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AC Delco name and history?

Started by TJ Hopland, August 24, 2016, 10:20:37 AM

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TJ Hopland

I did some digging and found that AC is apparently Albert Champion who started Champion spark plug company in 1906.   Apparently wasn't happy with his partners so he left and went to work for Durant at Buick so that is how he and the name became part of GM.   

Didn't see much on the Delco name till the 60's and 70's when they attached it to other brand names but it appears that it was around way before that.   Anyone know anything about the Delco name?
StPaul/Mpls, MN USA

73 Eldo convert w/FiTech EFI
80 Eldo Diesel
90 CDV
And other assorted stuff I keep buying for some reason

Caddyholic

I found this on wikipedia.

Delco Electronics Corporation was the automotive electronics design and manufacturing subsidiary of General Motors based in Kokomo, Indiana. The name Delco came from the Dayton Engineering Laboratories Co., founded in Dayton, Ohio, by Charles Kettering and Edward A. Deeds in 1909.[1] Delco was responsible for several innovations in automobile electric systems, including the first reliable battery ignition system and the first practical automobile self-starter.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delco_Electronics
I got myself a Cadillac but I can't afford the gasoline (AC/DC Down Payment Blues)

1961 Series 62 Convertible Coupe http://bit.ly/1RCYsVZ
1962 Coupe Deville

Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621

DELCO - Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company founded by Charles Kettering, inventor of the electric starter.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delco_Electronics
A Cadillac Motorcar is a Possession for which there is no Acceptable Substitute

TJ Hopland

Cool, I wonder why I didn't find that.   I figured it would be tied to another well known name. 

That 1905-1915 looked to be a very interesting time in the automotive front.    Guys like Ford and Durant must have really been on top of things to gather up many of the best people and ideas and put them together and survive. 
StPaul/Mpls, MN USA

73 Eldo convert w/FiTech EFI
80 Eldo Diesel
90 CDV
And other assorted stuff I keep buying for some reason

Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621

Here is a well known picture of "Boss Kett" working on his brainchild, the self-starter.

A Cadillac Motorcar is a Possession for which there is no Acceptable Substitute

TJ Hopland

Did the original Kettering starter use the Bendix drive?  I see that Vincent patented that in 1910.   IF so what was Kettering's big breakthrough?   Other than working out a decent motor design I would think that drive was the real trick.   
StPaul/Mpls, MN USA

73 Eldo convert w/FiTech EFI
80 Eldo Diesel
90 CDV
And other assorted stuff I keep buying for some reason

64\/54Cadillacking

A friend of mine told me that Fords in the later 60's and 70's started using AC Delco parts in their cars because they were so good and reliable.

For instance my 78 Lincoln has a GM A/C compressor A-6, the same exact one that's in my 64 Caddy and probably many of yours too. Even the smaller things like ignition switches were GM based. They have a Ford part number, but then the last bits of it are AC Delco part number. Funny how Ford started using GM stuff later on. ;D
Currently Rides:
1964 Sedan Deville
1954 Cadillac Fleetwood 60 Special
1979 Lincoln Mark V Cartier Designer Series
2007 Lexus LS 460L (extended wheelbase edition)

Previous Rides:
1987 Brougham D' Elegance
1994 Fleetwood Bro
1972 Sedan Deville
1968 Coupe Deville
1961 Lincoln Continental
1993 Lincoln Town Car Signature Series
1978 Lincoln Continental ( R.I.P.) 1978-2024 😞

TJ Hopland

It kinda looks like Kettering basically put together the complete electrical system.  It looks like most of the bits existed in one form or another but no one had got them all working together as a system before.
StPaul/Mpls, MN USA

73 Eldo convert w/FiTech EFI
80 Eldo Diesel
90 CDV
And other assorted stuff I keep buying for some reason

Jay Friedman

#8
The Delco (Kettering) system incorporated:

1. ignition using a circular type distributor with rotor, condenser, points and a coil  (Very early cars used a dry cell battery with a timer or a magneto for ignition.);

2. a storage battery and generator, which not only permitted electric starting but also electric lights;

3. the electric starter.  (I don't know about the drive but I do know that Model Ts had a Bendix-type drive when adopting electric starters in 1919.)

The Delco system became the industry standard (though on today's cars ignition is different in some respects).  Many makes used Delco systems purchased from GM, though Autolite became a competitor with similar products.  Ford held out the longest against it: Ford products did have Delco type starters and generators from the '20s, but all Ford makes only adopted the Delco type (circular) distributor in 1949 after Henry died.  Lincoln V8s used a Delco distributor for a while in the '20s and early '30s but then reverted to the Ford type in the late '30s. 
1949 Cadillac 6107 Club Coupe
1932 Ford V8 Phaeton (restored, not a rod).  Sold
Decatur, Georgia
CLC # 3210, since 1984
"If it won't work, get a bigger hammer."

