69 Dodge Charger Voltage Regulator Question.

[69chargerboy]

I have a silly question. I have a 440 with MoPar points conversion kit. Do I need the newer regulator from 1970+ regulator or do I stick with the original one? Thanks.

[Nacho-RT74]

do you mean you are upgrading electronic ignition ?

anything you have ( points or electronic ) ignition, 70s and later elect regulator is a great upgrade... has been prooved by several members. Make a quick search on board and will find some testimonials.

will need to upgrade or modify the alt thought, if you have single field alt on to double field alt.

you can modify the one field alt with just drill the back housing and get the brush isolator and brush with prong

[69chargerboy]

do you mean you are upgrading electronic ignition ?

anything you have ( points or electronic ) ignition, 70s and later elect regulator is a great upgrade... has been prooved by several members. Make a quick search on board and will find some testimonials.

will need to upgrade or modify the alt thought, if you have single field alt on to double field alt.

you can modify the one field alt with just drill the back housing and get the brush isolator and brush with prong

I'm sorry, I didn't explain myself enough.....    I have the electronic conversion kit to convert my points to electronic ignition. So, with this new electronic conversion I assume to use the newer voltage regulator, with a double field alternator?  Thank You for the help...  

[69CoronetRT]

do you mean you are upgrading electronic ignition ?

anything you have ( points or electronic ) ignition, 70s and later elect regulator is a great upgrade... has been prooved by several members. Make a quick search on board and will find some testimonials.

will need to upgrade or modify the alt thought, if you have single field alt on to double field alt.

you can modify the one field alt with just drill the back housing and get the brush isolator and brush with prong

I'm sorry, I didn't explain myself enough.....    I have the electronic conversion kit to convert my points to electronic ignition. So, with this new electronic conversion I assume to use the newer voltage regulator, with a double field alternator?  Thank You for the help...  

I went with the FBO electronic ignition in my '69 440. I also went with the FBO electronic voltage regulator. The original cover fits over the top of the new electronic regulator so it looks pretty much stock. I did not have to change the alternator.

The reason to go with the electronic regulator is relibility (chances are the old one is, well, old) and a more cossistent voltage for the ignition. If you drop below 12V, which is possible at idle with a load, the voltage can drop and cause the engine to stall. I had to really check my old connections through the entire path to make sure I had good voltage.

If you do not care about a stock appearance, you can buy an off the shelf regulator from auto parts stores that work just fine and they are cheaper.

Now's a good time to check all the wiring, especially at the bulkhead, and make sure you have a good ground at the firewall.

[histoy]

I have the Mopar electronic ignition system on my '64 Max Wedge, and I use the FBO electronic voltage regulator with a single field alternator, and have had no problems.   

[69chargerboy]

FBO?

[histoy]

FBO.... (541) 942-5920 

Electronic voltage regulator that looks like an original style.... $28

[Bob Hanner]

I too went with the FBO Electronic regulator that looks like the original points unit. Works great with no problems for three years. Before that i went through 3 of those POS original ones with the points in it in two years. I do however run the newer 2 field alternator, All you have to do is run a ground wire from one of the fields (I chose the top one) to a valve cover bolt to ground it. and run the other field to the regulator.

http://4secondsflat.com/

http://4secondsflat.com/regulator_tech.html

[Nacho-RT74]

yeah that's another option... use old kind regulator with upgraded electronic internals and keep the single field regulator.

If you run the Mopar laters one, they regulate by negative, so that's the reason second field is added to wire both poles, positive constant from ign key and negative regulated.

If you run one field alt where one of the brushes is grounded bolted directly to alt chassis ( so then constant negative ) the positive is the regulated source and then just one wire.


The electronic old regulators kind works like mechanical but transistorized isntead "relay-zed"

anyway you choose, go with electronic regulator even is not MANDATORY, is the best you can do to get all the performance available from electronic ignitions

[John_Kunkel]

I think you will be hard pressed to find an aftermarket regulator with points, every one I've seen in recent years has a single circuit board inside the original looking cover.

[Nacho-RT74]

somebody wants around 8 NOS mechanical regulators with voltage adjusting screw ?

[motoreese]

I have a question for you Mopar Gods...I have a 69 Dodge Charger, came original with a 318 but previous owning installed a 383.
I have put HID headlights, and a stereo with 1000W amp and 2x10" subs.
Since this time i have been having electrical problems out the ying yang! It would not charge my battery so i put a 750CCA battery in her. I have changed ignition coil, voltage regulator (Stock from NAPA) ignition regulator. I have had the alternator checked 3 times.
When she idles above 1000RMP everything is fine. I put her in gear the RMP's drop to 600-700 and my volts are low. If i put the idle up to 1400RPM and put it in gear she still idles at low RPM and volts are still very low. I put head lights on and the volt gauge is still way in the negative. As soon as i pull away the Volts go way up. Even with everything back on. Soon as i stop the rpm goes low and the volts go negative.
It has a brand new carb, edlebrock 750, new fuel lines, spark plugs, wires, distibutor cap, rotor, coil. Ive checked timing and Edlebrock says it has to be lower so its set. Alternator has a smaller pulley on it so it goes faster, the belt IS tight.

