62 buick special - generator

Christy: Congratulations!! So glad to hear you have your car back on the road !! Now, how about a photo or two of you and your car?? We've got the 'thumbs up' pic, how about one of that very special car ?

Did you get a 'report' back from the rebuilder saying what was found in the generator? Curiosity never ends. :-)

"I came home from work to find that my husband had contacted a local company and gotten the generator rebuilt! "

Gee why didn't I think of that! Ha ha just kidding, congratulations on getting your car going again. I bet you feel like McGyver on a good day.

"I usually do NOT look forward to removing an end cap from a generator or starter because I often find it needing even more than two sets of hands to reassemble. Those %%##$% brushes can be a real pain. "

Try installing the brushes after you put the gen together OR tie them back with a piece of string and cut the string when you are done.

Hi Rusty, yep I've done both, and many other methods, but I'd still rather rebuild a carb, or do a valve job on a head than wrestle with the brushes on some starters and generators. Some aren't too bad, some just miserable. If the geometry is right, I will slide the brush up in it's guide until the spring is not on the end of the brush, but pushing sideways on it, sort of 'wedging' it in the brush guide, then once the end cap is in place, just gently push each brush back in place, the springs snap over the end. This only works if the brush is long enough, spring the right shape and length etc, if so, this works very well. But still a pain. A set of picks to pull back on and manipulate the brushes is often a necessity.

GLong

yeah so, he said he could tell the belts were too tight for a very long time based on the wear pattern of a housing-type thingy (I'm terrible at using the right words b/c I just don't know what they are) in the backside of the generator. He said the bar that everything spins around had too much pressure and the small housing at the end of the generator was worn out of circle and so it wasn't spinning correctly.

Isn't she a beauty!!!

oh so also, my husband has a 1958 Chevy Apache that he just had to replace the generator in a couple months ago, he said it was much more simple being that there is so much more room in that engine compartment than in the Buick. But he also just had spinal surgery a few weeks ago so he isn't able to lift anything over 10lbs or bend like necessary to do the work. He wasn't able to help other than just stopped me from making any mistakes...it was still really helpful having him there by my side. I don't know if I'll ever get all this grease off my hands though.

oh and he wants to make it a gasser...he said having it lifted on the jackstands looked really awesome. and obviously I need some real thick white-walls. and if I'm making a list a new paint job. I love the color, but its doing this weird blooming thing where the blue looks like it's got yellow/orangeish spots on it and it's IN the paint not on top so even when I've polished it, I can't get it all off. Anyway new paint is on the list.

Good point about the belt tension. Generators have plain bronze bearings, but alternators have roller bearings. You can tighten an alternator belt more than you can a generator belt.

Oiling the bearings with synthetic oil at every oil change will help them last longer. Do not over oil, a drop or two is all it takes. Too much oil can get inside the generator and gum things up.