TJ Hopland

I didn't think about the distributor.  I suppose to a degree cars were the first place where they really tried to use multi cylinder engines.  With stationary engines they just made em bigger if they needed more power.  Just another example of something that seems so simple but was probably a big roadblock for a while.
StPaul/Mpls, MN USA

73 Eldo convert w/FiTech EFI
80 Eldo Diesel
90 CDV
And other assorted stuff I keep buying for some reason

Jay Friedman

I guess what we take for granted today, were a series of engineering advances 100 years ago.  Kettering and the Delco system certainly was a major advance.  Some of the early systems were quite complicated, however, in some instances with generators and distributors being combined in one unit. 
1949 Cadillac 6107 Club Coupe
1932 Ford V8 Phaeton (restored, not a rod).  Sold
Decatur, Georgia
CLC # 3210, since 1984
"If it won't work, get a bigger hammer."

J. Gomez

J. Gomez
CLC #23082

Glen

Quote from: TJ Hopland on August 24, 2016, 11:15:19 AM
Did the original Kettering starter use the Bendix drive?  I see that Vincent patented that in 1910.   IF so what was Kettering's big breakthrough?   Other than working out a decent motor design I would think that drive was the real trick.

I’m sure someone will correct me if I am wrong, but as I recall the first self-starter was permanently connected to the engine and doubled as the generator.       
Glen Houlton CLC #727 
CLCMRC benefactor #104

Jay Friedman

No, you are right.  Some early starters and generators were combined in one unit and were known, naturally, as starter-generators.  This made for a complicated piece of equipment.   
1949 Cadillac 6107 Club Coupe
1932 Ford V8 Phaeton (restored, not a rod).  Sold
Decatur, Georgia
CLC # 3210, since 1984
"If it won't work, get a bigger hammer."

bcroe

Quote from: TJ Hopland on August 24, 2016, 02:41:34 PM
It kinda looks like Kettering basically put together the complete electrical system.  It looks like most of the bits existed in one form or another but no one had got them all working together as a system before. 

That was just the beginning.  Kettering developed the light weight 2 cycle diesel
for diesel electric locomotives, which ended a century of steam.  Then there were
the Cad and Olds V8s in 1949.  Bruce Roe

Whit Otis, 1188

Actually Ford started using GM stuff way before the 1970's. Lincoln used the GM Hydramatic as did several other makes back in the 1950's.  As to starter / generators, my 1963 Cub Cadet lawn tractor has one on it made by Delco.  Many other types of equipment (farm tractors, construction equipment, etc) also used Delco products.  I think Lincoln also used GM power steering for a period of time, but not sure just exactly when... 60's or maybe the 70's???  Whit
Whit Otis -
1941 6219D Custom
1941 6219D
1940 7533F
1986 Mercedes Benz 560 SEL
1999 Bentley Arnage
2019 XT5
Drawing of AP Sloan Custom by Terry Wenger

Roger Zimmermann

Quote from: Whit Otis, 1188 on August 25, 2016, 11:35:59 PM
  I think Lincoln also used GM power steering for a period of time, but not sure just exactly when... 60's or maybe the 70's??? 
Since some years, I'm building a '56 Continental Mark II scale 1:12. I had the opportunity to have at disposal a real steering box to take dimensions from it; it was a Saginaw part. Lincoln had the same equipment (which makes sense since Lincolns and Continentals had several identical assemblies like engine/transmission, front suspension and steering, brakes, etc.
1956 Sedan de Ville (sold)
1956 Eldorado Biarritz
1957 Eldorado Brougham (sold)
1972 Coupe de Ville
2011 DTS
CLCMRC benefactor #101

fishnjim

Parts have always been sourced.  Bendix, Moraine, Wagner, A/C & radiators were Harrison, Saginaw (steering), Packard Elec did wiring harnesses/connectors, they even occasionally bought from Essex(chrysler), AC - ignition, etc.   Bearings & seals came from the major suppliers, Timken, etc.   We get that impression that every manufacturer made everything in house from Henry when he tried to make everything in house, even grow his own trees, but as the technology changes, the suppliers drive that.   There were over 100 car makers in the '10-20's and no way they could all make every part.
GM consolidated alot in the '70s and beyond, when AC Delco was created and these were either closed, combined, spun, or sold.   Just like most business as they react to market pressures.   Now we have global sources.
My ('49) Packard has AC parts but the very same models were made with all autolite(ford) just as there are '58s with the 2 different brand brake boosters.   So it wasn't unique to American Motors.