Can anyone please help me, i am seriously going out of my mind with this problem.
Thank you for any help or idea...

[A383Wing]

that's pretty much normal for Chryslers charging system back then....you can help this by putting one of the smaller pulleys on the alternator.....

[motoreese]

as i stated in my first post i do have a smaler pulley, and the alternator is high output. Between 80-100 amps the tester told me

[A383Wing]

again...it's pretty much normal for our charging systems to act like this...

[motoreese]

So Dodge is know for having electrical gremlins?
I even installed a Transitised Chrysler Voltage Regulator and it made the problem worse. So there is nothing i can do?

[A383Wing]

put a a GM Delco alt on it....they charge at idle.....better than the Chrysler ones do.

The smallest pulley Chrysler has is 2" for the alt...and don't run an under-drive crank pulley

[motoreese]

It is an after market Chrome alternator from Summit. So shouldnt that make a difference?

[A383Wing]

just because it's chrome, shiny, and from Summit, does not mean it's the best

[A383Wing]

....did you also upgrade your engine & body harness to compensate for all that power robbing extra stuff you put on the car?

[motoreese]

Yes sir i realize that, I was just saying that it was not a stock alternator. You were saying that a GM Delco alt would be better than chrysler. Wouldnt ordering an aftermarket one from a reputable store wouldnt that be a descent alternator?
After all i have had it tested by GlenStar alternators 3 different times.
I do appreciate any advice anyone can give me.

Any other ideas?

[motoreese]

Upgrade the wire harness? does that mean replacing the wires with high gauge wire?

[Ghoste]

At the very least new stuff.

[motoreese]

I thought I fixed it!!!
It was the alternator!!!! I read all the posts again and it clicked that the voltage regulator is a stock unit. "stock" being the key word here. So I went and picked up a "STOCK" alternator for my year, make , model instead of my beefed up one and TA DAAAA!!! Started her up and she purrrrred! Volts were high and idle was perfect. So I turned on the lights and she still idled perfect, no hickup, no stall, no drain in idle....so I put the fuse back in my amp and it began to thump! Stereo was thumping...hit the brakes and stereo didn't reset. YAAAAAAAAY!!!!
So I took her around the block, turning head lights on and off and no change....when I stop, still in gear, lights on, stereo on the volt go low but car stays running. I hit the gas and awayyyyy we goooo!!!

Then I took it to the store and the gremlin in the system strikes again, but not as bad.....

So I started her up, let it idle while I find a song, then go everything was fine till a mile down the road, STOP sign, lights got dim and she almost shut down I slipped her in neutral and she was fine. Put her in gear and drove away. Now everything's fine till a mile down he road. STOP sign, volts drop, lights go dim and she almost dies...I caught in neutral. This happened for a few stops then it just quit. Volts were fine, I stopped again the lights got dim but no stall attempt. Then pulling up to my house the subs start thumping weird and interior lights flickered with the beat. I had to turn lights off to back her in......Calgon Take me away!!!!!!

I want to thank you gentlemen for all of the great advise and input, it really helped me out. I can NOT tell you how excited I was. Now I'm stumped again.....Ideas?? Anyone???

Now I also have to fix my alignment problem. I took it to Brakes Plus to get an alignment after buying all brand new tires. Since she has been running crappy I haven't put many miles on her. I was driving and the front wheels squealing like I was taking a turn at 80 mph, took it back to the alignment place and the alignment was way off. Less than 40 miles later I went to discount tire to see about new tires as one of the brake plus managers gave me his card and who to speak to. They would only give me a $15 discount on each tire....and when we looked the alignment was off again. So I called brakes plus and told them. They told me to bring it back and this time I stuck around. After questioning this and that WE  found that the upper and lower control arm bushings were shot....SHOULDNT they have found this the first time?????
so no I have to replace the bushings and spend another $277 on front tires....thank goodness for income tax!!!

I can't figure out how to upload pictures, they are too big!!! (that's what she said!)lol

[Pete in NH]

Good grief! That 1000 watt sound system is looking for over 80 amps on music peaks. There is no way a stock electrical system in these cars can keep up with that. These old systems may have a few issues but trying to have it keep up with that kind of load isn't really going to happen. I would bet that sound system is pulling down the battery to the point where the car will no longer run. No way a stock alternator is going to keep up with that kind of load.

We wont even talk about the hearing loss that will catch up with you someday!