Automotive repair stupidity

[Short]

I’m driving over to my mom’s place Christmas eve in my 1970 VW Beetle. The about 15 miles out, my generator light begins to flicker. Guessing it was the voltage regulator, I do a quick parts-store-parking lot replacement, and have no trouble the rest of the trip. I arrive home, and while removing the various Christmas paraphernalia from my car, come across the instructions for replacing the voltage regulator. A step in the procedure jumps out at me

Polarizing the charging system (Caution: this operation is very important and these instructions must be followed exactly)...

The instructions go on to say to short out two of the terminals momentarily, before starting the car.

Needless to say, in my haste, I did not polarize the charging system.

My questions:
(i) What the devil is polarizing the charging system and

(ii) did I do serious damage to my car?

[Homer]

Since I've always worked with cars posessing alternators, my WAG is that while the system does and will work fine, you probably shortened the lifespan of the regulator quite a bit. Although, it may just be a cautionary procedure.

--Tim

[matt]

According to this site,

http://www.acvw.com/talk/polarize.htm

"polarising" the generator involves sending a pulse of current through it to make sure that the residual magnetism in the armatures is in the correct direction. This residual magnetism is what starts the generator off before it energises it's own static coils, so if it were in the wrong direction your generator would produce voltage of the opposite polarity to that expected.

I don't see this step being necessary unless you have a brand new generator. If you haven't had any problems, you're okay. If your generator had been polarised the wrong way, you'd probably know by now!

[matt]

I just realised, this implies that the generator on a VW is a DC device. Modern cars use alternators (which obviously don't need polarising) and a high power bridge rectifier to convert to DC.

[Short]

Originally posted by matt
I just realised, this implies that the generator on a VW is a DC device. Modern cars use alternators (which obviously don't need polarising) and a high power bridge rectifier to convert to DC.

Yep, VW Bugs had generators up until 1973 (I think), when they switched to alternators. In any case, my 1970 bug does indeed have a generator.

Thanks for the help (and for telling me good news)!