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danno

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Posts posted by danno

  3. Posted · Report reply

    A  1969 tach and dash instruments is available on Craigslit in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.  Price it $1100.  From others I have seen, that is a reasonable price for one.   One is on ebay for $1500.  The buyer needs to be aware of wiring needed to be able to use this; you cannot just plug it in to a car without a tach. 

  5. Posted · Report reply

    One step at a time.  A project of this size is hard to imagine, but you will get there some day.  The work on the details will be greatly appreciated later.  After you spend 10,000 hours to finish it, the 20 hours on the torque box will seem trivial.  I mention 10,000 hours, because that is how long it would take me to complete it. 

    From the photos in your garage, it looks like you have a lot of other interesting cars as work in progress. 

    Thanks for sharing

    Danno

  7. Posted · Report reply

    On 4/18/2020 at 5:55 PM, 69RavenConv said:

    The only trick is finding a form factor that fits inside the diffuser - something close to the original 194 bulb dimensions. The problem with some of those tower types like the one you linked is they can be very tall. LED's produce next to no heat so as long as they physically fit the application they will be ok.

    As I posted above, I like white LEDs inside the original diffusers. YMMV

    [edit] Upon revisiting your link, those bulbs look good to me - standard 194 form factor..

     

     

    I am now want to change my bulbs to LEDs.  I cannot see where you specify the part number of the bulb you used and where you got it. 

  12. Posted · Report reply

    On 9/25/2020 at 7:32 AM, prayers1 said:

    Yes your right Midlife, I was thinking the same. 
    better $60 than $300.
    everytime I look for a Halogen low beam it’s either not available or it’s the 7” bulb. 

    Years ago I could see cars switching away from 5 inch headlights,  they were getting harder to find.  So every time I would go to a salvage yard to collect parts, I would collect any used halogen bulbs I could find. They are typically free at a salvage yard, they do not care about old bulbs like that.  If you have any in the area, you might consider a trip and snooping around to see if there are any still there.  

    Maybe it is time for me to take another trip to a salvage yard and snoop around? 

  13. Posted · Report reply

    You need to check the voltage drops I discussed with everything on.  I would expect zero with it off, which is what you got. 

    The ground wire from the battery typically goes to a mounting bolt of the alternator. If your ground wire goes to the block ( somewhere) and then to the alternator, how does ground get back to the chassis?   Typically there is a wire from the back of the engine block to the firewall.  Also very typical is that this wire is corroded, weak, dirty, or missing. Do you know of this wire I mention?   

     

  14. Posted · Report reply

    The green-red wire is for +12 volts when the key is in the start and run position. My car has the same plug on the wire.  I have no idea what it was used for in 1969.  Maybe fog lights?   Rear defogger?  It would make sense to plug in an automatic choke, but they did not have that in 69.  

    The black-red strip wire from the alternator is the power out.  If that is what you have circled,  it looks like a tiny 14 gauge red wire.   You need at least a 8 gauge wire from the alternator to the starter terminal.

  15. Posted · Report reply

    OK, this is what I am thinking.  I think the red wire to the ignition turns on a relay in the MSD box. There is very low  current in the red wire, it is only turning on a relay.  Try it with hooking up the red wire to your msd box to the resistance wire that used to go to your coil.  I will bet it will work fine. You can measure the voltage where the red wire connects up to the existing resistance wire in your harness.   I will bet it is over 12 volts when the motor is running, which is fine. 

    If you have doubt, ask msd if you can hook the red wire up to the resistance wire that used to go between the ignition switch and coil. 

  16. Posted · Report reply

    I thought of something else. From what I understand, your negative wire from the battery runs directly to the mounting bolt of the alternator, is this correct?    Measure the voltage drop in this wire when you have the fans and lights on, as I discussed above.  Put a voltmeter + on the center lead terminal of the battery and the - of the voltmeter on the case of the alternator. With all fans and lights on, this better be under 0.1 volt. 

  17. Posted · Report reply

    A lot of parts supplier shops have an alternator load tester.   You can take it in and they put it on a spinning contraption and hook a load up to it to measure the voltage as the output current increases.   Maybe you could send it back to the manufacturer to have it tested?  Shipping makes that difficult.  

    Maybe take it to a shop to measure the current when the fan and lights are on?   That should be a 2 minute test if they have the clamp on ampmeter. 

    I would hate to have you purchase a new alternator and find out the problem is something else. 

    Have you checked the wire from the starter relay to the battery?   This could also be a problem, even though it is not likely. I have seen these poorly contructed and causing an issue.   Turn on the car and run all the fans and all the lights.  Measure the voltage at each end of this wire.   Put the + lead of a voltmeter right on the lead terminal of the battery and the - of the voltmeter on the wire going to the alternator from the starter solenoid.   This will give you an idea if the voltage drop is in this wire.   It is a slim chance, but I have seen these fail.  I also know that, if everything is working correctly and the car is running, there should never be any current in this wire.  All power the car needs to run everything should come from the alternator. 

  18. Posted · Report reply

    Unfortunately, the + wire  from the key switch to the + terminal on the coil is a resistance wire on the factory harness.  So you will not get the full 12 volts needed to run the MSD module.  There is no good place to get the 12 volts when the key is in the "run" and "start" position.  

    Which MSD box have you got?   Some can work with a lower voltage because they have an internal relay system.

