I disagree about the generator. Properly set up it would be fine in a car that has little more than a starter. I had no issues running one for 14 years in a 63 Rambler American that was a daily driver. Well, maybe an issue once. I was driving cross country pulling a utility trailer across the Rockies through a snow storm, moving from Idaho to South Carolina (USAF). It was very cold and I was running the car lights and trailer lights all the way. Finally found a place to stop for the night somewhere in the mountains short of Cheyenne, WY. That morning it was 9 degrees and the car refused to turn over fast enough to start, had to get a jump. Now was it the generator running the extra lights (and heater fan!) for 5-6 hours straight, or just the cold??? I'd pulled the trailer many times, maybe once for as long, but not over night, so no headlights (the biggest power draw). I'd had the car three years when this happened. Never had an issue after. The only additional power was the radio, a 88 or so cheap head unit/cassette player. It drew a lot less power than the old original tube AM radio though!
