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High Cost of Authenticity: UGH!

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  • #1

    High Cost of Authenticity: UGH!

    Keeping our Studebakers authentic can be costly.

    To Wit: The OEM Prestolite alternator took a dump in my "new" 1964 Daytona convertible a few months after I bought it. There's a good custom auto electric component rebuilder in Indianapolis (Van's Electric) that does nice work on anything, so I took it to them for a custom rebuild. Ouch: $145...and that was five years ago! But it was worth it to keep the engine compartment authentic...at least to me, I realize.

    Last week, I finished up the 1971 Barracuda Convertible 318 timing chain project and got it running well; better than ever, actually, since the camshaft is now back in exact time with a fresh chain and sprockets.

    However, the Barracuda's alternator has been acting up off and on for a couple years, so I figured since it ran so well and the car was right there in the warm shop anyway, it was easy to pull the alternator back off and run it in to Van's and have it rebuilt.

    Picked it up today: $65.26, not even half what the Prestolite cost at the same place almost five years ago!
    I'm beginning to appreciate why people deep-six the old Prestolites. BP
    Last edited by BobPalma; 01-21-2013, 06:23 PM. Reason: corrected first price ($145, not $148)
    We've got to quit saying, "How stupid can you be?" Too many people are taking it as a challenge.

    G. K. Chesterton: This triangle of truisms, of father, mother, and child, cannot be destroyed; it can only destroy those civilizations which disregard it.
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  • #2
    Your two alternators in question may have had different levels of repair required. I had a 35 amp Prestolite rebuilt locally, and it needed to have the stator rewound. My cost complete, rebuilt was $95.00. I would think that an alternator that only needed cleaning, bearings, and brushes would be about $65.00. I agree that a good example such as a '64 Daytona convertible should have the correct Prestolite alternator, so your money was well spent.

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    • #3
      Right, Jerry; I believe the Prestolite needed more work.

      Still, I approached the pick-up desk today with intrepidation and was so pleasantly surprised I about fell off the chair! "Good" happens, too. BP
      We've got to quit saying, "How stupid can you be?" Too many people are taking it as a challenge.

      G. K. Chesterton: This triangle of truisms, of father, mother, and child, cannot be destroyed; it can only destroy those civilizations which disregard it.

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      • #4
        I just had two "Press-Your-Luck" alternators rebuilt for $70 USD each, good windings in both to start with. A third one I took them needed the stator rewound, so it's in my spare parts pile now. I try to keep my battery on a float charger if I'm not going to drive it for 2 weeks or more. Saves a lot of high current draw on startup.

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        • #5
          Here in the Tulsa area, mine cost me 55.00 just about a year ago......What ever it needed, including half of the case (broken off bolt attach point) must have not been too bad.....Works like a charm......Keep on Studebakering

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          • #6
            Originally posted by 63 R2 Hawk View Post
            I just had two "Press-Your-Luck" alternators rebuilt for $70 USD each, good windings in both to start with. A third one I took them needed the stator rewound, so it's in my spare parts pile now. I try to keep my battery on a float charger if I'm not going to drive it for 2 weeks or more. Saves a lot of high current draw on startup.
            Great idea. I do the same. BP
            We've got to quit saying, "How stupid can you be?" Too many people are taking it as a challenge.

            G. K. Chesterton: This triangle of truisms, of father, mother, and child, cannot be destroyed; it can only destroy those civilizations which disregard it.

            Comment

            • #7
              I worked for one of these rebuild shops for a short time in the late 60s. T'was a bit of an eye-opener for me - my having recently bought a rebuilt alternator for the Chrysler I was driving. Stator, rotor and case being in good shape, we'd "rebuild" a unit for less than a buck's worth of parts! And to think I'd paid $35 bucks for one of these "rebuilts" just a couple of months before!
              No deceptive flags to prove I'm patriotic - no biblical BS to impress - just ME and Studebakers - as it should be.

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              • #8
                And don't forget to include the cost of the spray paint.....another one of the "rebuilder's" necessities that was sometimes the only new "part" used in the process back then!

                Dave Bonn
                '54 Champion Starliner



                Originally posted by Roscomacaw View Post
                I worked for one of these rebuild shops for a short time in the late 60s. T'was a bit of an eye-opener for me - my having recently bought a rebuilt alternator for the Chrysler I was driving. Stator, rotor and case being in good shape, we'd "rebuild" a unit for less than a buck's worth of parts! And to think I'd paid $35 bucks for one of these "rebuilts" just a couple of months before!

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                • #9
                  I have a small supply of brushes on hand, and I can get new bearings pretty readily. So if the rotor or stator aren't burned out, I can overhaul one for a few dollars. Run the cases through the bead-blasting cabinet, and maybe some touch-up on the edge of the stator laminations, and the end result looks like NOS. All it would really need is a new tag, and shiny new cad-plated nuts on the back.
                  Gord Richmond, within Weasel range of the Alberta Badlands

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