better way to go. They work better, and they are stocked by every parts store. Try to find a generator that works when you're in the middle of nowhere. If period perfect is your ultimate goal, yeah, a generator is the piece you want. Why do these things always turn into a big pissing match?
I had a brand new regulator stick on me and burn my wiring harness 14 hours from home. I switched to an alternator in the parking lot.
Alternators are much easier damaged if the battery is connected reversed. Aside from that I can't think of any way that an alternator isn't superior to a comparable generator. On the other hand, generators work fine, and if originality matters you need one.
Lots of newer technology is superior to the old stuff...but it's also not traditional. This is another one of those religious arguments.
When cars have a small thorium reactor or some kind of ion catalyst than alternators will be old school. No doubt, our descendents will debate whether one should keep the alternator for the sake of originality and nostalgia, or upgrade to the better technology. You are right, it's a dilemma that has no universal answer. It's interesting that some deviations from old school are almost universally accepted while others are not. Also interesting that where many car enthusiasts debate what's authentic and original, here the discussion is whether a car has been authentically altered and modified from original.
I am doing everything ass backwards on my 37,going back to a generator and adding electronic ignition. I love the simplicity of points but have noticed the quality of them has went down hill along with the gas,I am begining to wonder if points will be able to fire the gas if it gets any worse then it is now. My 55 Ford is going back to a Y block but I doubt it goes back to a generator since it has a sound system and I do take long trips in it.
i had a 53 chrysler years ago that i wanted to covert to an alternator. my dad asked my why? i said "to make it reliable" he looks at me and say....the fucking thing is older then me,how much more reliable do you want it? it stayed with a generator,i converted it to 8 volt and tweaked the regulator and it worked with out a hitch for the 4 years i owned it. i am now building a 261 chevy and am using the chevy generator pwr steering pump combo unit, i know its not what came on my 50 chevy from the factory,but for me it was the easiest way to add power steering,and keep it looking clean and "period looking" under the hood. i was also thinking of installing a "booming granny" sound system,and if i do i will fabricate a pulley and bracket system at the pinion on the diff and mount my alternator under the car with its own battery.over engineered and over thought? yes fir sure,but i am a under hood clean freak. excessive wires,and add ones just drive me 'nanners.
This thread has generated a lot of alternating answers ! I grew up with generators so understand them. And sometimes understand that little black box that controls them! I also switched to an alternator in my present cars because a SBC looks just fine with one. It also makes enough juice to operate all of those non traditional electric thingies. Plus Billy Bob at the local Auto Parts store can usually find me a new one when mine fails in Hog Fart, Iowa. Surprisingly in all my years of driving the only alternators that failed were near home. But anyone running an alternator on a flathead Ford, a Model A, or any early engine may as well wear a polka dot shirt and stripped pants. Just don't look right. Generators are sometimes fun to play with and basically trouble free when maintained. At least a couple thousand pre 55 cars came with them from the factory so they must have been fine. Sent via a computer generated by non-alternating current.
Generator here, but I'm not building a daily, I'm building a toy. The inconveniences that would be intolerable on a regular basis, are part of the fun, kind of like camping. My car is certainly not period perfect, but I am trying to use period parts when possible.
Has everyone forgotten we won WW2 without alternators? An honest to goodness traditional car doesn't need an alternator.
Oh, look up the WWII US Army Air Forces Curtiss Electric Propeller. Experimentation for automotive alternators began in earnest in 1949, from military applications during World War II. They had numerous advantages over the generators which came in every non-fleet car from the brass era to 1959. On the down-side, early alternators used mechanical voltage regulators, resulting in pulsing at idle. That was eventually fixed by using electronic regulators.
i just bought a 6 volt pos ground alt for my hudson. i had my heart set on using a gen but most over on the hudson site says the alt will do much better. my gen was not working and i had no way of testing the volt reg i had bought. i might have spent a bunch on the gen and it still not have worked because of the regulator. $90 and i am charging for the first time i have had the car going. i hope someday to go back to a gen, but who knows. they sure look better in there, the alt sticks out like a sore thumb.
This kind of stands out as a really "off the wall" statement! I mean we really have a "algonquin " round table discussion going on here!! Next we should talk about "radials/bias, seatbelts/going thru the windsheild,SBC/flathead, 39 ford box/automatic,& my favorite: 32 grill/Tractor grill!! To make it easy, a generator is traditional/alt isn't run what you want and move on!!L life really isn't this complicated!! JimV PS traditional is nice but ya really look stupid standing on the side of the road with your hood up.( theres a quote for ya)
I wanted to settle the generator vs alternator argument for good and all... So I dropped an alternator from a 2002 Ford Mondeo onto the generator from a 57 GMC truck from a height of about 5 feet. Very little damage to the generator other than some scratched paint. When I did it the other way around the cast iron case on the generator smashed the weedy aluminium housing on the alternator to pieces. So - proof conclusive that a generator is better than an alternator. I rest my case.... Going to settle the Steel vs Fibreglass issue the same way.
Why are you so convinced that generators are so prone to breaking? The only time my hotrod left me on the road was when an alternator shorted out inside. It's a mind set and not based on fact. I have never had a generator leave me. If a generator or a regulator breaks, like any other mechanical thing, either the ammeter shows it or the idiot light comes on. Where is your evidence that a broken generator will leave you dead suddenly on the road? My alternator forced me to call a friend because it shorted and burned up my wiring. Killing the engine and damn near burnt the car down. I don't blame alternators as a being a POS because mine broke. Most of theses opinions are based on hearsay. You are perpetuating a myth based on someone's opinion which was probably based on someone's readings on the internet. Parts break but to say that a generator is more prone to leave you stranded on the road some place is just bullshit. If a generator breaks you have plenty of time to get to a garage. Fear can be a a big deal but fear based on a perpetuated myth needs to be rebutted. These poor people will never make it home with no alternator.
1965 I was a senior in HS with no money.I hit a huge pothole with my 56 Ford and the battery fell off the tray into the fan,big mess.I scrounged up money for a radiator and fan,but no money left to buy a battery.For several weeks I drove the car daily by parking on hills(hilly NJ area) and used a rolling jump start. Two lessons learned,a manual tranny is better than an auto tranny....And always park on a hill . So what about a generator being able to function with no battery ,and an alternator can't? I was too stupid them to know the difference.... And I almost alawys convert to 12 volts using a GM alternator on my old stuff.
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