Pat Vilbrandt offers the voice of knowledge:
Captain Caffeine <sfisher@wsl.dec.com> laments over his dyslexic disability
with automobile electrical systems (or, to be Politically Correct, should I
say "Electrically Challenged?" :^)
I think that should be "polarizationally correct," but then I thought
that Maxwell's equations were how Jack Benny kept track of how much
his car cost him per mile...
I notice that you have been suspiciously thrifty with the description
of this tow vehicle. sfisher wouldn't be ASHAMED of this car would
he ... Nah!
Not hardly, but the exact nature of the beast wasn't British, while the
problem and its solution is right up there with raspberry trifle and
Henry VIII's codpiece. Actually, I shouldn't be too reticent about it;
I drove this car on its first outing under my ownership to an Austin-
Healey Club event, zipping along through some wonderfully twisty canyon
roads. In spite of its size, I was pleased to note that even following
the sports cars I never got out of second gear... :-)
Lesse, ... Lister-Corvette, ... Quadra Jet, ... SS package, ...
old enough
Or new enough... :-)
to be worth too little to have in running condition for
more than a few racing seasons, ... got to be a mid '60s Chevelle,
On the nosey!
327 hi-po,
No, though the motor I've got will work on 92-octane gas; it's the L-78
283 with "Power-Pak" heads (9.25:1 CR) and the Q-jet (used only after
February 1965). The monster 327 had an 11:1 CR and needs the kind of
gas I put in The Black Car, plus regular adjustments to the valves to
compensate for its solid lifters. But 350 bhp out of 327 cubic inches
is a commendable amount of squirt. I'd love to drive one, for about
1320 feet anyway.
Truth to tell, I gave some serious thought a few months ago to purchasing
a complete Jaguar V-12 engine and transmission and installing it into the
Chevelle; I happened to see such a beast for sale locally for a mere $1500
and the temptation was strong. I would love to have such a beast; the
question then becomes which would be the most offended when I drove up
to their concours, the national Jaguar owner's club or the national
Chevelle SS owner's club?
and if he's really lucky, the 4-speed Muncie gearbox.
Ah, but can you name all three with the significance of their numbers?
A moot point anyway; I have the aptly-named PowerGlide, which will make
towing various British cars significantly easier in any case. The PowerGlide
is also virtually indestructible (which is no doubt why they no longer make
it), but it took some getting used to -- see "never got out of second gear"
comment, above.
I also recall this from Robb Pryor's amalgamation of the "Brit-Cars-Owned-
List:"
1965 Chevrolet Chevelle Super Sport
Condition: 5
Up to about a 2.5, now, BTW. Amazing what a few hours of elbow grease,
a wire brush on a drill, and a little money can do...
Owner: sfisher@Pa.dec.com
Or was it the '77 Catalina?
Gack. The Catastrophe is now officially SEP (Someone Else's Problem, if
you don't recall the term.) Make it go away, pleeeeeeease...
> Is it your experience that the problem could be caused by reversing
> the polarity? Could I have blown the alternator diode?
On the brighter side - I think that the regulator in
that car is mercifully electro-mechanical (as opposed to electronic),
so I don't think that you toasted its brains. At any rate, (ugh!) it
appears from your description that the regulator is trying to charge the
battery.
Ah-HA. So since I am without electronic test equipment, it sounds like
my best bet is to take the alternator in to the local Kragen, where they
advertise free electrical component testing, and have them tell me I need
a new one regardless of its actual condition? :-)
The battery will
get very upset, hot, and begin to *boil* its electrolyte away! (I have
personally seen this happen due to a shorted diode - not for long mind
you!)
Ob. Britcar Content:
This exact failure mode happened (but due to age rather than to pilot
error) on my '74 MG Midget, 26 miles north of Cambria, basically in the
middle of bloody nowhere on the California coast. In that case, I did
boil away the electrolyte -- they showed me the scorched husk of the
battery the following day -- and the car sputtered to a halt when the
last of the fluid left me basically with an open system. I had topped
the battery up not a week before; this was in the middle of July in
the San Fernando Valley, though, so I thought I had a valid excuse for
adding so much water all the time.
Of course, my brain has long since turned to peanut butter, and
what do I know anyway. X-)
Hey, when I start thinking about electrons, I get a mental image of
Ben Franklin and a mouse out flying a kite in a lightning storm, and
I usually go lie down with a nice warm beer for a few minutes to
recover.
Oh - by the way: if you do have (a) shorted diode(s), it (they) will
discharge the battery if you leave it connected, even with the key off.
You DID disconnect the battery cables, didn't you??!? Oh-oh...
Um, I think I will. Tonight. And I'll go to a different Kragen so I
can replace the battery free on my warranty if it's dead.
On the other hand, do you suppose I could make the Lucas alternator
from one of my MGs fit the Chevelle?
--Scott "Then drive it to Terry's Jaguars and give the guy fits" Fisher
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