The Official John Lee Jr Thread

[Sharps40]

Oh man, thats gonna look down right fine on John Lee Jr! Thanks for the pic. Been tryin to picture it and took a chance with the order. I like the look a lot!

[glos55]

Very nice!!! It's gonna look GREAT!

[likaroc13]

good looking wheels...should look great on John Lee, Jr....can't wait to see them installed, & I know you can't wait to cruise around showing them off!

[Sharps40]

WeeeO! Finally got all the 40eleven NC title forms together...off to the DMV Friday PM for - I hope - a title, tags, etc.

I even got full coverage insurance tonight...

We're goin ridin Friday evening, you bet!!!

[jayoldschool]

Congrats, enjoy!

[Sharps40]

I'm at the Dmv and the entire state got in line ahead of me!!
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[Sharps40]

As I promised GoodWife Sharps, we rolled in John Lee Jr. last evening. I still have to make an appointment for Vin inspection since the vehicle came from outta state but thats too easy and I have a whole year to do it.

The ride is great. I don't have to do suspension right now, it can wait till after a few trips with family and friends to the woods for deer this fall. We drove about 50 miles last night.

We ordered exhaust parts. Also picked up Delco 12SI alternator for conversion as we'll also be adding Stovebolts GM HEI . Grabbed a coolant temp sensor to swap in when we upgrade the radiator.

[CRGRS 66]

Saw your post last night, feelin your pain at the DMV, sounds like it was a good result there, congrats, great feeling to be legal

[CRGRS 66]

BTW, I have to nudge my golden in the morning make sure it's still alive
She is our VP in charge of keeping the carpet from rising off the floor boards

[Sharps40]

A good day spent gettin John Lee Jr ready for his first ride to work tomorrow.

A cigar lighter added to the factory spot on the dash so I can light cigars and run my garman and not get lost.

An oil change, with ZDDP for engine break in. I'll run it 1000 miles and change it and the filter again. Got this job done after replaceing the oil plug (stripped pan) with a standard self tapping 1/2" oversize plug and new washer.

Ol John Lees pitman and idler arms were transfered over to replace the worn originals on Jr's front end. A bit of heat from a propane torch and the pitman arm finally popped out of the steering link.

A test fit of the Cragar Chrome Smoothies, plenty of clearance between the wheel and suspension...no worries there.

And finally, in preparation for an HEI ignition and to prevent module frying voltage spikes, not to mention picking up from 25 amps charge to 66 amps charge for accessories, removed the old External Regulator Alternator and harness and wired Jr. up for a spanky new Delco 12SI Internal Regulated alternator. A bit of modifications to use this late model alternator but heres how it went.

Kill the battery by disconnecting it, pull both so you can run the sensing wire back to positive in order for the alternator to reulate for voltage drop in the system. (Many just hook wire one to the batt terminal of the alternator, it works but dosn't provide full voltage to the battery and can leave you perpetually under charged. Might as well do it right).



Remove the factory tape from the wiring harness, alternator to firewall to old external regulator.



Heres the parts, new 12SI alternator, Alternator pigtail for the 12 SI and a spool of 14g wire for the sensing line.



First bolt up, the pully is too short compaired to the old pully and the belt crooked. If ya ever had to pull an alternator pully with hand tools, heres a way to upgrade to the 12 SI and maintain alignment and keep the high performance fan on the pully. These new fans suck much better and the alternators run cooler than the 10SI or external regulated type. I want to maintain this feature.



See, the 12SI pully is 1/4" inch shorter than the old pulley but fortunatly the 12SI has a 1/4" boss at the bottom bolt that can be removed to move the entire alternator forward into alighment with the crank and water pump.



I saw off the protruding lower boss on the pully side of the 12SI



Some light file work and now I have the room needed to move the 12SI forward in the lower mounting bracket.



Now the bosses line up on the face and the pullies too...

[Sharps40]

Two washers make up for the trimmed front boss, the bushin in the rear of the lower mount will slide forward and compress them when the bolt it tightened, good lower alignment.



Almost there, upper bracket has a 1/4" rear bend for the original alternator....keeps things from linein up just right.



Heres the factory bend on the upper alternator bracket.



A medium smasherwacker removes the bend in the upper alternator bracket...1/4" forward movement acquired on the reinstall.



A split washer both sides of the upper alternator bracket makes the alignment perfect.





Hook up the original red wire from the positive terminal of the battery to the Batt terminal of the 12SI.

[Sharps40]

Unbolt the old external regulator from the radiator support.



Cut the small red wire from the old regulator to the horn relay. Remove the black ground wire that ran between the horn relay and the old regulator. Cut the brown wire running from the dash light to the external regulator, cut it at the external regulator. Only the brown wire from the original external regularor harness will be retained. The old regulator and the rest of the old harness are no longer needed...give em to a 100 point restorer or toss em in the trash.



With the old wires that used to run from terminals 1 and 2 of the old alternator and the wires cut above, remove the unneeded external regulator harnerss.



Solder the brown wire from the dash light to the small lead (#1) of the new 12SI pigtail. Solder the sensing wire you bought to the large wire of the new 12SI pigtail, (#2)



Route the sensing wire from the alternator terminal 2 along the Batt wire and connect to the + terminal of the battery. Reconnect both posts of the battery.



Check all connections, wrap the harness and turn the key, Gen light should glow, start the motor, Gen light goes out...check voltage at the battery terminals, it should be 14.5 volts if its working right.



