Mark:
I love your email address! Part of the failing of the alternators is
potentially my fault and I am willing to take the blame. The Lucas-Boxed
rebuilt starter has been the best electrical investment I've made, and has
lasted for at least seven years. The Lucas-Boxed Rebuilt alternators,
however well matched they were to the stock requirements of the car, haven't
faired as well. All I've reported is my personal experience. In an MGB I
had, a split radiator hose took out one. Seems they don't like anti-freeze
very well. In the Midget, I run a high power stereo, and high wattage
headlights. With the heater on, stereo playing, and high beams, there
wasn't enough power to sound the horn. With each note of bass in the
stereo, the headlights would flicker. Not thump-thump music, mind you, just
some good loud rock and roll. A look at my web page will show that I long
ago abandoned keeping the car stock. I've only had the GM alternator in
place for one year, so I can not attest to how long it will last either, but
I know this, I can use every single accessory, all at once, at full
capacity, and the GM alternator keeps up. Some cars should be kept all
stock, and it would be silly to mess up an otherwise all stock car with
even an upgrade from a generator to an alternator. But when using an 25
year old LCB as a semi-daily driver, there are so many automotive advances
that can be adapted to our little cars that allow a decrease in maintenance
and an increase in reliability without destroying the enjoyment inherent to
the basic design.
No flames intended. YMMV. Always open to new ideas.
David Riker
74 Midget
78 Midget
63 Falcon
http://personalweb.sunset.net/~davidr
PS: What would you pay for a couple of good Lucas Alternator cores? Or
should they go on E-bay?
----- Original Message -----
From: <IfixMGs@aol.com>
To: <davidr@sunset.net>
Sent: Wednesday, December 01, 1999 4:01 PM
Subject: Re: Battery indicator warning
> David -
> I've had the same alternator on my 74 MGB since I bought it new,
nearly
> 150,000 miles ago; it's only used one set of brushes, about two years ago.
In
> that same period, I've gone through a dozen or more American and Japanese
> units.. Worst of the bunch are Porsches; I'm the Brit car service manager
at
> a very large Porsche performance shop, and I notice that they toss an
awful
> lot of high-buck Bosch rebuild work to the local Alt/Starter shop. Of the
100
> or so MG/Jag/RR/Bentley and other Lucas cars on our customer list, very
few
> have alternator problems. A computer check shows 4 in the past 14 months.
I
> refurbish them myself, and charge the customer $30 for the labor plus
parts -
> usu about $50. Takes 20 minutes start to finish.
> I'm not a purist by any stretch, and find the GM one-wire alternators
a
> great boon to hotrodders and tough to find parts for cars.... They adapt
to
> nearly everything, they're cheap, and they're reliable. But they're not
part
> of the mystique.....
> The problem is not in the Lucas alternator structure or design, but
in
> the quality of aftermarket regulators and rectifiers supplied to
rebuilders.
> Moss and NTG (UK) supply high quality repair kits; rebuilders use generic
> junk. My take on this: buy bearings from your local NAPA store, and
> brushes/regulator-rectifier from Moss, and do it yourself. At least when
> you go to sell the car, you can retrofit it with a reliable
alternator.......
> Mark Childers
>
>
>
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