H regulator wiring

Hello All-
I am re-wiring a '48 or '49 H with magneto ignition and 6-volt starter and lights. It has a Delco generator and a Delco style regulator. My problem came up when replacing the wires going to the regulator from the ammeter/light switch box. The smaller of the two wires was connected near the bottom of the switch box but was not connected to the gen or regulator. From what I gather it is supposed to be wired to the Field terminal of the generator. Now for the tricky part- the VR I have has a "L" terminal on it with nothing hooked to it- what is the significance of this terminal? I have a hunch that it is the updated version of the old VRs and you hook the lonely wire to it and leave the Field terminal alone (Field terminal is already hooked to the "F" terminal of the VR) with the idea that it transfers energy directly to the lights without having the lights draw on the battery. Also, the diagram I have showing this wire hooked to the Field of the gen shows the gen Field NOT wired to the F on the VR while on diagrams lacking lights show the two wired together. If anyone can please help explain the way I should wire this up, I would greatly appreciate it. My VR is labeled to replace 1118305 and 1118790, and has L Bat and F on the left and a terminal on the bottom. Thanks, Lon Medbery

The original system was designed with no reguilator. The operator set the charge rate based on experience. The use of a regulator removes that wire from use all together.
One wire goes from the F terminal on the regulator to the F terminal on the Gen. 12ga is correct. One wire goes from the Gen (or ARM) terminal on the reg to the Arm Terminal on the Gen 10Ga is correct. One 10 gauge wire goes to the Bat terminal on the regulator and to the load side of the amp gauge. (side not connected to the Neg bat cable at the Starter Switch) the supply wire to the ignition and lights comes fro the L terminal 10gauge is correct. This scheme allows a little better control of bat charging voltage, than a single wire. Be sure to connect the L terminal to the light switch on the correct terminal, The terminal used for the (old not used) Field circuit is a ground, and will cause smoke if a hot wire is attached to it.
The light swithc will have two OFF positions Full CCW and the Next spot will be off. The next position will be Dim lights, then Full CW will be Bright. Jim

Thanks Jim- so to clarify, the wire I have from the light box that is currently unhooked should be connected the the L terminal on VR? And the way the rest is connected would be Bat to Ammeter, Gen Field to VR Field, and Gen Arm to bottom terminal on VR?

Except. The wire (now disconnected) is too small to handle theload applied to it.
AND the wire was used for the field circuit, and there is no field circuit going to the light switch in the new wiring you are doing. Abandon both ends of that wire, or remove it from the loom. Put a 10Ga. wire from L to the input wire to the light switch.
NOTE: there are two independent switches in the light switch. One is a ground system for the (not now used) regulation of field. It grounds through the switch body to the light box. The other switch in the light switch is a non grounded light switch. It has the new wire going to it, If you have a mag, there is no other wire on that terminal, if you have a coil ign. the ign button connects to the same terminal as the L wire from the regulator.
The resistors on the light switch ase sep[erate. one controlls Low Charge Rate, the other is the dimming resistor to reduce voltage to the lights. If this makes sense Good if not ask again. Jim

I think I see what you are saying, but which terminal in the switch box is it safe to connect to? And when this is done right, I should have a wire from Bat on VR to the load side of Ammeter, and one more wire from L on VR to the non-grounded light switch, correct? And I will have the Gen Field wired to the VR Field still, correct? Thanks for all your help.

The lower resistor in this image of the back of the switch is for the Generator system and is not used (can be removed) The power for the lights comes from the L wire to the bottom (lower in image) connector onm the fuse holder.
The front facing lights connect to the top screw in the image, at tie top of the dimming resistor.
The tail light hooks to the left most screw 9:00 O'clock position. Jim
The switch

That pretty well clears it up- I connected everything like you said and it all works! What threw me off was there was a wire from the ammeter to the bottom fuse screw to power the lights and the field resistor in the box still had a wire connected to it. The L terminal on the VR had nothing and I had a unconnected wire (from field resistor in box) sitting near the L terminal. Apparently what had happened was when someone changed it over from a cutout system to a VR, they did not change anything in the light/ammeter box. It seemed to work just fine for years, but I decided to re-wire it because it was intermittently charging (bad insulation on wires). So in the process of re-wiring I came across this half messed up VR installation. Now it is done right- Thanks a lot for your expertise (wiring gives me fits but I am learning).
Merry Christmas
Lon Medbery
Browns Valley MN

You are very welcome and Merry Christmas to you and yours as well. May the new year be prosperous. Jim