Revamping the Charging System on an Old School Hot Rod

When you’re dealing with a hot rod that was built 50-plus years ago, or trying to replicate a car that was built back in the day, it’s important to stick with traditional elements. A car with an open engine compartment is especially sensitive to period-correct details, as one wrong move can kill the vintage vibe.

A nice, old-school touch is the look of an original generator, but they just don’t provide the performance of a modern one-wire alternator. What was once a conundrum is now a simple solution, as Powermaster Performance created the PowerGEN, a one-wire alternator hiding in a vintage-style generator body. This vintage look alternator is internally regulated, meaning we can get rid of the old regulator and crusty wiring that went along with it. The PowerGEN provides 65 to 90 amps of power, depending on rpm and that’s plenty for our simple hot rod.

This particular car is a 1934 Plymouth coupe with a 1940 Ford frame and a 1961 Chevy 283 engine, so it’s a mixed bag of hot rod history. We wanted to retain that history, but we also wanted to make the car more reliable, so the PowerGEN was a no-brainer. The car had a homemade generator mount that didn’t offer any adjustability, so we had to start from scratch to properly mount the new alternator. It didn’t require a lot of fabrication, so it was a relatively easy and affordable project.

In addition to the new alternator, we wanted to upgrade to a high-torque starter. The original starter bolts to the GM aluminum bellhousing, and since Powermaster makes a high-torque replacement with the original look, we couldn’t go wrong. We could’ve swapped to a standard block-mount starter, but why not stay with the history of the car and give it a little more cranking power? From there, we ran new battery cables to the back of the car, and installed a new Optima battery to power it. We spent a weekend in the shop to upgrade the charging system on this old-school hot rod, and we didn’t sacrifice any of this car’s vintage cool factor in the process. Take a look at how we accomplished it on this Plymouth coupe, and see how you can apply these charging system upgrades to your period correct project. SRM


























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