Alternators for your Classic!

A question was asked if you can wire your new alternator to the stock 30 - 35 amp guage in the dash. If the guage pegs at 30 amps and your running a higher amperage alternator, say a 60 or 75 amp; it should work fine. You risk damaging the amp guage, but that would be over along period of time.

I have wired into stock guages, like my 59 Buick, and it works. I run a 75 amp 3-wire alternator (which is better than a 1 wire), including an alternator lamp on the dash as well to give indication if the alternator fails, or if you loose a belt.

I have done other 58 and 59 models this way, it works for indicator purposes.

If you have a 105 amp alternator (which is extreme overkill if your running stock components, makes no logical sense), dont run it thought the amp guage, it will destroy it. Run an aftermarket unit or improvise a similar gauge to the stock guage panel. There are several threads of this done.

In case you ask why I use a 3 wire...it give 'pure' power/amps unlike a 1 wire. The 3 wire has your charging lead, a sensing lead and the indicator. The sensing lead senses what is in the battery and tells the alternator how much to charge, and at what volts. Typically an alternator should give between 13.8 to 14.4 volts to the battery during its charging cycle. Depending on the length of the cable from the alt to the battery, you get a voltage drop. The sensing lead tells the alt to add more if needed. Say you have a 2 volt loss from the alt to the battery. It boosts it charge to 15.8 - 16.4 for a pure 12 volt charge at the battery.

The 1 wire, gives 13.8 - 14.4, that's it, you get a 2 volt loss down the charging feed wire, your alt does not boost to make up the difference...so it works harder. Yeah it an easy hook up, but not as efficient.

A great all around 3 wire is one for 1983 Chevy Cavalier. It uses a 12SI GM alternator. 75-95 amps charging. It has the high air efficient fan with v groove. For 40 - 63 amp charging, you can step down to a 10SI alternator from a 1978 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme.

Most high amp 1 wire alternators, have the typical air cooling fan (metal blades), not enough air flow to keep it cool, you get burn out faster. Thus why I dont like em.

1940 Buick Turn Signal rebuild

Back to our 1940 Buick.

The original 40 Buick turn signal switch was old with tattered wiring. Lucky for us; the shop manual I got had a nice simple breakdown of the unit to assist in disassembly and reassembly; and operation of the unit in neutral and both directions.



So, the next thing to do is take it apart and replace the old wiring to make it new again.



Lots of small parts, so as you take the unit apart, put each part on your workbench in a careful spot so you don't loose anything. Try finding replacement parts for this thing.

After the switch is apart, take the switch in your hand and inspect it to better yourself while you take it apart. This simple slide switch is used to direct the electrical current to its perspective directional lamp on the rear and front fenders. Lucky for us, the wires are screwed on for an easy removal and replacement. Most switches have the wiring soldered in place. This should be easy.



After the wires have been removed; (Oh, be careful of the small screws...I dropped one and spent a half hour trying to find it. ) get your new wiring, crimp on the correct hoop connector, solder and heat shrink. The Heat shrink will keep the wires from any possible shorts.





After the wiring loop terminals have been installed and connected to the switch, re-install back into the housing and reassemble the whole unit.



I took my time, it took about 2 hours from disassembly to reassembly.

Remember, please take your time when repairing these switches or any others. These old units are hard to find. Make them new for another 68 years of use.

Rebel Wire NEW 6 Volt Wiring Kit: Wiring a 1940 Buick Limited - Part 1

NEW, NEW, NEW. Rebel Wire has finally done it, a 6-Volt 8 circuit wiring kit for your early 6v cars and Hot Rods. Each of these is made in the USA. A small company, up and coming fast. A "soon to be" if not already, a major player in the Hot Rod Community with their high quality, easy to use, clean and simple car electrical fuse kits and accessories.

After a few years of discussion; I had the pleasure to help in the development of the new 6-volt 8-fuse wiring kit. With surprise, I was given the honor to first install this item into a project to test its performance and ease.

Let’s get started:

I’m going to install this kit into an original 1940 Buick Limited 4-door. It’s powered by the original Straight Eight motor, 6v Generator for power, 3-speed on the column to the transmission.

Before installation of the kit; I sat down with the owner to verify what he was wanting; placement of fuse panel and any accessory items that might be added to the car. That was simple – wire it to operate in its stock original form; down to the gas pedal engine start switch. Now, the owners’ only concern was to have the fuse panel in a place where he did not have to get on his back just to look at the fuses. Seems like a tough call, but I came up with a simple solution for that.

Under the dash there is plenty of room for the new wiring. With very limited places to put a fuse panel, I had to get creative with the new placement and had to consider a location where the owner could easily see the panel. What I came up with was a swinging mount for the fuse panel so it can be dropped down for easy viewing. Get down on one knee, pull the quick release and swivel the panel down in front of you under the steering column. Check it out.

Now that the fuse panel is in place – Here we go!

~ Now comes the time consuming task of ‘combing’ the wires so that they can be run to their proper locations throughout the car. What is ‘Combing’ mean: Pull each wire where it needs to go, untangle and route as if you can see each color from one end to the other without having to move. A good wiring job is not only being able to turn the key and start it up; it also has everything to do with the aesthetics of the installation as well.


~ Once the wires are pulled to their prospective locations, now its time to form them into each area of the car. I normally start under the hood with the lighting system to get all the long wires out of the way so all the engine hookups are easily done without having spaghetti in the way. ‘Comb’ the wires and start placing them in stock wire pathway (using the manufacture provided clips on the fenders or firewall.) I was very lucky on this car, since it’s in great condition, all the clips were present. If they are not; get re-pop’ed clips or use the insulated/rubber wrapped wire/hose clips that you can pickup at your nearest auto parts store.

~ Now that the wires are in place, it’s time to start connecting. I prefer to use the stock screw terminal junction blocks or provide a new one on the inside of the fenders. Each wire should be cut to length to each terminal.

~ Strip back your wire approximately 3/8”, twist the copper, grab your terminal and crimp. I take it an extra step, and highly recommend it. Solder each terminal to the wire and place heat shrink to insulate the new soldered ends. It’s my opinion that any crimped red, blue or yellow plastic insulators look terrible. It ruins the look of a new install and most of the time serves no purpose because they fall off. How many times have you looked under the hood of a project and saw butt-spliced wires, poorly crimped terminals all over the car.

~ Let me reiterate, if you’re going to do it right, take your time and go through the steps.

~ Now that each wire is connected to the terminal strip, it’s time to pull to the other side to each part it is going to feed. If you look at the wire colors you have: Green – High Beam, Tan – Low Beam, Blue – Turn Signal, Brown – Parking Lights. (Since there are only (4) screw terminals, one wire will have to pass over or under the stock terminal strip to be routed to the other side of the engine compartment. This wire is the right side turn signal light.) Pull each; using matching colors, new wires to each location. This is the making of ‘tails’. One for each headlight, one for each turn signal, one for each parking light and one for the cross-over wiring to the passenger side. Just like Buick did in 1940. Because this car has the turn signal and parking light in the same bezel, both wires are run together.


~ An important note, a Black ground wire should be run for each headlight back to the terminal strip or ground location on the inner fender.

~ Where the wire passes through the fenders; I use heat shrink at each of those locations to protect the wires from being cut or exposed causing any future problems or short.


Stay tuned for Part II, Wiring of the Generator and Horn assemblies.