Hi, Folks,
I replaced my Lucas generator and voltage regulator this weekend with a GM
- AC Delco alternator with internal regulator. I'll skip the originality
debate and leave that for others. I will say that other than clipping off
the original slip terminals on the car and bending a replaceable bracket,
no changes were made to the car.
Dan Masters has information on the conversion up at the VTR site, but when
I wrote him a year or so ago for clarification on a point, he sent me some
revised instructions. The directions at the VTR site had an error in them
at the time. I don't know if that error has been corrected. The
instructions Dan sent me are attached at the bottom of this email.
My questions to Dan were about the mechanical aspects of the swap. Namely,
how did you adapt the car to a narrow belt, or how do you adapt the
alternator to a wide belt and how does the alternator attach to the
car? He wasn't positive on either point, but mentioned that some people
had no problems and some people had lots of problems.
I guess I was somewhere near the middle. : ^ )
Here's what I did:
I decided to keep the wide belt and not mess with the water pump or crank
pulley. I looked briefly into some kits that change the early wide-pulleys
to narrow ones, but they were too expensive for my taste. ( more than $300 )
My car was already Negative Ground, and this is required by the
conversion. Fortunately the Negative ground conversion is insanely easy.
a) Switch the terminals on the battery.
b) Switch the terminals on the coil.
c) Switch the terminals on the amp meter.
I bought a rebuilt GM alternator for $40 and paid the $10 core charge as
well. It was rebuilt by Total Quality Remanufacturing and is rated at 60 amps.
Step 1 ( Modify Pulley )
I removed the stock, cast-iron pulley from the Lucas generator and had it
drilled out to the same size as the pulley that I removed from the GM
alternator. The cast iron pulley was the same 'stack height' as the GM
pulley and replaced it perfectly. I retained the fan that came with the GM
alternator.
Step 2 ( Modify alternator )
I put the alternator in place and found that the mounting boss on the GM
alternator was too thick, causing the pulley to be about 1/2" too far
forward of the water pump and crank pulley.
Rather than modify my TR's mounting bracket, I cut a small piece of the GM
alternators' boss off with a hacksaw. A portion of the boss I removed was
built up with some webbing on either side, and this is the portion I cut
off. ( Look at a GM alternator and you'll see what I mean. )
The alignment was perfect then, and I attached the alternator with a good
3/8" bolt to the stock generator bracket which attaches to the block.
Step 3 ( Modify stock tension bracket )
The slotted tension bracket for the adjustment of belt tension didn't align
with the GM alternator's other 'ear', so I simply increased the amount of
offset it already had with the use of a vise and a large cresent wrench.
Step 4 ( New Belt )
The stock belt was too short now. A trip to the Big Guns of car parts
stores, NAPA, and I had a new 3/4" x 40" belt that fit perfectly. The belt
is made by Gates.
Step 5 ( Wiring )
I followed the instructions from Dan on using the stock wiring. They were
dead-on accurate for my early TR4 down to the colors on the wires.
Step 6 ( The Acid Test )
So I stand back, double-check my wiring, ponder for a moment who this Dan
Masters guy is that I'm trusting with the wiring of my favorite toy, and
fired it up. The red light went out and the amp gauge showed the battery
being replenished with juice. The voltage at the battery was 14.25 volts
at idle.
A weekend of enthusiastic driving has not found any problems with the
conversion.
The conversion cost $50 for the alternator, $10 to have the pulley drilled
out and $17 for the belt plus a few misc. electrical connectors.
All hail to Dan Masters! King of TR wiring!
-jeffrey
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