DYNAMO OR ALTERNATOR?

WHY DOES MY DYNAMO KEEPS FAILING

Many people seem to have repeated problems with dynamo's, I believe the
problem is that they have not replaced the regulator or it is the wrong one.
A dynamo is not self current regulating, unlike a alternator and will overheat
and melt its solder if its output is not controlled. My best advice would be to
replace both the dynamo and the regulator at the same time, with good
quality matching components e.g. 22amp regulator and 22amp dynamo.
After fitting check it doesn't produce more current than it is rated for,
example a C40 is rated at 22amps (if fitted with a 5inch fan), if it produces
more than 22amps due to a 25amp regulator being fitted it will overheat
and fail early.
WHAT DYNAMO IS FITTED
You should find the type of dynamo stamped on the body. If not, the
following is a list of the most popular Lucas dynamo types and the distance
between the front & rear mounting brackets.
C40 20amp (4.5inch fan) or 22amps (5inch fan) = 144mm should be this
one
C40L 25amps = 155mm
C42 30amps = 174 mm
C45 = 166mm

FITTING AN ALTERNATOR
If you decide to fit an alternator you will have to convert you car to negative
earth first (negative battery terminal bolted to the body), see section on
converting to negative earth.

An alternator can be bolted to the existing bracket using spacers if needed

to make sure the pulleys line up, you will probably need a shorter fan belt,
due to the smaller pulley on the alternator. The design of the alternator
means it can turn a higher rpm, so a smaller pulley is fitted, this allows it to
charge at tick over, this may slow the tick over down and require a small
adjustment throttle stop, once the alternator is fitted. The wiring can be
easily modified to suit the alternator, see diagram, you can use the original
loom if you don’t fit a very large output alternator (34amps) just connect ‘D’
to ‘B’ this can be done by soldering a cable on the back of the regulator if
you want to keep and use the regulator box as a junction box and ‘WL’ to
the old ‘F’ cable, if fitting a higher output alternator it would be best to run a
new cable directly to the solenoid. The normal 30-0-30 amp meter will not
work well with a 34amp or higher alternator.