DeSoto

[cheesy]

Whelp, let the magic smoke out of the alternator and don’t know why. Giving this a few days to regroup.

Poop.

[cheesy]

So, it looks like I crossed the field and exciter wires. That let the smoke out when I attached the ground cable to the battery. Dumb shit.

I have a new one wire internal kit coming. Jeez, this has been an expensive endeavor. I'm guessing that everyone in the old Chrysler community that said how easy this was actually paid someone else to do it.

[da4design]

that is beautiful, something about those old cars that just makes you smile

[cheesy]

After doing some diagnostics, I only smoked the VR. Surprised I didn’t screw up the rectifier or the diode pack. Guess what part I can’t get separately. At least in 6 volt + ground.

[wheelbender6]

Originally Posted by cheesy

So, it looks like I crossed the field and exciter wires. That let the smoke out when I attached the ground cable to the battery. Dumb shit.
I have a new one wire internal kit coming. Jeez, this has been an expensive endeavor. I'm guessing that everyone in the old Chrysler community that said how easy this was actually paid someone else to do it.

We forget that the wiring wasn't cleanly bundled with multi pin connector blocks in the earlier cars. You had to attach each wire to the right terminal on the generator and other components yourself.

[cheesy]

Very little of what I work on has multi pin plugs, which is why I am so pissed at myself. The wires, being fabric covered, are all a faded brown, too.

Kind of like working under the chassis of a Geismar 360; black hoses, black wire harnesses, against a black background, and it’s dark.

[cheesy]

More digging showed it wasn’t all me. No matter how I wired it, it was going to fail. When I built this alternator 10+ years ago, I assumed I got a 6v positive ground kit with little for instructions. Nope, what I got was a 6v negative ground kit with little for instructions. Magic smoke was coming out no matter what.

Crapola.

Found this out by looking at the website of the place I bought the new kit from. They show the guts of the Delco 10SI with both negative and positive ground configurations. Obviously installed a negative ground kit. Check out the left and right pics near the bottom of the page at the ‘How to Convert’ section.
https://alternatorparts.com/10si-alt...-and-kits.html
Left is what I had, right is what I needed.

[Emerikol]

You've not lived until you've tried to run down electrical gremlins on a Lucas Positive Earth system on a 1966 MG. It's more fun than a broken glass enema, but only just...

[cheesy]

Originally Posted by Emerikol

You've not lived until you've tried to run down electrical gremlins on a Lucas Positive Earth system on a 1966 MG. It's more fun than a broken glass enema, but only just...

BTDT, but on a 1964 Midget. If I knew then what I know now, I might still have it. A guilty pleasure.

[wheelbender6]

Originally Posted by Emerikol

You've not lived until you've tried to run down electrical gremlins on a Lucas Positive Earth system on a 1966 MG.

MY wife owned a 1970 something Triumph Spitfire for a while. Never drove at night because you could never count on the lights to work.

[Emerikol]

Originally Posted by cheesy

BTDT, but on a 1964 Midget. If I knew then what I know now, I might still have it. A guilty pleasure.

I have half an ear to the ground for another MG. I don't know if the missus will sign off on another project in the garage. A bunch of motorcycles, an airplane in the next little bit, and an MG with no air conditioning in the desert... Yeah, I really don't see that happening in this lifetime...

[cheesy]

I was just giving my Brit friends crap online that I still had my jar of Replacement Lucas Magic Smoke. I couldn’t use it because it wasn’t compatible with Delco smoke. Ya know, left hand smoke vs right hand smoke. Got a laughing FU for it.

[Emerikol]

Originally Posted by cheesy

I was just giving my Brit friends crap online that I still had my jar of Replacement Lucas Magic Smoke. I couldn’t use it because it wasn’t compatible with Delco smoke. Ya know, left hand smoke vs right hand smoke. Got a laughing FU for it.

[cheesy]

Originally Posted by Emerikol

I have half an ear to the ground for another MG. I don't know if the missus will sign off on another project in the garage. A bunch of motorcycles, an airplane in the next little bit, and an MG with no air conditioning in the desert... Yeah, I really don't see that happening in this lifetime...

So, Mrs. C and I were sitting around the fire pit Saturday evening when we saw our neighbor drive by in his earth shaking 55 Chevy. She looks at me and asks if I’d like to build something like that after I retire. I just said no, street rods just don’t have that much appeal to me, especially Tri-Fives. She’s in nosy mode, as I call it, and asks me what I might like to do. Thought for a moment and said a European roadster, preferably a pre-75 Midget or a Karman Ghia convertible. Just update the electrical system. For some reason, she said yes, that would be fun.

Who the hell are you and what did you do to my wife?

[Oddball Matt]

Originally Posted by wheelbender6

MY wife owned a 1970 something Triumph Spitfire for a while. Never drove at night because you could never count on the lights to work.

If I had a dollar every time someone cracked that joke at me back when I had my Triumph... Funny enough I never had any electrical problems with it. That might have been due to the fact that it was a 2002 955i Daytona though and possibly in part that I happen to be a trained electronics tech and rebuilt most of the system.