Imperial Car Club Forum

Hello All,

Last year I replaced my old point system with an electronic ignition. I was finally able to get out and adjust the timing and the air/fuel mixture which was causing her to stall when i put her in gear, she just seemed to be getting super hot. I finally get her adjusted and the car will idle lower, and will not die after running for over an hour. I noticed that my battery seemed to have a subtle bulge(just enough to make you say hmmm) and at one point I heard a bubbling sound in the battery. I thought it had to do with the car being so darned hot, plus it was around 95degrees outside. I decided that I finally needed a temp gauge. I have an aftermarket and decided to test it today, but that is when i noticed something even more weird.

The gauge was instantly starting out showing the car was at 150 degrees (cold start) and within 5 minutes would be well over 280degrees. After some research, some suggested that maybe my 12 volts was actually high. When I checked for switch voltage at the fuse block in the cabin, I had over 14 volts. I then tested off the "BAT" terminal on the voltage regulator, and had voltage fluctuating from 16.6 to 18.33VDC using 3 different volt meters(1 of them a Fluke 87). The vehicle had been idling for over 10 minutes while trying to get the car warm enough to test the aftermarket temp gauge. And a digital thermometer showed that the thermostat was opening at an adequate temp and today it ran much cooler(after my timing and a/f mix adjustment).

I now believe that this overcharging is the cause of my battery swell, and desperately needs fixed.

I am not sure if just replacing the voltage regulator will fix this issue, thoughts?
Can I get an electronic regulator that will work with my generator?
Or should i upgrade to Alt and Elec Regulator?

I am considering getting an alternator and electronic regulator from R/A parts. They have 1 listed for 1960. I am considering the 60Amp model.

Would this bolt directly to my current generator bracket? Do I need a different bracket? Is there anything else I should consider upgrading while I am doing this?

Would someone have a picture of the needed bracket if mine wont work?

I really appreciate any input on this.

Thanks in advance,
Marc

My understanding is that 60 was the last year for generator and in 61 they went to alternator. So if you get an alternator for a 61 then I would assume it has a high probability of fitting your 60. As you say, you may need to get an elect regulator.

Here's what Rock Auto shows for alternators for 1961 Imperial: https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/chr ... rator,2412

Notice there's two designs, a one or two groove pulley.

So while I haven't done this conversion personally, that's where I would start - using the closest compatible parts I could think of.

Thanks ImperialAtom.
That is exactly the parts I ordered. I do have the wiring diagrams listed in my FSM, so it should be fairly easy to wire.
My main concern is still whether I will need a different alternator bracket to mount it. I have the extended exhaust manifold on that side, and am not sure if it will mount up using that.
I am hoping someone can possibly take a couple pics of their 60-63 imperial alternator bracket for me. Here is what I have on my generator.

I see what you mean now. The top bracket should be fine... if it's not you can always get one custom made without too much effort.

As for the lower bracket, my initial thought is that it will not fit directly to the alternator because that generator is so long compared to the alternator. The alternator is like 2/3 or less the depth. You may need to track down a bracket for it.

You might get lucky and the alternator will bolt up on the lower bracket between the bolt holes rather than the outside of them. Won't know until it shows up and you give it a shot. Let us know how it goes.

If it's not too far off from the lower bracket in one way or another, you could always put in some spacers to make it fit. An extra long bolt with the right sized spacer should be fine. Not talking about 100's of lbs of pressure here, just need to get it stable where it won't move as the belt is jerking on the pulley.

Well... I ordered a couple brackets from Bob Hoffmeister, but haven't received them yet. He is shipping them this weekend. He was awesome and was willing to take pictures for me, since I had no idea what the brackets looked like. Its hard to order when you dont know what you need. After seeing his pictures, the alternator bracket that I need actually mounts to the passenger side head. This would require me to drill and tap the side of my head for three bolts. Not really an issue if i was going to rebuild the motor or something, but I had it all rebuild already and it has less than a 1000 miles on it. It would be horrible if i messed something up. A machine shop is an option as long as they can do it on the car, I just dont want to disassemble the thing again.

All this being said, I have fashioned a bracket and have the alternator mounted just using what I had a the house.

If there is anyone that is interested in making this conversion, I can supply some pictures and some sort of write up. Not sure if it could be added to the "imperialclub.com" website, if anyone still uses it(I do!).

I had a little issue wiring it all up, cause what I previously had didnt match my FSM, and the FSM didnt show how to wire up a "double field" alternator(60amp). I also made a mistake and purchased a 68 voltage regulator(mechanical) instead of a '69 when they swapped to electrical, but it works fine.

I wired it up the best I knew how, and she started right up, and I had 13.6 - 14.7 volts at the battery with the lights on and working the windows. The Alternator was hot to the touch, but not sure if that is normal, as I normally dont spend my time feeling alternators in use, but I will check out my regular vehicles later today.

If anyone has any wiring diagrams for a "double field" alternator to a Voltage regulator with 1 field and 1 ignition terminal, I would be very appreciative.

Sounds like you made great progress - great job! If you do have pictures and any write up details, please post them here so others can find them. If the admins on the imperialclub.com site would like a page for this, they could then pull all your details including pictures from this thread.

Again, great job - nice to see things come together and actually work.