The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk rebuilt generator

ordered a rebuilt generator from jim carters last week. it showed up today and upon initial inspection it looked pretty good.

after dinner i had a chance to look it over a little more and discovered that the holes in the frame ends that mount it to the block are really egg shaped. like the bolts were not tightened all the way on the previos truck and as a result they are badly oblong. it would probably work but it just seems like a half a$$ set-up to have to deal with when the expectation was a lot higher,

is this what is to be expected or do i send it back? i've got donor parts that i could clean up and put on the j.c. generator, but the whole reason for just ordering one was to avoid having to build from scratch.

any thoughts???

i would at least call and let them know of the problem, tell that it was not what you expected and they'll probaly take care of it. but if you ordered one so you wouldn't have to rebuild, then i would take it back. the minute you take any of it apart i don't think they would honor a return, or exchange.

Hey PJ,
Jim Carter should make good on the deal.... But if they don't.
I have a real good friend that lives here in my Hometown that owns an Alternator and Starter shop.
He can rebuild any alternator/generator and he is the type that will get it back to you working and looking better than most of the other companies out there.

Jodie Wiggans is his name and his business is called Jodies Starter shop. He generally works on local stuff, but I will let him know that you might be calling and All you will have to do is send it to him by mail. I will vouch for him, Jodie is a good Christion man who takes pride in his work... and as a plus he is not expensive.

Jodies Alternator and Starter Shop
2308 SW 5th Ave
Mineral Wells TX 76067
you can call him at .. 940-325-6220.
"tell him Cliff told you"

Cliff59

I think that we all fall into the "trap"....a parts catalog....an "800" number....a credit card number and our parts are delivered to our doors in 5 working days or less. This is good, isn't it?

Maybe good, but is it resourceful? So what happens when the mail-order part isn't up to par, or you have a problem out on the road? I'll bet Tempe, Arizona has a few "auto electric shops" as well as other parts suppliers, especially for the 50's and newer trucks....my NAPA store got me a 216 valve cover gasket, and an "early" waterpump in two hours at a competitive price.

The point I'm trying to make, is that if we don't take a little time to explore local resources for our parts, it won't be long until we have "no choice" but to go to the mail order houses. Local businesses offer special services that some "drop ship" facilities can't. I believe in giving the local guys a shot up front....if they can't provide the part or service then get on the phone and keep your fingers crossed!!!!

You might be pleasantly surprised, that there are folks out there, who have plenty of experience, a network of their own, and who are willing to meet your parts needs. "Keep'um rollin"

Dave

dave, this isn't a case where the first thing i did was just pick up a catalog and ordered a part. i've been battling this generator issue since december. lots of leg work to find local sources for parts and/or labor to get the problem solved. everyone i worked with was great, but none of them correctly diagnosed the problem or could fix it. i'm not saying that there isn't any other sources in tempe or arizona, but it's not like i didn't try either. i like keeping things local and i love trying to resurrect an old part. jim carters was what i hoped a way to expedite the trucks return to service.

shortly after ordering the generator from jim carters, i was lucky enough to have run into a guy while i was putting gas in my truck, that said he had a bunch of old chevy parts i could go through if i ever needed anything. he had two good condition generators that he just gave me so i could get the truck back on the road. the jim carter generator was a backup in case the donor generators didn't work.

thanks for the contact information cliff59. i may send him the spare old one i have on the bench.

I get 99.975% of my old truck parts from local guys.. Advance Auto Parts can order just about anything you need, at a low price.

When my '46 2 ton needed a pressure plate and clutch disk, Chev of the 40's wanted $80 for the pressure plate alone, with a $50 core charge, and another $48 for the clutch disc, with a $40 core on the disc, plus charge me for shipping.

Auto Zone sells the pressure plate for $59, and the clutch disc for $33.. you pay no shipping, and the parts are delivered to the store the next day.

