> Also -- am I correct in thinking that I can run short distances (say
> under 10 miles/mild weather) without the fan on there without cooking
> the generator?
Geo, I haven't tried it, but I would be most leery of this. It's been my
experience that the generator works pretty hard on these cars, and overheats
easily. Doesn't take much to melt the solder on the commutator and ruin the
armature.
My suggestion would be to slip a piece of paper into the voltage regulator
contacts inside the control box, thereby limiting the generator output to
only a few amps, and plan on using an external charger after your drive.
With the headlights off, you should be able to drive at least two or three
hours this way (depending somewhat on how good/big your battery is). This
isn't especially good for the battery (car batteries don't like being deeply
discharged), but shouldn't hurt it too much if you don't run it down
completely and charge it promptly afterwards.
Don't forget to remove the paper when you replace the fan <g>
Randall
PS, I'm not certain offhand, you may find that the ignition light never goes
off with the paper in the contacts. Won't hurt anything, and all of the
above discussion still applies, except the generator won't be putting out
any current at all.
Also, check the generator's front bearing carefully. It may be the reason
the fan met up with the housing.
R
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