VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1949-1954 Voltage Regulator

Anyone know if a Delco-Remy voltage regulator #1118303D is a valid number, and if it is correct for a 1949?
Thanks,
Bob

That number does not appear in any Chevrolet parts books.
The correct regulator for a 1949 with the standard production 35 amp generator is 1118301.Personaly I wouldn't fool around with old stock regulators. Would install a fresh new one.

Gene, thanks for that response.

Bob

New Old Stock Condensers (capacitors) foil and dielectric absorb moisture from the air and degrade over time. NOS bearings grease dries up and turns to cement. NOS plastic parts outgas from the time they are made, it fades, shrinks and cracks. NOS rubber parts also dries out and gets hard. NOS parts with wire that is rubber insulated and cloth covered dries out, looses its flexibility and rots with age on the shelf. NOS rubber seals and gaskets also dry out and are no longer pliable. In NOS safety glass, the thin layer of PVB (polyvinyl butyral), the flexible clear plastic film laminated between the two sheets of glass dries out, shrinks and turns yellow. All NOS chemicals i.e. waxes, sealers, paints, etc.dry out or change chemically and become unusable. The resistance in all molded graphite/carbon parts like resistors and brushes increase in resistance value as they age simply laying on the shelf. Many NOS Zamac or Zinc alloy die cast parts swell over time causing warpage or blistering on parts that are electroplated.
Well, enough of my rambling on, so what is it in a NOS voltage regulator that can go bad as long as it was not stored in a wet environment and has no corrosion? The cured varnish or Formvar on the coil wire will hold up for a hundred years. The fine copper coil wire can suffer from the green plague if it is exposed to moisture. The contacts are usually silvered and a good cleaning with Tarn-X will restore them to like new condition. Any insulated wiring inside of the box doesn’t have to flex so it is generally ok. The worst thing that I have seen is the yellow/green powder left it the cadmium plating deteriorates, this usually only occurs when it was stored in a moist climate.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

In the '40's and '50's the Delco regulators were at best only fair when they were new, Most never lasted more than a few years when they were in-service.
If I had a choice between a NOS one made in the '50's in the original sealed box for $25.00 or a fresh new one for $50.00 I would get the fresh new one......whoops, thats what I did for my '50 a few years back. When I am 500 miles from home I want something I can depend on.

Unfortuantley, I have had problems with fresh new regulators, which was totally unexpected since I figured that a new regulator would be better than a new old stock unit. I put on four brand new regulators (of course, everything is now made in China) and all four failed instantly, one right after another....well....one did last for a couple of days. Finally put on a new old stock regulator and to this day it is still working.

Talked to the local starter shop and they said that my problem was not uncommon with the new regulators today, and that they run into this often because the new regulators are of poor quality and made overseas.

I agree with th "China" stuff. Wouldn't bother to install it. That goes for coils, condensers etc also.
The coil I bought new from a local Delco dist. was made in the US. That was a few years back. They are probably imported now as most Delco products presently are.

I went through this regulator deal last summer and spend alot of time on it. I ended up buying a new modern replacement regulator and put it on my '50 Chevy. It works good but, when I put it on I was lucky that I didn't have to make any adjustments to it. Its like the aftermarket regulators that have been around for years with adjustments difficult at best to make. You have to use a very small needle nose to bend the arms to make adjustments, they don't use screws like the original Delco units.

Don

Yep, most of the regulators and etc. are all made in China and they have been for sometime now. A lot of Delco stuff is either now made in China, assembled in Mexico or made by other manufacturers and reboxed in Delco boxes. So, given the poor quality of these products today, a new old stock unit is definitely way better.

Interesting story.....about 20 years ago the original Delco regulator on my '51 Chevrolet failed. I checked into getting a new Delco unit......the price was $62.50 and the regulator cover on the regulator didn't even have the "Delco" embossing. Found out later that this $62.50 regulator was just an Ace regulator (which is identical to a Delco but it doesn't say "Delco" on the cover) reboxed in a Delco box. So, I purchased an brand new Ace regualtor for $12.50, installed it on my '51 Chevrolet, removed the generic cover and replaced it with the old "Delco" embossed cover from my old unit, and that $12.50 regulator is still working great to this day!

Ran into the same problem with supposedly brand new Delco points. They were Standard points reboxed in a Delco box and the price was double that of the same Standard points in a Standard box!

I bought a new regulator a couple of years ago from a American Armature & Generator Co. Inc. owned and operated by one of our Lone Star Region members Chuck Reems in Dallas, they sell a good model and a better model. Chuck and Cindy are in the process of moving their shop to a new location. phone number Toll Free is 1-877-533-9008. There are two more of our Lone Star members that run Starter and alternator shops, Bob Reems, a brother of Chuck and also David Gray, son of Jerry Gray. If you need their addresses or telephone numbers just let me know and I will look them up.

P.S. Chuck puts out a nice Classic Car calendar every year. He brings them to our LSR meetings. It hangs next to my VCCA Calendar on the wall of my office.