Theres a $6 core charge on the disc, and a $12 core charge on the pressure plate, but if you bring the old parts in when you pick up the new parts, there isn't any core charge at all.

Che of the 40's sells a generator for $95 plus $75 core charge.. my local guy will rebuild my old generator for $85, and no core to fool with or pay to ship back.

Chev of the 40's sells a rebuilt foot stomp starter for $116 with a $50 core charge. Adance Auto Parts sells the same starter for $111 with a $30 core charge.. and again, bring your old starter in when you pick up the new one and there's no core charge.. and no shipping to pay.

Those are just three examples, but in most cases, the only thing I find the catalog places to be good for is repop trim parts, door handles, that sort of thing.. which I don't like to use.

I can buy original good condition trim parts off eBay, or thru places like the Swap Meet section of the Stovebolt much cheaper than the catalogs sell the repop stuff for.

The local flaps up here want about 165$ for a rebuilt 12v gen with a 15$ core. To much for me. So I would have to say search around.

The electrical shop up here runs about 50$ an hour to work on your stuff, so on top of field coils or an armature its cheaper to buy a rebuilt one anyways or do it yourself.

Id call them and ship it back.

I agree with those who say shop local if you can (understand that not everyone is blessed to have local resources)... I had my 6-volt generator rebuilt by the Mennonite electric motor shop here in our local Plain Community (they're New Order Mennonite....). It's less than a mile from our farm and they knew exactly what it was (similar to generators on the older power units and irrigation pumps they see daily). My cost for a completely rebuilt generator and refinished to like new, ready for Carlisle Gold condition was $90. I couldn't write the check fast enough. I had them do two starters, too!

But I agree with Cliff -- the guys at JC aren't out to screw you -- they're 'Bolters too. I'm sure it was an honest oversight -- just let them know (don't mess with it!) and I'm sure they'll make it right for you.

Regards,
John

Fumblin46 is right on. I check all the Local houses first. If or when I find one that is out of line on their price I let them know it. If you already checked around most of them will meet the "competitors price". I'm talking about old stuff but here is an example yesterday. I need an A/C cyle switch. Advance was out of them so I went to O'Reilly's (like auto zone/Advance) and they had it. Price was almost $30 so I say hey, I can get it at the dealer for that. He said you sure? I took out my cell phone and called the dealer. List price was $35 but my discount price was $25. The guy was listening and said "no problem, we match prices". I bought it right there and was glad to save the $5 more dollars I'd spent on gas to make it to the dealer. My wife calls it "wheeling and dealing". I call it getting the most for my money. If we want to hand it out without a fuss there is always someone to take it. I have said it time and again to see what years that part was made for. Heck, the local parts house guy may not know that the bearing on a 37 1/2ton is the same up to about a 57 so he says he hasn't got it. Ask for 57 bearing and if he does not have it on the ahelf it will be there the next day because his "computer" goes back that far but not to 37.
(and NO shipping)So, do our homework and be patient. Ask questions, that is one of the "special features" of the Stovebolt where you can get answers.

Just on a side note, if I got a reman generator with hogged out holes, i'd call 'em and send it back, and no way i'd be paying the return shipping or shipping cost on the replacement.

I might expect that kind of oversight from a Walmart, but not from a company that specializes in selling old truck parts.

I can totally understand why you might be miffed.. you decided not to rebuild it yourself or get it rebuilt because you wanted to save time and hassle and get it right the first time, so you ordered a reman generator from people you figured had some idea of what they were doing, and was supposed to deal specifically in those parts.. and now not only do you still not have a generator, but you've got to call them, and end up shipping it back.

My bet is Carter's has them rebuilt by a local (to them) shop and the guys in shipping never even looked in the box. I'd also bet they'll make it right.

Call JC asap.

Be polite and they should work it out.

-W

Call Jim Carter. They have always been good when I had a complaint.

No doubt,they'll make it right !!!

called them today. they said to ship it back and they will send another unit out.

so far, very nice to deal with.