Voltage drop with lights on

[ludsbug]

1971 1600 with generator. Without a load, no
Problem. Volt meter shows 13-14 volts while driving, but turn on the lights or turn signals and a voltage drop occurs. Drops below 12 volts and more. Any ideas

[vamram]

There are many threads about this. Clean all of your ground connections and other connections. corrosion on the old wiring causes resistance and voltage drops. You may have to clean and reterminate many connections. Look for posts from Ashman, he is THE Electro on the samba and has helped others with this issue countless times.
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[OLD VW NUT]

The body to engine/transaxle assembly ground strap would be first on my checklist of things to look for. Its right at the front of the transaxle. Bad grounds can cause voltage drops but so can the old hot side wiring if it has had to carry high amperage loads. The second place I'd check is the ignition switch - they carry high amperage loads when the headlights are on.
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[ludsbug]

[rockerarm]

Hi. Good advice here. Where are you checking this voltage at? Since you seem to have a 6v-12v converted car, possibly where the new 12v voltage regulator is may have some shoddy wiring. On an early car as you have a very basic harness can be fabricated from the 12v gen, to the 12v regulator, and to the starter to assure the charging system voltage is getting to the battery.
Now if your checking this voltage up in the front of the car its quite possible to have other wiring issues. Duplicate your test with the voltmeter at the B+ on the regulator and maybe at the D+ on the regulator. I would verify some more voltage readings prior to throwing parts at your car. It is quite possible you may have a voltage regulator that cant put out sufficient voltage for the light demands.
Hope this helps, Bill.

Many times, I will perform a visual inspection on the related wiring, disconnect the regulator and perform a voltage field grounding test to assure the generator is capable of putting out more than battery voltage, and possibly try a new solid state voltage regulator.

[ludsbug]