    For the kill switch,  a switch rated for about 5 amps should work fine.  Keep in mind that this switch should never see any  amps going through it.  It is off when you want to use the car.  When it is on, you will not be trying to start the car.  The only time the switch will see any current is when someone is trying to start the car without knowing about the switch.   You also might be able to ask MSD the amperage needed for the switch, but I would think 5 amps is fine, 10 amps is plenty. 

     

  20. Posted · Report reply

    So the facts are that a #8 copper wire has 0.00063 ohms per foot at 68 degrees.  Let's say your wire is 3 feet long from the alternator to the battery.  That is 0.00189 ohms. If you have lights, fans, and everything on  and drawing 100 amps, that is a voltage drop of .189 volts in the connection between the alternator and the battery.    There are also voltage drops in the connections on each end and at the fuse. And then there is also a voltage drop on the negative wires to the battery. 

    One thing you can do is meaure the voltage drop from one end of the wire to the alternator to the other.  Use clipleaads on your voltmeter and measure from the bolt on the back of the alternator to the battery terminal.  Start your car, and turn on lights, engine fans, and heater fan inside the car.  If that voltage exceeds 1 volt, that is your problem.   Also measure the voltage between the ground terminal on the alternator and the minus terminal of the battery.  Maybe you have dirty connections on the ground wire from the engine block to the firewall?  These tests will prove it. 

    I also have to wonder about the use of a 60 amp fuse with a 140 amp alternator.  If this fuse has not blown, that tells me you are never using more than 60 amps. 

    I would not worry about the lights for now, figure out the charging problem.  Adding the relays on the lights is a great idea, and can be done later.  You have different things contributing to the problem.  Alternator wire, ground wire connections (maybe),  weak headlight wire connections, headlight wire voltage drops, etc.  

     

  21. Posted · Report reply

    Your alternator is certainly large enough.  How large is the wire from it to the battery?  For that much current, you need at least a #8 wire. I assume this is ok.  A small wire will create a voltage drop and contribute to dim lights. 

    So with the fans off and the engine running, you should easily have more than 14 volts at the battery.   Measure it, but I do not think that is the problem.  You either have a bad ground on the headlights ( as midlife suggested) or a weak connection to the lights.   I assume you do not have the headlight relays that so many of us have.  If you are using the factory wire harness and halogen headlights, the lights will be dim.  If the lights used to be brighter and you made no other changes, then you have a weak connection somewhere.  Perhaps even in the light switch.  Try turning on the lights on high beam, and disconnect the harness to one side to shut off both lights on one side.  If the other side gets brighter, than you definately have a weak connection or high resistance in the wires. 

    Check these things after your show and let us know. 

  22. Posted · Report reply

    To understand the problem completely, we need voltage measurements.  With dim lights, the voltage is dropping more than it should somewhere.  I would not automatically assume the problem is the alternator, it can be elsewhere. 

    Do you have halogen lights that require a lot of current? 

    You need to measure the voltage at your battery during several different times.  Warm up the car.   1. with the lights and fans off, what is the battery voltage.  2.  with the fan off and the lights on, what is the voltage.  3.  with the lights off and fan on, what is the voltage?  4, with both on, what is the voltage?  

    The answers for a good operating system is the volages are all over 13.5 volts.  I would guess the answers are 1.  14.2 volts,  2. 14.0 votls, 3. 13.5 volts, and 4. 13 volts. 

    If the voltage at step 4 is more than 2 volts below what it is in step 1, then you have too much load on the battery for the alternator to keep up.  I would guess this is not the case. 

    If your lights were bright before and now dim, you have a problem with the charging system.  It might not be the alternator, but probably is. What alternator are you using?    

    Let us know what you find. 

  23. Posted · Report reply

    OK, let's step back for a moment from the belt issue.  The issue could be electrical with the alternator or elsewhere.  Just because you have a 100 amp alternator, it does NOT mean the alternator is putting out 100 amps when the car is running.  It puts out the amount of amps needed to keep the car running. It could be 10 amps.  I see that you do not have electric fans, and no A/C,  so what is taking all the amps?   The truth is, maybe nothing is taking all those amps, and the alternator is really not working that hard.  Maybe something is taking all the amps that should not be?     

    What are your special items in the car that consume all the amps?   Halogen lights can, turn them off.  The A/C can, but you do not have it. A sound system can, so turn it off. You need to find out if your car is consuming a lot of power, and where is it going?   I think you have an electrical problem, espicially when you see the voltage drop when the car is running.   Something is fishy.  

    You need to go about some electrical tests, we can help with that. 

    Mach1 Driver reacted to this

  24. Posted · Report reply

    I am sure you have considered this, but are you sure the V of the pulley is the correct top width, bottom width, and angle?  Is the belt correct for the pulley?  

    Going along with what Mach1 suggested, another option is to have the V belt wrap further around the alternator pulley.  This requires a flat surface pulley to push the back side of the belt in,  I have seen serpentines use these all the time. 

    Also as suggested, maybe it is the bearing? 

    It is also odd that the voltage drops from 12.8 to 12.3 when the car is running.  It is supposed to increase to 14.4.  That indicates it is being overloaded, and that will heat it up.  Disconnect all wires to the alternator and run it to see if it gets hot.  That will definately tell you if the heat is from the mechanical spinning or electrical load. Without lights and a fully charged battery, a car should run for an hour or more on just the battery. 

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