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Triumph TR6 - Alternator mounting

This is one of those jobs that didn't need doing but which has somehow been added to my list...

My car is a 1975 model, so came with the air pump. the air pump is now gone, but the alternator remained in its inaccessible location down by the steering rack. During the engine work I found that my timing chain had been so loose that it had gouged a bit out of the front engine plate, which was all the encouragement I needed to buy one of Joe Alexander's alloy plates (very nice chap and beautiful parts, by the way). Of course he only makes the plates for the early cars. No problem, I thought, since an early alternator mounting bracket was on ebay for a reasonable price. I now have all of the mounting parts, so I thought I was ready to go. This afternoon (while I should probaby have been working) it struck me that the alternator I have has the adjustment mounting on the wrong side - below the pivot mounting, instead of above. Oh dear. I haven't been and looked because the alternator is pretty inaccessible at the moment, but it occurred to me that I might be able to undo the three long bolts holding the front and back together, twist the front housing 120 degrees and bolt it back up. This would leave the threaded hole in the wrong place, but I could always drill/tap the holes to suit. Is this an option? Will I need to remove the pulley etc?

Going for a Bosch alternator would probably be the logical solution, but I have an 18ACR alternator that already puts out 45amps, and it appears to be a fairly new replacement, so if I can use it I would prefer to do so.

Thanks, as usual
Alistair
A Hewitt

Hi Alistair,
My '75 had no air pump when it came in to my home, but my alternator is very easy to access..I have attached some pix which may help, if you need bigger individual pix just let me know.
Hope this helps
Charlie

Charlie B.

Hi Charlie

Thanks for the photos. That's the orientation I am going for - the '75 originally had the adjusting bracket at the bottom, with the adjusting link connected to the front engine plate close to the bottom. I can't see if you have the early or late pivot bracket - the late one has a second pivot to mount the air pump above the alternator.

What I need to do is change the orientation of the front housing on the alternator so that it has the pivot at the bottom and adjustment connection at the top. It might not work at all if the threaded hole and pivot hole are not interchangeable. Just wondered if anyone had either done this, or had taken the alternator apart and could tell me whether it could be turned the way I want to do it.

Cheers
Alistair
A Hewitt

Hi Alistair,
When you look at the OE alternators it looks like the front housing can simply be rotated (one threaded rod) to swing the suport bracket to the top. I think it is worth a try. Lets face it, the whole thing is taken apart when it gets rebuilt. Who knows, maybe just removing the 3 threaded rods will allow the front plate assembly to turn without actually doing any disassembly.
Rick
Rick Crawford

Alistair
Look at the image of the 18ACR. Like I said, it looks like the front frame can simply be rotated with just removing the 3 bolts (EB12).
Worth a try.
Rick

Rick Crawford

Alistair,
Spinning the front housing 120* is what's normally done during some of the alternator conversions (sometimes called "clocking"). Just remove the three bolts and rotate the front housing. You may have to pull the front housing a little forward to clear, but that's about as tough as it gets. Reinstall the bolts and you're done.

Since the threaded ear is now in the wrong spot for the tensioner bracket, substitute a longer bolt with a nyloc nut. That will keep it from shaking loose and causing problems later.

Tom
Tom Sotomayor

This thread was discussed between 25/01/2008 and 27/01/2008

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