+I have got an alternator in my 37 Terraplane.
Works fine

Have considered that but I am trying to keep the look of it being a 37. thanks for the reply!

On the old forum there was a post that mentions someone that makes alternators that look like generators. Don't know who.

Lee O'Dell

Saw that and looked up the gentleman, He responded that He couldn't do it as he had a ton of back orders and was trying to retire.
Another company asked $950 to do the job. Which is a little steep.

Like you Gordon, I looked into the generator style alternator and the cost nixed that idea. The problems I was having with generator and voltage regulators and their replacement costs, is why I finely gave up on originality for reliability and installed a 6 volt alternator on my car. Best decision for the car I made. No more charging system problems. No more dead battery. The alternator provides current at idle that a generator will not. My engine starts quicker and the head lights and tail lights are brighter. Best of all, is, I can see the dash instruments at night now because dash lights are brighter especially when idling at a stop light.
If you try it you may like. Oh yah, the alternator also cost less than generator.
Lee O'Dell

I have a 1934 Terraplane that was originally exported to South Africa, where it was owned/driven for more than 60 years by one Afrikaner family. From SA it returned to the States, with a stop in England (only about 10 years), during which a lot of work was done on it. I bought it from the English owner, with delivery at Naples, Florida. My plan was to drive it home to Texas, which I did, but not without some pain/strain.
Someone converted it to 12 volts, with a Lucas (Prince of Darkness) 12 volt generator and voltage regulator. On my trip home, a shop in Fort Myers, Florida told me it was producing 14 volts off idle, and they didn't know why the idiot light was on, and suggested I drive on. I did and stopped at an old-time auto electric shop in Thomasville Georgia. The owner told me that he could fix it, no doubt, but couldn't start on it until a week hence, and didn't know where he would get parts. I had already lost a week of by trip budget, and unhooked the generator and resolved to drive the rest of the way on battery, which I did Drive in daylight, charge battery at night. I bought a man-sized battery charger in Louisiana.
When I crossed in to Texas, I started hearing a clanging noise coming from under the hood. By the time I got to Sour Lake, Texas, the clanging noise was there all the time the engine ran. I stopped for fuel and to see what the clanging noise was. The generator pulley had split into a front part and a rear part. the generator was about to fall off the car, hinge bolts gone and like that. A kind soul worked about two hours in the hot Texas sun putting it back together while I hustled nuts, bolts, and washers. Spent the last night on the road just east of Cut and Shoot, Texas (look it up; it's real). East of Conroe.
When I got home , I got the generator fixed and determined to buy a new voltage regulator. Lucas sells them needing adjustment. At least one vendor offers them adjusted or not adjusted. Guess which kind I decided to buy. Then the fixed generator and old regulator were stolen along with the car they were being transported in. When I was a boy, some would have said they got stoled.
I took this as a sign from God that he wanted an alternator on that car.
Delco one-wire alternator goes on easily, with its own bracket and tensioning arm (which wasn't easy; took eight iterations of design, two of which reached prototype stage), but it finally was finished.
Now I'm told the lights work fine, just brighter than if 6 volts. I have a power supply to power the fuel and water level gauges. Soon I will know the truth, and so will all of you. But alternators will go on; there are bracketing problems, but not unsolvable ones. The whole thing was good training, it learned me humility.

Wonderfull story. Hope that wasn't in Aug. In Louisiana. It gets a tad warm here then. Of course not as hot as Texas. Wandering over to Bay Town Friday to get my 212 engine rebuilt and visit grandkids and great grandkids. Will think about you on that trip.

Thank you for the kind words. It all happened in June, beginning about mid-June. Overcome by heat on I 95 (?, north-south road) in Florida; overcome by heat at home in Texas June 29. Takeaway from it all: You can't drink too much water. But you can try.

Why not a 12 volt Autolite gen? It will look about right and give you way more amps then. You will ever need. If you want to continue the fool Antique Auto Battery will sell you a 12 volt optima battery in a 6 volt repro case.

Lewis M

Why not a 12volt Autolite generator? I decided that God was telling me (indirectly, for sure) he wanted an alternator on that car. Alternators are way superior to generators in just about every way.

My electric shop friend took pity on me after my having the Lucas generator (which he repaired) stolen along with a the car it was being carried in. He fixed up the Delco one-wire alternator for me out of parts and what all, and didn't charge much. I'm not even sure whether an Autolite generator has an internal regulator. The Delco installation is just too easy, once you get past the bracketry. One wire. Period. I do have a (12 volt) Optima battery, which can't be beat, I my book.

I am checking out "Luna Industries" of Tucson, AZ to have my Generator updated, Their pricing seems pretty good. Will keep you all posted.

Don't blame you at all for changing out a Lucas hen for anything else. After all Lucas is the prince of darkness.

In all fairness though, I didn't suggest a Lucas. And Gen vs. Alternator superiority is based on your defination of superiority. If looking original or fewer parts are your definition: the gen wins. After all an alt has all the same parts plus a rectifier to convert AC to DC. Extra and electronic! Don't get me wrong I don't have anything against electronics. I do however appreciate simplicity. When a gen has an electrical problem on the road , I can usually fix it.
But even that is just a matter of which one you are comfortable with and number of parts in the trunk.

If it's your funeral, you can have any song you want sung.

When did this Terraplane return to the States? My grandfather also owned one which my brother eventually inherited. When my grandfather restored the car in the early 1980s, there were only two 1934 Terraplanes in South Africa of which my grandfather's one was the only runner. This was according to him (back in the 1980s - but you have to remember that there was not internet or easy access to information. He might have been wrong and there might have been an extra car that that he wasn't aware of. My brother sadly had to get rid of the Terraplane because we had no space when we inherited 4 cars - timing could not have been worse. MY brother's Terraplane was yellow. I am trying to find it to somhow buy it back. I managed to buy back my 1948 Hudson Commodore. It is the one in my profile pic - current condition.