Reply To: Generator Rebuild

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Hi John,

These Delco Remy generators like in your ’32 are pretty simple devices. Getting parts like the field coils can be a problem. I had to have the generator in our ’31 rebuilt. It can be hard to find local shops to work on these old DC devices. I was fortunate in that a local firm found replacement field coils, had the armature rewound, installed new brushes and bearings. It works great! So, it can be done. The key is finding someone that is interested in working on the old units. Someone that only works on modern alternators probably is not going to want to mess with it and do the necessary research and phone calls to find new components that will fit.

Arnold Romberg is a past PAS President and he is the current Editor of the PAS Service Bulletin. Arnold rebuilds these generators and is listed in the PAS P&SD

John Cislak at Classic Auto Restoration, is listed in the Pierce Arrow Society Parts and Services Directory (P&SD). John is also a PAS Member and he does rebuild work on generators.

Burton L Norton Co., which is also listed in the PAS P&SD
does rebuilding of the generators. They rebuilt the generator in our Series 80 and did a good job, in a fair amount of time, at a fair price.

Special Interest Autos is also listed in the PAS P&SD as a rebuilder of generators. They advertise in Hemmings and do a lot of this work.

One thing that I learned when I had our ’31 generator rebuilt was that the shop installed sealed ball bearings. This means that it is no longer necessary to drip oil down the feed tubes on the generator every 1000 miles or so.

I hope that your generator is producing voltage soon!

Happy Motoring,

Chris Diekman