Building the Humungus machine

[cruzn2the max]

hey humvee

1, brake lights, theres a brake light switch u can get off anuther car and it goes under your brake pedal, you just make a bracket to mount it and run a wire to the rear lights, the switch when u press the brake pedal activates it and wamo brake lights, its very simple as older cars have this set up.

2, alternator not recharging, thats probly best to go to an auto electrician and talk to them about it and tell them what the problem is, also if its not charging means the alternator is stuffed auto elecs offer a change over service on that too, i had the same problem with my drag car when i rewired it as i didnt need any lights or anything, i have a heap of alternators so i just changed it over with one that works.
there is a simple way to check if your alternators charging, start the vehicle and turn the headlights on, let the engine idle and just rev it a little if the lights brighten up its charging, best to do this when its dark.

these are 2 simple things to do when you have the know how, ask people you know if anyone knows an auto elec and if they will help you, this would be cheaper then going to an auto elec

i must agree with gasoline, you guys in the states get away with a heap more than in aust regarding the laws building cars,
we have to have engineers reports for anything that is modfied, and i dont think no matter how much money one had you wouldnt be able to get the humungus machine registered over here

i hope this helps, cheers alan

[PursuitSpecial]

I know you're a smart guy Dave, but I'll over explain it anyway. You probably have most of this covered already.

Do what Alan said on the brake lights. Should be just a simple two prong switch with power to it. When the brake pedal is pushed, the contacts close and the power gets through the switch to the brake lights. The lights you have should have at least two wires for each light, one goes to power (coming out of the switch), the other to ground. Doesn't matter which is which, the bulb will be happy either way so long as it has both.

If you plan on driving at night you may need to worry about taillights, which would be a secondary (less bright) bulb in each brake light. If this second bulb is built into your trailer lights, then you should have more than two wires going to each side. Just need to figure out which wires go to which lights, and you can then run the secondary lights off the circuit of your headlight.

The sensor you found on the proportioning valve or junction block is probably for a brake warning light on the original dash.

As for the alternator, I would get a cheapo volt meter and plug it in somewhere out of plain sight. On my 66 Charger I had the dash and radio out and used the power plug for the radio to supply power to a temporary voltmeter and it worked great. You can use an amp meter, but then you have to run all the power in your charging circuit through it, whereas the volt meter just needs a power source and a ground. Old dodge's like mine have the amp meter and they can be a problem.

-Jon

[HUMVEE Driver]

Today I took my voltmeter and I went to start up The Machine. I tested the battery first, and it was around 12.45. After a few tries she fired right up and I worked the pedal until she was warm enough to hold an idle. I went back and tested the battery again. It was hovering around 12.35. Then I plugged the big front spotlight into the cigarette lighter, and the battery went to 11.45. I let her idle for about ten minutes, and the battery ended up staying at 12.45. So... this means the alternator IS charging the battery, right? Remember I was worried that I messed up the wiring during all of my 'custom' rebuilding and that the alternator would not be charging the battery. But after ten minutes at idle and under a load, that should mean everything is working at is should, right? I don't want to prematurely celebrate.
Thanks for the input,
HUMVEE Driver

[Bozz]

I wouldn't be too comfortable with that, Humvee.

My experience has been that a functioning alternator should be generating at least 13VDC, and is more likely to be in the 14-16V range.

You may in fact be fine, but I would really go over that with a fine toothed comb.

Cheers,
-Bozz

[Nightwalker]

He Humvee driver,

What you describe consernes me. I think you have a charging problem. The voltage of the battery when the engine was still of is good, but as soon as the engine is running the voltage should be around 13,5V.
Below 12,5 and above 14,5 is to critical.
I don't know what type of alternator it is but I'm most familiar with the ones with the regulator build in. You can't really srew up the wiring of these type of alternators.
Ground goes through the housing and the engine block.
The +12V cable is a thick red cable that goes straight to the battery.
And a thin cable that goes to the dash charge lamp and than to the ignition key switch en finaly to the +12V of the battery. When you turn the ignition key, this one produces a smal magnetic field in the alternator to start a smal current to get the big magnetic field going. And when that field is active and maintained at a certain level by the regulator there wil be 12V at both ends of the wire and the thus the charge lamp goes out.

I think you should check al wire end contacts and clean them, and the surface they make contact with, with sandpaper. Don't forget the ground connection between the engine block and the negative battery pole.
Check the charge lamp that it burns bright when you swich the ignition on. And when the engine is running the light should be completely off. Check this by looking at the lamp with as little exterior light as possible. If it is still burning very faint the regulator could be defective.

I hope this helps you to solve the problem. I know what I'm saying. I have a lot of experiance with fixing my own cars. I'm a member of an oltime club and I have a nephew who is a car mechainc and performed rego's at cars and trucks. He's now with the firebrigade but he maintaines most of the material and performes the rego's. I've also learned a lot of him.

[mack tanker]

If you unplugged the harness from the factory gauge cluster you will have a problem that cicuit for the factory gauge or light
is open the truck will need to be changed over to a one wire alternator like on a GM
If you want to you can get a painless wire harness with a fuse box and simple relay set up all pre wired and labled
thats if you want to have lights and signals if not you can get an older delco remy alternator from the bone yard and
you will be all set

[aussie muscle]

if the alternator is producing charge, you should be able to unplug the battery while it's running and the engine should keep going?? the alternator should create enough power to run the ignition system, etc.

[HUMVEE Driver]

You know, I considered that and I'll try it the next time I fire up The Machine. So far, I've had mixed signals from people regarding the issue. With the info I supplied, some say the alternator is doing it's job as it should, and others say it's not. I guess simply disconnecting the battery will tell for sure. I did ask a friend about that a while back; he said that it's possible that the battery HAS to stay connected because it completes the circuit. I'll just have to do a live test and see what happens for real.

Thanks for the suggestion!

HUMVEE Driver

[mack tanker]

aussie muscle is correct
next time you start it up unhook the negative cable

[HUMVEE Driver]

I came across a pretty cool article of The Humungus Machine at the Detroit Autorama. They have some better pictures of it, too.

http://www.jalopnik.com/5167302

Yeah, that's me in the leather pants...

HUMVEE Driver