>I replaced the AC
compressor in the 1964. I painted it too well and when I put the ground
battery >cable into
it via the bolt that holds it on, the car refused to charge, probably due to
poor contact with >the
metal. It occasionally spiked up, but rarely.
I doubt your cable was/is the issue as the starter wouldn’t be
able to crank the engine if the connection was that bad. When cranking
you have a couple hundred amp load on that cable whereas the generator can only
recharge somewhere around 40 amps. Since moving the cable made it
better you might start by looking for poor connections. Reseat the wires
on the alt. and pull the voltage regulator off, clean the base up good where it
grounds to the body of the car and reinstall. If that doesn’t get
it I would try the voltage regulator first then the alt.
Also check the ground cable between the engine and the body. This
can also get corroded and cause all sorts of flakey problems.
Steve B.
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