We enjoy our Buick, a lot. On a trip to Mississippi for "Cruisin the Coast" one year we had an electrical issue. While driving down I49 in Louisiana I noticed the AMP needle was not showing a charge, not really discharging but not charging either. As it grew darker the head lights were also getting dimmer. I decided to stop in Natchitoches to see if I could determine whet the problem was. First thing I checked was the regulator. When I manually closed the contacts the lights would get bright and the needle would move to the charging area. I called the local Autozone and yes, they had a new regulator, we were in! We decided to drive another 60 miles and spend the night in Alexandria. Plan was to charge the battery then continue to Mississippi the next day during daylight hours to be safer.
The next morning BOB started right up and we were on our way. About 200 miles later I noticed the needle was showing not charging again. We pulled over and I closed the contacts on the regulator again and all was well so we continued our trip. We arrived in Mississippi that afternoon and checked into our hotel. I grabbed the phone book and located a repair garage not too far from us. Explained the situation and Mr. Barr said to come on right over. BOB did not want to turn over so we got a jump from the motel manager and were on our way.
We were greeted at the garage by a nice older man, said he had the garage for quite a few years. I told him what had happened and what I had done to get the car there he tested the generator and regulator again and the regulator was bad again. He said rather than buying another Autozone regulator, there was an electric shop between his place and our motel that was sure to have a Delco. He put a hot charge on our battery and we were going to pick up the new regulator on the way back in the morning.
We got to the electric shop at 7:00 am, when they opened. The only one there was a shop worker. When we asked about a regulator we were told we would have to wait for the parts man. He came outside to look at the Buick and then he asked some questions, one of witch was how much do we drive her. When we told him how many miles we put on the car he suggested converting to a one wire alternator with a built in regulator. He said he would make new brackets and nor alter anything that was stock. The AMP meter would still work as stock and we could keep everything removed should we want to change back in the future. We had them complete the generator replacement. They made and painted the new mounting brackets, wired everything up and tested it and it has been reliable ever since.
The conversion took only a few hours and we were on our way. Knowing that Mr Barr was expecting us with a new regulator, we drove to his shop. I explained what happened and that we replaced the generator and did not need to replace the regulator, Then I offered to pay for the charge he gave us the day before. After telling us that we definitely made the right decision, he refused payment for the battery charge and wished us well.
Less than a block away I shut the car off to show the wife how fast the battery charged and all was well. When I pushed the starter button, nothing. The car would not crank! I got out and opened the hood to see if the connections were tight and one of Mr. Barr's employees saw us and jumped in their truck with a booster battery. Jumping was no help, so hitting the starter was the next step. I taped it with my hammer a few times and it tried to turn over but only made about four revolutions, the starter was fried.
We pushed the car back to the garage and Mr Barr said the same place we got the generator would rebuild the starter for us. He would be glad to pull the started, take it to the electric shop to have it rebuilt and then replace it for us. Rather than have us wait in his garage he offered to take us back to the motel and would call when he was o his way to pick us up after rite repairs were made. Service like that can't be beat, and Mr Barr was a pleasure to deal with!
Every year since whenever we went to the Mississippi coast we would stop in to say hi and catch up with Mr Barr. This past October, 2004, we found his garage closed, and empty. It was a bit sad since we always enjoyed our visits.