Somewhat reluctantly, but I did. I converted my '42 AC-B to 12V and installed a Delco 10SI, internally regulated, three wire alternator. I say reluctantly because I believe that a 6 volt system can, indeed, work well on this tractor. I just got tired of bothering with it. I did a similar changeover on my Oliver 77 diesel several years ago with outstanding success. That prompted me to seriously consider doing my B.My B was originally crank start only (Dad got it new). I had added electric start capability some 30 years ago. Shortly after that I added push button start via a starter relay. I have always found that damned three position switch a pain though. Many times I would put it in the fast charge position and wound up forgetting about it. The result was, of course, overcharging of the battery. Last year I changed out that switch and added a full mechanical voltage regulator to perform that function automatically. I have had mixed results with that. It seemed to perform well at times but also seemed intermittent and tricky at others. Tinkering with the settings did not seem to improve the situation. This summer my battery has developed a dead cell and will not hold a charge anyway. Hand cranking has become frustrating since my B seems low on compression. I haven't actually checked the compression but suspect it is low, judging from what I think is mediocre cranking resistance. I am not into tearing into the engine at this point. Besides, it runs great. Mine is a working B and I use it regularly for mowing and sawing wood. Since I was going to have to get a battery anyway, plus the fact I was not really satisfied with the voltage regulator function on the stock generator, I decided to just DO THE DEED and get it over with. Worked out slick. The hardest part was fabricating the upper, adjustable mounting bracket and modifying the lower one for positioning the alternator to line up with the drive belt. I reused the old pulley from the generator. I thought there might be a problem with low rpm function without a smaller drive pulley but that turned out not to be the case. It works fine at idle speed. I did need to use a one inch longer drive belt (NAPA 5L380W). I also dumped the ammeter in favor of a voltmeter. I simply prefer a voltmeter for giving me a quick and easy battery/generating system "status" indication. You can see that I am not an originality purist. However, I do prefer the shade of persian #1 orange; in modern urethane, not the original lacquer. Heck, originally you couldn't shut off my B from the tractor seat without intentionally stalling it. You had to get down, go around the other side to the mag and manually depress the spring lever clip to ground out the mag and stop the engine. That is a safety hazard by most anyone's standards. It was original equipment though! I still prefer the magneto. If the battery is dead for whatever reason, there's always the crank, even if it starts hard. Soooo... If anyone is contemplating such a modernizing of the B (or C for that matter) charging/starting system, I encourage just doing it. You can always keep the old parts if you ever REALLY want to return to old history or to please somebody else. And if you just hate the appearance of that shiny alternator, paint it black or orange. It shows up less that way :o).  Rod
|
