Walt,
At the end of this email I have cut and paste a document I made up when
I explained what I did to add a GM alternator to my car. While much of
the writing deals with mounting the alternator upside down without
having to remove part of the alt. housing it also includes part numbers
from the local NAPA store. Let me know if you have any questions.
Aaron
Aaron Cropley
71 TR6 (Throttle Body Injection!)
http://www.triumphowners.com/108
Topsham, Maine
Well, after way too much time and way too cold fingers, the GM
Alternator conversion is done. I thought I would take a moment and
update the list on the slightly different procedure. I decided to see
if I could mount the GM alt without having to cut any of the casing or
do any other machining of parts. Should I ever need to replace the
alt, especially on a trip or other tight spot, I would be able to do it
without extra tools or modifications.
I wanted to see if I could mount the GM alt without having to take off
some of the casing so I tried mounting the alt upside down, with the
5/16b bolt on the bottom and the 3/8b bolt on the top. The alt needed
to be move forward about an inch to line up the pulleys so I used a
spacer on the bottom bracket to move it forward. It worked slick. The
problem I had was that the original bracket was nowhere near long
enough, as other people who have converted to a GM alt have indicated.
I went to a local junkyard today (about 15 degrees, but sunny) with my
emergency tool kit and scrounged around. After only the second vehicle
I looked at and only ten minutes there I found a late model Dodge Ram
Charger and removed the alt bracket. This alt bracket is quite long,
and is in an arc so it clears the fan blades on the new alt. I brought
it back to try it out and it was a close fit, but rather perfect. The
bracket makes it so the alternator sits about halfway between the
engine and the inner fender. With the alt farther away than before it
became necessary to increase the size of the fan belt so the new fan
belt is 44 5/8b now.
Now for the specifics. After removing the Lucas alt, fan belt and top
bracket, I mounted the GM alt upside down, using the 5/16b bolt,
inserting from the back of the engine forward in the following order:
Bolt, inserted into existing bracket on engine, flat washer, 1 inch
spacer, flat washer, then bolt is inserted into alt and tightened.
Place fan belt around all pulleys. Top bracket is mounted to the
engine at the same point as the old one and snugged, but not tightened.
Starting from back of engine, insert 3/8b bolt through flat washer, B=b
spacer, flat washer, through hole in alternator, through bracket, flat
washer and nyloc nut. Adjust alt back to tighten the fan belt as
necessary and then tighten the 3/8b bolt. Check and tighten all bolts.
Follow the instructions from Dan Masters for electrical connections as
written at the link below:
http://www.vtr.org/maintain/alternator/gm-tr6.html
One thing I didnbt find at the VTR site was instructions on where to
attach the ground wire after removing it from the Lucas alt. Those
having more experience will have known without instructions where to
place it. On the new GM alt, the bolt to hold the ground wire was
missing, so it wasnbt immediately obvious to me where to put it. And
the ground wire isnbt mentioned at all at the VTR site. I had to make
a new ground wire to go between the alt and the engine since the old
one wasnbt quite long enough. I have to give credit where credit is
due and a fellow lister, Rick Patton (and owner of the local NAPA
store) was very helpful, patiently answering my questions. He also
provided the spacer and cut it to length for me. In lieu of a spacer,
flat washers could be used until the desired thickness was achieved and
no cutting would be needed at all.
I am very pleased with how everything turned out, and how nice the
set-up looks. With the spacers it looks very clean. Started the car
up and not only does it charge just wonderfully with lights, heater
fan, etc. on, but the ignition light finally went off!!! I wasnbt able
to do a few things, due to the cold, and location of the car (garage
with no electricity) such as solder the electrical connections or apply
heat to the plastic shrink connecters on the wiring. Those will be
done in the spring after hibernation. Thanks also to the listers who
sent me pictures and answered my questions about how they installed
their GM alt. I have taken a few pics, but forgot my digital camera so
I have to take a trip back to the garage and document the final set-up.
Questions or comments anyone?
Materials List:
GM Alternator(NAPA Part #213-4011B) $33.99 + $11.00 core $43.99
Connector for Alt. (NAPA Part #VRC148) $3.52
Dodge Ram Charger Alt. Bracket(Local junkyard) $2.50
Alt Belt (NAPA Part #257440) 44 5/8" length $9.74
One 3/8" X 3" Bolt Grade 5 $.53
One 3/8" nyloc nut $.25
three 3/8" Flat Washer .06 ea. $.18
One 5/16" X 2.75" Bolt Grade 5 $.31
Two 5/16b flat washer .06 ea. $.12
3 packets of electrical connectors $2.49ea. $7.46
6b piece of ground wire (10-12ga?) $.50
1 metal spacer
FREE!!
Total $69.10
Aaron Cropley (warmer now and smiling)
71 TR6 (much colder, but smiling just the same)
|