1959 Ford Galaxie - Generator Light On?

I recently purchased a 1959 Ford Galaxie. The dealer had the carburetor and the generator replaced prior to purchasing it, then charged the battery all day long.

Aside from it's own problems (minor things, the brake pads need to be redone soon), it drives okay but on the way home the Generator Light came back on. It's been on ever since.

Is there anything it could be? The generator is brand new, and the dealer put the previous one in the trunk and believes that it has nothing wrong with it either, and that there's something else going on. Neither one of us know what.

I bought this knowing it d be a project, I'm just not sure what it is specifically that I need to replace.

The vehicle, so far, starts up okay, it needs to have the gas pumped on it a few times while being started but I've heard that s pretty normal of older vehicles. Everything on it is original, including the engine.

I've only had it for a few days, I'm concerned one day that I ll find it dead in the yard if I don't get this looked at, there's nobody local that restores old cars however so I'm just wondering what y all have to say about it.

Sorry, I'm incredibly tired. The dealer had been having issues with the light popping on randomly and the vehicle not starting, that's why he had the carburetor rebuilt.

Put a multi-meter on the battery terminals without the car running and see what the reading is. It might be low and that's ok but it shouldn't be any lower than 6 to 8 volts. Then start the car and see what the reading is. The generator should be charging the battery so you should be getting at least 11 volts from the battery terminals with the engine running. If you're not getting at least, and a steady, 11v the next thing I would check is how the belt on the generator is. Shut the engine back off and check the belt tightness, and also check any and all wire connections.

How new is the new generator actually? Unless you have a receipt or record of where it was purchased you really don't know if it was a refurbished part or they got it from a junk yard and it's bunked to begin with.

I looked this part up because I'm not at all a fan of F words and I found them for $60 in the top results of a quick google search.

Any decent mechanic should be able to evaluate and fix this issue. If you're uncomfortable doing the evaluating yourself you really don't need a shop that does old cars to help you with this. I would, however, suggest going to a mechanic that has some good history under his belt that's a little older in age, at least in his 40s and is likely to have experience and know a thing or 2 about cars around your cars age.

Troubleshoot. Get a multimeter and find the generator output and the voltage across the battery while the engine is running.

The alternator should put out just over 14 volts measured across the battery terminals. Why did the dealer put the 'old' alternator in the trunk? Was it to convince you that he had fitted a 'new' one? I smell a rat. Take the car back and ask him how a new alternator can fail to charge.

On old generator and regulator charging systems the external regulator can go bad intermittently causing a no charge condition.
Do a search on youtube for "how do car generators work" and there may be a video showing how to test them and the wiring circuits.
Just a Google search may also bring up the information and wiring charts.

So your project is getting on the internet and asking every basic question about every problem. Google how to diagnose DC electric. Take classes. Don't open the hood and stare at it. Why oh why are you buying something so old and know didly squat about it? Brakepads?

Voltage regulator is bad based upon your posting.