Just this minute finished (almost) wiring up the truck. Well, at least everything is done except the lights, fuel gauge, horn and heater but everything else is done. Turned the key, stepped on the starter and it fired right up. Don't have an analog multi-tester so I am not sure if the gen is genning, but it runs and I don't have to have it Rube Goldberg'd to do it anymore. I am certain there will be more wiring questions to come, like how do I hook up the heater, signals and signal indicator in the speedo and what the heck that mystery fuse connection is on the back of the fuel gauge. All in all, it has been a happy day. Andy
Good deal, Lucille! Gotta love it when a plan comes together! Go have a cold one and pat yourself on the back. Shoot, I think I'll have a cold one and salute your achievement!
Celebrations Ken, a cold beer does sound good!! Andy, you did better than me, I had the truck hot wired and everything worked great, when I put in the harness nothing happened. It took a couple of tries before we got it right and it did feel real good when everything fell into place. FYI, its easy to check if the gen is working. Just crank her up and then pull the main wire off the battery terminal. If the truck keeps running your on generator power. If it dies, either something is hooked up wrong or your gen is not putting out.
Steve, Pull the main wire off the battery terminal where? Off the voltage regulator? What main wire are you talking about? Andy
Checking Generators Andy, its the 00 power cable right off of the battery terminal on the battery. You only need the battery to crank her up and load peaks, after that the generator should do it all for the most part and recharge the battery.
Okey Dokey Steve. Will try that probably tomorrow as it is back to work today and no time for fiddling with old trucks. Thanks, Andy
Congradulations ! Way to go Andy ; I see Evan has allready addressed your generator problem , remember : never , EVER rev. the snot out of the engine trying to make a balky generator charge ! . if you do a quick test by pulling a battery cable , ONLY remove the negative cable and NEVER re-connect it if the engine keeps running ! stuff it down behind the battery and then reach over and switch the key off as re-connecting it " spikes " the generator / Alternator and can smoke it in an eyeblink . I thought I just wrote a detailed post of generator testing , no ? musta been another old truck list .
Found your posts about testing the generator and printed them out. Also sent an email to my ex asking for my old analog meter back. She won't EVER use it (duh!), but let's see if she gives it up. If not, I'll have to look around for an old analog meter as I HATE the digital ones. a frien came by yesterday with his battery load tester (also a voltmeter) and hooked it up to the battery whilst the engine was running. It read 12.3 volts at idle. I didn't rev the engine though. I know that makes a difference with generators as at idle they tend to put out less voltage. Soon as I get a meter, I will check again with a little rev to the engine. Kids had a ball with the truck yesterday. We put the hood on it and they drove it up and down the driveway by themselves WITHOUT me in the truck. They loved it. Happy they were careful and took it slow. Number one son actually shifting through the gears. Too cool. Andy
Battery Cable Charge Test O.K. Andy ; Remember this tes is done slightly OFF idle as the generator shound be " cut out " @ idle speeds . all accessories off of course .
Genny is genning! Picked up a nine dollar analog multi-meter at Radio Shack and tested the genny. Puts out more than enough voltage and is within Nate's approved limits. One less expense to get it on the road. HOO-YAH!!! Looking forward to having the kids this weekend. Hopefully we can get some more sheet metal on the truck. Put the headlight buckets in this week and the hood on with the kids on Tuesday. I have a cottage that I rent in the back of my property by the garage. The (hot) lady back there took a look at the truck and said, "Comin' along". I said, "Yeah, it looks better with headlights". She came back with, "Don't we all"? Gotta admit, her headlights look pretty good, too. Andy
Down boy! You're beginning to sound like Zig! Make sure you take some pictures with the kids this weekend and post them!
Will take more pics this weekend. BTW, I sent pics into the Stovebolt page wanting to get the kids on the home page. People over there put up my on gallery and have been SUPER nice. They are very into the kids doing so much of the work on the truck. I just got an email back from them that they have actually had comments on the gallery story and pictures from other Stovebolters and that rarely happens. Too cool. Check it out when you get a chance. http://www.stovebolt.com/gallery/forelli_andy_1955.html Andy
Andy - Now you're famous! You're doing a great thing with your kids. I'm hoping I can get my grandsons interested. Larry
Andy is a class act I hope some day the judge will see it that way. Andy~ You are a great dad! All the ghosts that swirl around these old rigs at nighttime have GOT to be proud of what you're trying to do with your truck, and your kids. May everything work out the way you wish. Great pictures, BTW. I know we're blessed to have you on this site as well.