VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1937-1945 ISO 12v Generator/Rebuild

Hi vintage car enthusiasts! I am looking to get the generator for my 1937 Chevy Coupe either rebuilt or replaced with a good used one. The car has been converted to 12vdc but I would like to stick with the original look of a generator rather than throwing in an alternator. I have my old one but it puts out 1-2 volts at 3000 RPM. Does anyone know where I can fin a replacement without spending $600 for the one from Chevy's of the 40's? I am in the central Kansas area but don't mind a bit of travel to getter dun!

BigD,
There is probably an auto electric shop somewhere near you. If you know someone who is into old tractors, ask them where they get their work done. I have a guy near me in Central Missouri. If you don't find someone nearby, you can send it to me and I will facilitate. My guy will want your regulator also. Call me if you like.

Mike Russell
573 592 1991 work
573 864 6539 mobile

Welcome to VCCA Chat. I hope we can answer your questions.

You should send a Private Message to Tiny who is on this forum. He lives in south central Kansas and might know about a shop which can do the work you need.

I agree with Mike’s guidance to send the regulator also. At a minimum they will confirm that it is working correctly. I also know that Mike’s recommendation would be a reputable source. I have a good local shop here in eastern Iowa but I think Mike is closer. I also have used a shop in Glendale, AZ for work. That is in the Phoenix area.

The greatest concern that people like Mike and I have is that all of these shops are being run by people as old as we are. We just hope they don’t throw in the towel and retire while we still need their services.

The automotive electric shop here doesn't work on generators anymore. The tractor repair idea is grand! There are plenty of those around my area so I will investigate. If that effort fails I will give Mike Russell a call and see what we can work out. Thank you guys for the help with this!

Big D

Sorry I'm late to the party. We have an older gentleman who, while not as active as he once was, still does some rebuilding. I'm sure he would be able to rebuild yours. If you're interested I'll call him to ask if he wants another project. I live in Ark City.

I think Skip aka Junkyard Dog does generator and starter repairs but he is in Oregon State.
Tony

Shipping or not, he would be an excellent choice.

I just came from "my guy". He rebuilt the engine in my Massey Ferguson 35 Tractor. His part was very reasonable, but I now have about twice the value of the tractor invested. Sound familiar?

Mike

Mike, do you have an idea of what your guy would charge to rebuilt an original 6 volt generator? I may be interested.

I have had a couple of generators converted to 12 volts locally, unfortunately the gentleman retired. The shop is still open under new management and he can do it also. There’s just something about the generation that knew this stuff since “ back in the day “ that is comforting when the work is done. I also have had them recently convert my Buick generators, those are getting hard to find.

Sorry guys, I lost track of this thread. Monte told me he gets $60.00 plus parts for a basic service.
His shop burned a couple of years ago and he lost a lot of his inventory that he had built up over many years. I usually round up armatures, fields and anything else I can find and take it with me when I drop off stuff.
He rebuilt the generators on both my Massey Ferguson and Farmall tactors as well as the ones on my '35 Chevy Standard and '36 Chevy truck. He also did the starters for my '35 and a couple of Model T Fords.

Mike