Ok I just finished my 350 swap into my 54 willys.

I have the alt. with built in regulator.

The charge wire comes off the back and connect to the starter elay where the positive cable from the battery goes. The engine will start, but when I pull the negative battery cable the whole thing dies. The only electrics I have hooked up are the HEI distibutor.

I have the neg cable attached to the altenator bracket.

Do i need another ground?
like engine block to frame?

I swapped altenator with a working one, and the same thing happened,

any help would be great,

thanks

Joe

since I cannot see your system I will do what I can. the alt needs to have a battery connection from the positive terminal, and it needs to have a "tickle" wire wether internal or external, the regulator has to have power the same way. so if you bought one with a single out put(marine style) it should work whenever it sees enough rpm. if you have the one with a two spade plug in the side you have to beable to turn the power on and off to the tickle wire, most folks run a bulb in line so they can see its on.

if it is a one wire alternator go read up on how to work it
IIRC you have to kick it in the ass to wake it up

OK, i have a stud, on the back, with two wires coming into one connector, one of those two is my wire that goes to the starter, at the same point as the pos bat cable. The other has a fuse on it and is hanging there. I don't know what it is for.

Then there is a 2-wire plug in the side, red and yellow/brown/black? is this for the tickle wire?

Should I send the wires to the battery post, or is it ok to go to the starter where the pos, bat cable connects?

When i hook up the tickle wire, can I remove the battery and still have the motor run?

Then there is a 2-wire plug in the side, red and yellow/brown/black? is this for the tickle wire?

Should I send the wires to the battery post, or is it ok to go to the starter where the pos, bat cable connects?

When i hook up the tickle wire, can I remove the battery and still have the motor run?


Yellow/brown/black is for the "exciter" in the alt. The alt senses voltgage and determines when to come on and charge. It should go to a 12V switched circuit. It's not required, as some have told you, if you increase the RPM's of the engine, the alt will charge. However it is a good idea.

As for your battery removal question, sounds like it's the only thing providing ground for your electrical system, so no, you can't remove the battery and expect it to keep running.

A ground from the engine to frame is OEM. You should do the same.

Yes the engine needs to be grounded.