12 volts, regulator on the the generator?

[cas3]

in my junk pile i found a early style generator with the fan mount pulley, that has a two brush 50's style rear case. i know thats a trick folks have done, but this one appears to be a factory made deal made by dixie co in toronto and its 12 volts. i'm normally a 6v guy, but since its here i thought i would play with it. my idea is if it had a small voltage regulator mounted right on the case like the cutout was, then there would be no change to the wire harness, and i would not have the big ugly regulator on the firewall (34 tudor) . this thought came from the early vw's that had a cute little bosch unit mounted on the generator. investigation now tells me those were 6v, and later bugs that were 12v had the regulator under the back seat, then later yet its a solid state thing. now, i'm not stuck on vw's, thats just what came to mind as it was an nice small unit that would not look so out of place. i googled up every thing here and on hamb and it seems no one has done this, or i didnt find it any way, any ideas from you folks here? thanks, skip

[rotorwrench]

An outfit called Fun Projects, Inc. makes a small regulator to fit a cut out can for both 6 and 12-volt generators. Some generators are converted to 12-volt and some are converted to an alternator in a generator case. Lots of conversions were made over the last 50 years or so.

[cas3]

thanks, yes i am aware of the fun projects unit, i have two in use now, they are wonderful, but i think made to replace the cutout on a three brush system. this one is two brush, three terminals on the gen, and should use a 56 and up style 12v neg grnd regulator. i'd like to avoid drilling holes in the firewall.

[rotorwrench]

I remembered seeing that the Fun Projects type was available in 12-volt but I didn't read the fine print about still using the 3rd brush. Those would likely have a low output amperage rating anyway.

There are some smaller types available like the ones used for old 12-volt Bosch generators that you mentioned but they aren't enough smaller to make any difference from a standard 35-amp three pole VR. There are solid state set ups for alternators but you would have to do a conversion of an old generator case into an alternator to do that.

If one was made to work with a 12-volt generator in a solid state format, it would likely not fit a cut out can. The size of both the current limiter circuit and the voltage control circuit components plus a diode to prevent back current flow would be a bit larger than the can volume. The guy that makes the Fun Projects stuff could fill you in on that if you called him.

You might consider hiding a standard 3-pole VR somewhere in the cab. It would increase wire lengths a bit but that depends on where you put it.

[cas3]

well here's the end result...too ugly? well, the jury is still out on that. too much heat and vibration for the unit to be happy? time will tell. i still like that the original wire harness has not changed, and the new wires are all at the scene of the crime. and, no holes drilled. the braided ground wire is probably not needed, but i have too many left over from my military truck days past. this might be good for the av8 guys with not alot of extra space on the firewall. comments welcome, skip

[G.M.]

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Here's the 12 volt adjustable regulator I used on the 6 volt
alternators I made. The are adjusted by a little screw on the
other side. If I recall they are made by Transpo. G.M.

[JM 35 Sedan]

You wouldn't have to put the box type regulator on the firewall. You could mount it under the dash by making a mounting bracket that bolts to existing hardware. It's been done that way many times in the past.