After putting the engine back in the Bugeye after a clutch swap and
repainting, I noticed that the ignition light on the speedo didn't go out
after start up. I made several runs over several days and things were fine.
I went back out to start the car up about 10 minutes after my last run and
she wouldn't crank. Nothing, dead. I tried jumping over the starter pull
switch to the starter with a big screwdriver and again nothing. No spark.
Battery dead. I recharged the battery and she starts up fine. I am
suspecting that something is wrong with the generator or the control box.
Strange though because the car always started up fine and the ignition light
always went out.
The ignition light didn't go out the first time I started her up after the
engine was back in. Nothing was done to the control box but the generator
was removed, degreased, painted and put back on. My mechanic made the
electrical connections to the generator and I assume he reconnected it
correctly. Bad assumption?
The factory shop manual pretty much indicates that there is nothing
serviceable in the control box. I'm thinking about pulling the generator out
and having it tested somewhere but I don't know who does that kind of
testing these days. BTW the specific gravity was virtually the same in all
of the battery cells after recharging.
Any theories or suggestions?
Jeff Church
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