The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts Anyone have a 1963 or slightly newer C60?

I have a 1963 C60 with an alternator, not a generator, I believe 1963 was the first year of the alternator. The fairly new alternator doesn't appear to be charging so I am going to replace the voltage regulator which I already have a new one of. I have a 327 engine if it matters. The voltage regulator is located just to the drivers side of the radiator.

Now on to my question. The bottom wire on the voltage regulator is broke right at the spade terminal. There is a dark brown wire below there. I am wondering if this is the wire that should hook there? I have had this truck since 1972 and never paid any attention to the voltage regulator until now. I don't know if the previous owner may have cut this wire or a mouse may have chewed it off at some point. The three top wires are blue, black and red in that order with the blue wire being on the top.

Does anyone have a C60 or similar truck 1963 or newer with an alternator that may have a similar voltage regulator? With the matching color wires on top that could give me the color of the wire on the bottom terminal? Also would anyone know the purpose of the bottom wire? Thanks for any replies.

The brown wire does connect to the last terminal on the regulator, it is the indicator light circuit (idiot light on dash) and needs to be connected for the alternator to work. Some vehicles do not have a dash light and the brown wire is connected directly to the ignition circuit through a resistor wire imbedded in the wiring harness.

Unless there's some overriding reason to stay "original", swapping to a 10-SI internal regulated alternator would be a much better choice. The "Delcotron" alternator with the external regulator that you're running now was a fairly low-capacity unit with chronic diode failure problems and a few other gremlins. The switch to the later design is easy, and it's much more reliable.
Jerry

Thanks so much for the reply sweepleader. My C60 has a amps gauge which used to work. So hopefully when I hook the brown wire up my gauge will work again. Thanks again for the reply.

Thanks for the reply Hotrod Lincoln. I have the parts to potentially fix it now. I don't use the truck a whole lot, especially at night where I need much battery juice, but if this doesn't work out or fails in short order I will certainly try your suggestion. Do I need to change any wiring to do this? Will my amps gauge potentially work if I do this conversion? Thanks for the reply.

Does this vehicle sit for long periods of time? If so, you may consider disconnecting the negative battery terminal.