Hey guys,

I'm the worst at figuring out electrical issues over anything else. But in the case of the 55' I do have a basic understanding of how the generator and regulator work. Still though I'm at kind of a loss, I also don't really know how to use a multi-meter that much so testing is kind if beyond my knowledge. But maybe describing the situation will make it obvious to someone who knows more about power systems then I do.

When driving down the road with the headlights on, that is headlights and the internal dash illumination, the yellow GEN discharge light will come on after a short period. At first and for most of the time it's so dim that it's annoyingly hard to tell weather or not it's really on or just catching some of the glow from the surrounding back-lighting. The only way to be sure is to turn off the lights for a moment. Sometimes it isn't really on and sometimes it is so the issue must come and go I suppose. But after prolonged driving the light will get brighter and more obvious.

Here's where it seems to be opposite then what you'd expect. Rather then coming on at idle then fading out when you increase RPMs, for me it's opposite. Running the engine at speed will bring the light on and it'll go out when stopped or at least dim considerably. I was hoping that this was just a quirk of old mechanics that maybe it was normal for the GEN light to be on very dimly while the headlights are on.. being a 6 volt car and all.

But the other night, by the time we got home the light had gotten pretty bright and I noticed while pulling into the driveway that the headlights and interior lights had dimmed to an almost minuscule level. It was such a slow and subtle dimming I hadn't noticed till we pulled into the house.

So obviously the battery IS gradually discharging without a chance to charge is seems.

This issue only happens when the headlights are switched on though, while driving in the day things are fine. What I'm lead to believe is that the generator is only supplying JUST enough to run the car with no accessories, that or the regulator is preventing it.

The Generator has been rebuilt and bench tested, and the Regulator is brand new and a modern model bought from an auto-parts store. I've also polarized the generator since last time the battery was connected to the car. Though I have had a battery tender hooked up to the car since then due to the battery going dead from prolonged (one or two week) sitting in the past.