That is an excellent upgrade from the old Dynamo (you call them Generators). If you rolled up at a car show and had the bonnet up no one would know that it had been upgraded unless they inspected the engine bay closely. A nice informative video thanks Steve. 👍👍
Just did this, thanks for the instructions, Steve. Switched to Negative Ground, switched battery to a "R" to get the poles on the opposite sides, switched the red ground wire to a black ground wire. Re-polarized the original generator and drove it about a week while I waited for the Tudor Dynamator and the fake voltage regulator box to come in the mail. Immediately shocked the living shit out of myself on the voltage regulator by failing to remove the negative terminal from the car and removing the old one from the chassis, then cleaning the spot it came from while just barely touching the terminal and the wet chassis. Then installed the dynamator as shown once I had removed the negative terminal from the battery... and a shorter belt as I switched pulleys to a new one on the dynamator and it's a little smaller. You can buy a positive ground dynamator. I switched to negative because I don't care if the car is positive ground or not and wanted it consistent on all my vehicles.
Steve another Great video with a lot of Info and little tips packed in a 5 min. video for us Newbies. You're One the Best who stays *grounded* to Teach us & knows what a newbie needs to see by Pointing & showing us part numbers & Much more. The Camera work & Set Up is Excellent and Much Appreciated. Thank You for taking the Extra Time doing that for us. Have a Good Holiday.
Outstanding video. I’d never heard of this conversion. I laughed when you put that crusty, old pully on without blasting and painting it. Just replace and drive on down the road.
I think people should be driving their cars instead of wasting time with things that don’t matter. So many cars never get back on the road because people want it to be put together perfectly or not at all.
@@ThisWeekWithCars Steve, you are exactly right. It’s just really hard to do when the pully is already off. Probably why only one of my three cars is drivable. I’m trying to be better.
I still can't believe you found 6 Bugeye Sprites! What a collection... Have you written your book yet. It would be a great companion to Geoff Healey's book.. great channel Steve.
The relay is used with the positive ground units only and is needed to activate the generator. If you do not use the relay the alternator will drain your battery if your car sits for a week.
@ my car is still the original positive earth, and I bought the positive earth version of the dynanator for it. Thank you for your quick response, I’ll be sure to use both
OUTSTANDING ! One question-you didn't have to change the grounding-those British cars of that era were all "positive earth"-I take it you didn't have to change to a "negative earth"? Great upgrade however-the generators from that time took a LOT of power to operate & they didn't give a lot back in return. When I was a teen-late 70's-I had a '66 MGB & a '65 Midget-BOTH had serious issues with the Prince of Darkness-the Midget actually sheared the Woodruff key retaining the gen pulley !
They sell them both positive and negative ground so you don't have to change your car. It cannot be polarized like a generator though, you have to stick with the polarity that you order.
@@ThisWeekWithCarsA few years back Jay Leno introduced the genernator on his RUclips channel. He had his original generator from his Cord 812 rebuilt to a genernator. It looks original, but has the innards of an alternator. It made a huge difference on that car. I believe the vendor is in Oregon. His Model A Ford genernator is very popular.
Does that Sprite have an exhaust leak? It sounded a bit rough there both on start up and on the drive to test the alternator swap. Great video there and it's nice to see the old cars being supported with parts so well. I'm jealous that you have them. I'd love to have one to just tool around a bit, especially one of the hard top ones.
Yes the sprite was positive ground originally. The battery is installed 180 degrees to mine and you can see at 4:10 or so a shot of the battery with the negative cable attached to the chassis.
Alternators can be made with positive ground too, Mack trucks used a 12V positive ground alternator and heavy 6V batteries wired in series to make 12V at least up to the mid 70s...
@@ThisWeekWithCars i have seen them. i was just wondering if the dynamator was polarized for a positive earth system. Then I checked their website and saw that you can order either pos or neg.
Yes and if you go positive earth I highly recommend getting one that does not require an extra relay to be installed. The cheaper positive earth models require this.
How the original Sprite owners would have loved to have had a powerful, reliable and lighter means of generating power and charging their batteries!
That is an excellent upgrade from the old Dynamo (you call them Generators). If you rolled up at a car show and had the bonnet up no one would know that it had been upgraded unless they inspected the engine bay closely. A nice informative video thanks Steve. 👍👍
An elegant combination of original appearance and modern function.
Just did this, thanks for the instructions, Steve. Switched to Negative Ground, switched battery to a "R" to get the poles on the opposite sides, switched the red ground wire to a black ground wire. Re-polarized the original generator and drove it about a week while I waited for the Tudor Dynamator and the fake voltage regulator box to come in the mail. Immediately shocked the living shit out of myself on the voltage regulator by failing to remove the negative terminal from the car and removing the old one from the chassis, then cleaning the spot it came from while just barely touching the terminal and the wet chassis. Then installed the dynamator as shown once I had removed the negative terminal from the battery... and a shorter belt as I switched pulleys to a new one on the dynamator and it's a little smaller.
