I truly don't understand all the interest in converting a +4 or a 4/4 to an
alternator. On my car, which has two lucas electric defroster, an electric
fan for the heater, an electric cooling fan for the radiator, Lucas H-4
halogen headlamps, and two halogen 'square 8" driving lamps, the only time
there the original generator can't keep up with the load is in the rain
with everything on at the same time. Under any other circumstances, the
generator is able to put out as much or more current than is being used by
the car. For the short times that the system is running in deficit, the
battery is able to store enough power to keep things going for many hours of
driving.
The secret seems to be in adjusting the regulator and having a generator
that is in good shape to begin with. The 22700 series of generators were
rated at a continuous output of 22 amps. They will work indefinitely at an
output of 28 amps with no ill effects. At 30 amps they will start to throw
solder and will burn up after maybe 30 minutes charging at that rate. They
normally charge at any speed above 1500 rpm or so.
So unless you have loaded up your car with a super high output stereo,
and lots of other electrical consumers, there is no reason that a generator
should not do everything that your cars' electrical system needs to do.
There is probably a weight savings in fitting a small alternator like
that of a Geo Metro, but there are fabrication problems in designing and
building a lower mount that doesn't crack with vibration and the passage of
time and miles. Most of the alternator mounts that I have seen on Morgans
were not very well engineered and required reinforcement to prevent their
incipient failure.
Regards,
Greg Solow
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