Hi folks,
Well the generator on Casper (TR3) finally gave up ... major
bearing squeal ... I ordered the conversion kit from "Art" at
trparts.com, and it arrived it good time, the instruction were very
clear, and no real problems with the installation ... at first ...
Welll the kit hangs the alternator from the front bracket
of the old generator mount. And that seems to work, but the more
I thought about it the more I became worried about the weight and
torque on that 1/8 inch bracket. Soooo, with advice from my
favorite TR guy (Herman) I decided to get a long bolt, some
sleeves and use BOTH ends of the old mount. Measured everything and
concluded i needed a 6 inch bolt. Only to discover that the bolt
was too long to slide through the mount from either side, cross
frame tube on the front, and headers on the rear ... so I bit the
bullet and removed the old mount from the block, which turned out
to be a good thing as the rear hole was misshapen. (Did I
mention that one of the reasons the old generator failed was that
the rear bolt holding it had gone missing??)
So I put the whole thing together, and was happily adding
the alternator when I discovered the bolt was too short ...
pulled it all out and measured the bolt ... 5.5 inches.
Luckily I had the foresight to buy a couple of longer bolts,
saving a trip to the local hardware store (I thought) so I
measured the 7 inch bolt ... 6.75 inches ...OK I can use that one
... except the bushings will only go down about 1/2 way on the
bolt where they become "stuck". Yep another trip to the hardware
store, this time with bushing in hand, it took me 5 bolts
before I found one "round enough" for the bushing to slide easily.
BTW the bolts were 3/8 x 16, as were the bushings. (3/8 that is)
Finally installed everything, including the new fan belt
that "Art" suggested, and lo and behold all works well ...
ignition light goes out, ammeter works, as do all the lights,
fans, wipers ... Yahoooo...
A lot of work and frustration, but now the weight of the
alternator is cantilevered over the entire old generator mount,
and I can sleep easily ...
Press on Regardless ...
--
Bill Pugh
1957 TR3 TS16765L
aka
Casper
AnnaBelle Pugh
1970 TR6 CC59179L
aka
Rosey
Wallace, CA
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