You can buy a positive ground dynamator. I switched to negative because I don't care if the car is positive ground or not and wanted it consistent on all my vehicles.
@mundanestuff And I'm about to do the same thing but with a twist 😉
@EconoboxGarage I did this in the fall and it worked well, though I think my fuel sending unit is short circuited!
Steve another Great video with a lot of Info and little tips packed in a 5 min. video for us Newbies. You're One the Best who stays *grounded* to Teach us & knows what a newbie needs to see by Pointing & showing us part numbers & Much more. The Camera work & Set Up is Excellent and Much Appreciated. Thank You for taking the Extra Time doing that for us. Have a Good Holiday.
And shazzam! Nice bright lights, all the way around! Neat upgrade!
Love these retro looking modern components
Very tidy, enjoyable little episode. I learned something, the wrenching was satisfying, and the night-driving sequence was highly artistic!
Outstanding video. I’d never heard of this conversion. I laughed when you put that crusty, old pully on without blasting and painting it. Just replace and drive on down the road.
I think people should be driving their cars instead of wasting time with things that don’t matter. So many cars never get back on the road because people want it to be put together perfectly or not at all.
Considering the condition of the engine bay I don’t think it would be worth the time.
@@ThisWeekWithCars Steve, you are exactly right. It’s just really hard to do when the pully is already off. Probably why only one of my three cars is drivable. I’m trying to be better.
Moss or somebody needs to make a “patina” spray… one quick spritz and your new parts match the rest of the engine bay!
Great video, it has inspired me to do the same conversion on my 66 MK3 Sprite. It looks easier than I thought.
Lucas Mystery charging system solved!
I still can't believe you found 6 Bugeye Sprites! What a collection... Have you written your book yet. It would be a great companion to Geoff Healey's book.. great channel Steve.
Yes a win Peace out
Really nice. I did not know that they were available. Thanks!
Nice job.
Great. Learned so much in this video.
two thumbs up
Love it! Thanks Steve!
Hey Steve you do a great job with these old cars but I have to say, a $2 can of black spray paint and that pulley would have looked like brand new.
great stuff thanks
How do you get those shots when driving
It would be great to have a performance or general comparison between the Sprite and Midgets and your fiat 850 Spider
My follow up ? Is did you get the dynator for all the sprites?
No different setup coming soon for Bugeye #3
I just bought a Tudor dynamator and it came with a relay, if you get the dummy regulator box, do you still need to use the relay?
The relay is used with the positive ground units only and is needed to activate the generator. If you do not use the relay the alternator will drain your battery if your car sits for a week.
@ my car is still the original positive earth, and I bought the positive earth version of the dynanator for it. Thank you for your quick response, I’ll be sure to use both
OUTSTANDING ! One question-you didn't have to change the grounding-those British cars of that era were all "positive earth"-I take it you didn't have to change to a "negative earth"?
Great upgrade however-the generators from that time took a LOT of power to operate & they didn't give a lot back in return. When I was a teen-late 70's-I had a '66 MGB & a '65 Midget-BOTH had serious issues with the Prince of Darkness-the Midget actually sheared the Woodruff key retaining the gen pulley !
They sell them both positive and negative ground so you don't have to change your car. It cannot be polarized like a generator though, you have to stick with the polarity that you order.
Like to know what it cost to do this conversion?
Mystery shadow appears during the night drive 😉.
Do they market a similar generator replacement for domestic cars?
Yes
@@ThisWeekWithCarsA few years back Jay Leno introduced the genernator on his RUclips channel. He had his original generator from his Cord 812 rebuilt to a genernator.
It looks original, but has the innards of an alternator. It made a huge difference on that car. I believe the vendor is in Oregon. His Model A Ford genernator is very popular.
Does that Sprite have an exhaust leak? It sounded a bit rough there both on start up and on the drive to test the alternator swap. Great video there and it's nice to see the old cars being supported with parts so well. I'm jealous that you have them. I'd love to have one to just tool around a bit, especially one of the hard top ones.
Is the electrical system negative ground? A generator doesn't care about that, but with an alternator, I believe it has to be negative ground.
That's exactly the question I was going to ask as I'm pretty certain the sprite would have been postive earth from factory.
Yes the sprite was positive ground originally. The battery is installed 180 degrees to mine and you can see at 4:10 or so a shot of the battery with the negative cable attached to the chassis.
Alternators can be made with positive ground too, Mack trucks used a 12V positive ground alternator and heavy 6V batteries wired in series to make 12V at least up to the mid 70s...
When you order one from Tudor you state which ground the car is .They supply both .
These are available in both negative and positive ground.
Still positive earth?
Gotta watch the earlier videos on this car. ruclips.net/p/PLRMQ-ShmnWOaY-hjVr5UKauzKhaqsgJEE&si=mRKBl-GiagW1QqVu
@@ThisWeekWithCars i have seen them. i was just wondering if the dynamator was polarized for a positive earth system. Then I checked their website and saw that you can order either pos or neg.
Yes and if you go positive earth I highly recommend getting one that does not require an extra relay to be installed. The cheaper positive earth models require this.
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