I also had some problems with my '70 Spitfire's generator some years
ago. I tested it in the following manner -
I took the multimeter probes in one hand and jabbed them into my
forearm. It hurt. I decided that this meant that the generator was the
cause of all my pain and resolved to get rid of it.
Went down to the local parts store and said "Dave, gimme a big
generator." Dave said "Well, now, Tom, what kind of generator? For
what kind of a car?" "Gee, Dave. I dunno. Gimme a generator for a cop
car."
What I wound up with was a 60 Amp Delco alternator, rebuilt, for about
$50. I fabricated some brackets to mount it up and got the thing
installed with no problem. Getting a regulator to work with it was a
bit of a problem. I started with a normal Delco mechanical regulator
and was not able to make it do it's thing very well. I solved that by
going and getting a Brand-X solid state regulator (as I recall it was
pretty cheap) and that worked right out of the box and has worked
flawlessly ever since.
This was not a difficult modification to the electrical system and I
found adequate information in a book that dealt with automotive
electrical systems. Your library probably has a handful of such books.
The loss in originality to the car was, IMHO, more than made up for by
the fact that I can now run real headlights, fog or driving lights,
and have the heater going at the same time. Reliability is improved,
as well.
Tom
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