Moving the voltage regulator under the seat? (6v to 12v)

1966veedub · Post by **1966veedub** » Tue Jan 05, 2016 11:06 pm

Has anyone relocated the voltage regulator from the engine area to under the rear seat? I know that my '68 had it under the rear seat from the factory, but I just had my '66 bug's motor rebuilt and received it back without the voltage regulator and was told I need to install one under the rear seat. Has anyone done this? Or can anyone give advice on how to do this, including what wiring steps, wiring sizes, connections etc. are necessary? Thanks for any help.

darzoom · Post by **darzoom** » Wed Jan 06, 2016 6:58 am

It can be mounted wherever you want. The stock location for the 6V 66 VR was on top of the generator as the wires from the brushes went directly into the VR. The VR was moved under the seat in 67.

If you changed to 12volt (as I did) and want the stock "look", you may need to drill and tap a hole in the generator as some 12v generators did not have the mounting holes. If you are trying to keep the stock "look", it should be mounted on the generator.

My VR was moved to the left side firewall a long time ago. But, I am relocating it to under the seat to clean up the engine bay. I am thinking of dual 34's in the coming year.

If you have the stock wiring harness and want the VR under the seat, look at the attached wiring diagram (also in the tech section) to determine which wires need to be separated from the loom under the seat.

The hardest part will be removing the insulation from the loom and not cracking ~50 year old wire. If you want to insert new wires from the under seat location on (would be my choice) and make a new charging loom only, 16 gauge is adequate for most leads except for main charging lead which should be 8 or 10 gauge wire. Connectors will be determined by what is needed at the generator and the VR.

If the pictures you posted on the Samba of the refurbished pan is yours, I am sure you are putting new wiring. To move the VR at that stage of your restore (if you want) should be a no brainer. The only decision is stock or not.

1966veedub · Post by **1966veedub** » Wed Jan 06, 2016 7:31 am

Thanks for the info. Yes, the car in The Samba is mine. This will by no means be any kind of show car, and I wasn't planning on putting new wiring, but unfortunately my motor rebuilder didn't give me the wiring portion of the VR, so now I'm stuck with the task of figuring how to wire the new VR (on order) properly. Do you think I should see about purchasing a used VR wiring and using that?

darzoom · Post by **darzoom** » Wed Jan 06, 2016 9:09 am

If the wires to the engine compartment are missing (strange the engine builder would cut them out), you can open the loom under the seat and add wire as needed to the engine compartment. The VR will determine the needed connectors.

Or, install under the seat and extend with new wires to the engine compartment and starter. It is only 3 wires so should be pretty easy.

As far as a new or used VR wiring, I would not purchase 50+ year old wire. The wiring diagram is on the main page under "Wiring Diagram" so you can see what wires are needed.

You can do this. Good luck!

darzoom · Post by **darzoom** » Wed Jan 06, 2016 9:15 am

darzoom · Post by **darzoom** » Wed Jan 06, 2016 9:55 am

Combined into answer above.

1966veedub · Post by **1966veedub** » Wed Jan 06, 2016 11:57 am

darzoom wrote:If the wires to the engine compartment are missing (strange the engine builder would cut them out), you can open the loom under the seat and add wire as needed to the engine compartment. The VR will determine the needed connectors.

For some reason the guy rebuilding my motor thought my bug was a later model than a '66, and assumed I was going to have a VR under my back seat. I'm still shaking my head at this whole ordeal. I think to make things simpler, I'm going to stick to mounting it on the fan shroud and see if I can get some kind of diagram that shows what wires go where and find what gauge wire is needed. Otherwise, I may have to rely on 50 year old wiring to get me through this. I'd like to get my bug on the road this year!

darzoom · Post by **darzoom** » Wed Jan 06, 2016 1:02 pm

I attached the wiring diagram for the VR, generator and starter earlier in this post. The complete diagram is on the main page. Also, the wire size for the large wires is 8 or 10 gauge and the smaller idiot light wire is 16 gauge. BTW, there is a lot of vibration on the shroud and the sheet metal screws may work out as evidenced by the pictures of the shroud on the Samba. If you can not mount it solid on top of the generator, you may want to consider mounting on the right side of the firewall where the wires come through. Then create a short harness from there.

Good luck.

1966veedub · Post by **1966veedub** » Wed Jan 06, 2016 7:45 pm

Thanks darzoom. I think I'm going to try mounting it if not in the same holes from the prior VR, I'll at least try covering them up. Someone had suggested using nutrserts, which is probably what I'll do.

darzoom · Post by **darzoom** » Tue Jan 12, 2016 8:35 am

How did it turn out?

1966veedub · Post by **1966veedub** » Tue Jan 12, 2016 10:24 am

darzoom wrote:How did it turn out?

I haven't done anything yet. Ordered a new VR and am waiting for the weather to warm up a bit since my work area is outdoors...

Blue Baron · Post by **Blue Baron** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 1:31 am

I did it on my '61. It was switched to 12 volt, and the regulator was on the firewall, which I didn't like. It was a simple matter of rewiring.

In my case, I put the regulator on the right side, next to the battery. That way I didn't have to drill any holes (other than the two to mount the regulator itself). I ran the wires through the battery cable hole.

Most people eliminate the problem entirely by switching to an alternator with built-in regulator, but I'm old school.

1966veedub · Post by **1966veedub** » Sat Jan 23, 2016 8:06 am

Yeah, my financial status doesn't allow for an alternator at this time, but maybe in the future. I'm leaning towards mounting the VR on the fan shroud like most do. I'll post an update here when I've completed whatever it is I end up doing.