tiny Delco Plant B6

A couple of months ago i bought a tiny Delco Plant at an auction. Finally popped it on the bench this wk end. Motor freed up ok but what an unusual piece.Stamped steed rod,External coil and points,removable cylinder. Anyway it is S/N 10844..svc # 4057..model B6..watts 150..volts 6.Questions..What is approx yr of manufacture ? Im guessing 40s. Does the coil input wire get voltage from a mag set up or does it pick it off the generator? There is a button on the gen [not the point grounding one on the motor] what is it for ? Coil ohm cks good but has swelled and popped 1 end cap off,any fix or new available? What is up with that weird carb? Looks like a float inside a float ??? Manuals avalable?

Thanks a lot

Gary Hargrave Norwood, N.Y.

The Delco B6 (6volt) B12 (12volt) was called a Little Joe. It is difficult to nail down a date of manufacture, because GM destroyed the records on Delco Light, or so I'm told. I think you are right about the 40's. The WW II military used these for battery chargers, and some were in tanks for some electric supply. The voltage for the coil was supplied by the generator and the battery being charged. The button on the generator is the start button. When a battery was attached it would provide the power to operate the generator as an electric starter. Original Delco coils are getting scarce, so don't pitch it untill you have exausted all avenues to save it. Epoxy might fix the end cap. Reprint manuals are available, but are a little hard to find. Not too many people want to mess with ANY generator.

"DELCO DON"

Go to Frank DeWitt's posting, on this board, about 4 October, use the link to get to his generator site. From there, you can get to Dr Delco's collection. Dr Delco sells reprints of the manual for the Little Jo as well as other Delco machines, about 10 bucks as I recall.