MG Car Repair: Lucas C40 generator, hacksaw blade, scotch brite

Question
Howard,

I recently removed a Lucas C40 generator from a 1961 Metropolitan.  It was making a horrible noise and I suspected the bearings.

Upon disassembly the bronze bushing was severely ground down (due to lack of oiling) and the sealed bearing at the other end felt rough.

The armature has made contact with the field coils but the field coils do not appear to be in that bad of shape.

I was wondering if replacing the bronze bushing and the sealed bearing would be sufficient or would the fact the armature and field coils have made contact be reason to dispose of the generator?

Also, it appears the commutator "segments" are touching in several places.  Is there a recommended method for cleaning up a commutator and establishing the correct spacing again?  I was thinking of using chucking up the armature in a lathe and using scotch-brite to clean up the commutator and using an awl or something similar to reestablish the proper spacing.

Thank you and I'm looking forward to your response.

Regards,

Brian

Answer
Hi Brian,
It would pay you to have the armature tested on a growler at a generator / alternator repair shop before you put a lot of work into repairing it with bearings and cleaning up the comutator and new brushes. They can test the field coils too. They can usually supply you with new bearings and brushes too.
You can clean up the comutator with any fine sand paper and clean between the segments with a broken piece of a hacksaw blade or such. Don't dig too deep as the insulation is what holds the segments tight.