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[ziggy]

Howdy, first time caller, long time listener. I've got a '73 in yellow in the Austin, Texas area. PO did some mod stuff like the 911 master cyl and lowering the car. It has the requisite amount of rust and will be getting a whole lot of new metal when I pick up a mig machine. Also, I am probably insane - it is my daily driver ( I do have occasional access to a bug I work on) and after six months of working on it in a dirt driveway I finally have an old shed for a garage. The only real mod I have done is replacing the ignition switch. Those connections were all kinds of wonky when I pulled the old one so I put in a panel that separates the circuits with toggle switches and soldered the whole thing point-to-point. Master switch on left creates a hot bus, also mimics factory "off" or actual off, then radio, accessory, engine systems and then starter. Key is still needed to unlock steering wheel.

Now I have come across something strange. Alt light is on and gets very bright when I use blinkers or brake light. Headlights don't help, either. Idle is hunting like crazy and gauges seem a little erratic. Did the alternator diode test as per PP's article and neither B+ nor D+ tests killed the light, although they dropped the idle until the engine died. Problem started when I lost the alt belt and I replaced the belt and volt regulator at same time and was surprised to get no change. I want to get as much insight as possible before I tear that thing out. Any ideas?

[ziggy]

I like my version better than the factory's (no cluster of blades and an acc position) but I should cover up that hot rail. I have a feeling it is not the regulator since the D+ to DF short didn't kill the light. I am guessing I fried something in the alt, maybe these symptoms are the result of a busted winding trying to push two phase through the rectifier? I was hoping for a second opinion saying my alt was F'd in the A before going through that mess... I am an A&P student so I have a loose grasp of things but you just can't beat the hivemind of 914World! Thanks for the welcome, too!

[Spoke]

I have a feeling it is not the regulator since the D+ to DF short didn't kill the light.

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Do this test again and measure the voltage from the jumpered D+/DF connection to ground and measure the battery voltage directly across the battery POSTs, not the terminals. You want to measure the battery voltage itself. Let us know what you measure.