Thats it, go drive....we'll be drivin on these soon...

[aerotruk63]

You should ask Wongeroo to add your alternator install to the FAQ section.

[Sharps40]

Everything is almost perfect. Talking with Mr. Langdon at Stovebolts tonight on HEI and carb options...but the 12SI runs great and the truck overall rides wonderfully. 60 MPH for 80 miles today, runs like a swiss stopwatch, plenty of power plenty well mannered on these rough NC Sandhills roads. I'll let ya know what Mr. Langdon has to say after a bit!

[1963c-10]

That's good news Rich. Sounds like most of the gremlins are shook out. Ive never had any issues w/the same drivetrain in my 63 with the terrain around here. Drives as good in the sandhills as it does the mountains. Can't wait to see the finished intake/exhaust work you've got going on.

[Sharps40]

Should have exhaust tube and muffler this week. So with this good weather, prolly finished by Friday or Sun at the latest on the exhaust. All the bolts are loose, just need ta put up new pipe and make a much better sound than a Father Financed Civic with a Fart Can out back!!!

[Sharps40]

I had a request for Crazy Frog....the original Moped Ring Tone.

He keeps me company on long trips to the hunting grounds and just about everywhere else. From my Grandson for luck and healing after my motorcycle accident.

]

[CRGRS 66]

Awesome Frog

[tincan1966]

Not to hijack the thread, but running that wire from the #2 on alternator to battery is not needed. You're just making an extra connection to the same place. The wire coming off the BAT term of alternator goes to the horn realy/junction then to the battery. The voltage should be the same at the back of alt as it is at the battery, if anything, it'll be slightly lower at the battery(maybe a tenth of a volt)

[Sharps40]

Copy. Used the hook up diagram linked in the forum here.

Explanation was you can hook it up anywhere there is positive including alternator terminal... but hook up at the back of the alternator will not ensure any drop in the system is compensated for....i.e. the alternator for instance stays at 14.5 and dosn't compensate for a 1 volt drop in the system due to resistance because its not reading the eitire system when useing the short loop.

As I understood the instructions, best sensing occurs at the battery + terminal (the termination point of the entire electrical system) and allows the alternator to sense the resistance thru the entire system. In the notional example above, the sensing of a 1 volt drop due to overall system resistance pumps the alternator up to 15.5 v to deliver the minimum needed 14.5 v at the battery.

In any event, it seems to work. Another trip to work today and I have no worries so far.

[tincan1966]

My point was if the ALT BAT terminal is wired directly to the battery(as it is) then why run another wire along the exact same path? If that was needed then how does a 1 wire alternator provide the correct amount of charge? -- It senses the load demand and charges accordingly thru a self exciting regulator.Most of these alternators require about 1000-1200 Alternator RPM (around 600-700 engine rpm) to initiate charging

Actually any amount of charge is acceptable above about 12.5V.Most Chrysler products operate on a 13.3 system at idle(approx 600 rpm with headlights and a/c off)

14.5V is an optimum amount of charge, not a necessity. If you're charging at 15.5V you are overcharging and could be damaging crutial systems-for example if my EFI system started charging higher than 14.7 then I could expect premature failure of critical components.

GM wired millions of vehicles without that wire, so I would assume they're smarter than me and I'll follow their lead.

[Sharps40]

Mr. Langdon at Stovebolts is a neat guy. Who else calls ya for payment info so he can discuss set up of the parts and provide tips on the install? Great business model.

So, having discussed the Webber 32/36 progressive....I think its a done deal. About the same money as a rebuilt 40 year old Monojet for a new carb that breaths better on the top end and provides an estimated 6 to 10 HP on a stocker to boot...nice. I believe he indicated linkage will be fine or set up based on the data I provide in the order...we'll see. So, all I gotta decide is small square open air cleaner or nifty Round Aircleaner...and finally, brushed or polished aluminum finish...decisions, decisions.

[Sharps40]

Originally Posted by tincan1966

My point was if the ALT BAT terminal is wired directly to the battery(as it is) then why run another wire along the exact same path? If that was needed then how does a 1 wire alternator provide the correct amount of charge? -- It senses the load demand and charges accordingly thru a self exciting regulator.Most of these alternators require about 1000-1200 Alternator RPM (around 600-700 engine rpm) to initiate charging

Actually any amount of charge is acceptable above about 12.5V.Most Chrysler products operate on a 13.3 system at idle(approx 600 rpm with headlights and a/c off)

14.5V is an optimum amount of charge, not a necessity. If you're charging at 15.5V you are overcharging and could be damaging crutial systems-for example if my EFI system started charging higher than 14.7 then I could expect premature failure of critical components.

GM wired millions of vehicles without that wire, so I would assume they're smarter than me and I'll follow their lead.

Okay, you win.

[aggie91]

Personally I like the way Sharps40 hooked up his 12si. I did it the same exact way in 1986 when I swapped my altenator and put in a HEI for my six. It worked flawlessly till 1993 when I quit using it for a driver. It sat till 1998, and still worked fine when I fired it back up after sitting for so long. For the HEI, I took out the orginal resistance wire from the firewall plug above the motor and replaced it with a 12 ga regular wire and hooked it straight to the HEI terminal. Worked great.

[aggie91]

Not to highjack or stir the pot on the alterntor wiring, but here is a link to some real good info on this swap that he did here to John Lee Jr.

http://www.madelectrical.com/electri...hreewire.shtml

That site has other great electrical info to...