Denny,
here is what I face but keep in mind 99% of the restorations I do the coils all come out and get replaced. On the rare occasion that I am trying to save the coils I consider a couple of things, are they the old plastic coated type or some sort of cloth type. If I were going to leave them in I would certainly try and remove as much of the crud as possible without any chemical, liquid etc first. The plastic coated type are bad about having cracks in them between the case and the coil that you cant always see and the cloth wrapped coils that have had a coating on them at one point are bad about rotting between the case and coil due to moisture. So long story short I use an electrical cleaner that dries fast. Even a brake cleaner. Visual inspection of the coils while in the case are only going to show you whats going on where you can see and not behind the coils. That being said if you check continuity between the A terminal and F terminal to the generator case and have none your usually ok......making sure brushes etc. are not going to ground and the armature is out.
Getting pole shoe screws out without the handy dandy pole shoe screw removal tool can be a royal pain. I would post a picture of mine if I could figure out how. The correct slotted head screws are no longer made. There are a couple of suppliers that make the slotted head screws and you may see them on ebay but they are not correct and do not fit down into the counter sunk hole in the case. You end up with a few thousandths sticking up and I wont use them. I am in constant search of NOS ones because even with the correct tool to remove them they dont always come out like they are supposed to and I end up with my fair share of damaged ones.
One more thing and Im done.....LOL...Most all of the generator field coils for any of the Chevys from the 20s-60s are still available in aftermarket and NOS is always still good as well.
Ken
