[TR] TR3A Alternator conversion bracket pipe

[terryrs at comcast.net]

Dang it, Randall!  Work with me!  I figgered if I made it seem complicated I'd begin to earn my engineer credentials!  Rats.  I am only left to assume that logic has something to do with that engineering business.  Sadly disappointed and really must protest....  


...But alack, I guess I must confess that what I was trying to do was to eradicate any opportunity for the alternator's bracket to wiggle.  What you say makes sense:  welding might be overkill (or underkill, the way I weld).  But...would the ID of ordinary half inch pipe have a snug fit for the long bolt to eliminate any potential for wobble?  Is a snug fit actually necessary at all?


Thank you everyone who responded.  I hate to confess, but central/northern New Hampshire is...uhm...unsophisticated in terms of hardware stores.  (I had two television stations until the advent of satellite, and one of them didn't come in.)  Mostly just Home Depot and Lowes.  (But we do have really great state liquor stores!)  I'll try to find a metal shop or give E-Bay a once-over.  

Oh, just in case I'd convinced you I really WAS becoming an engineer, let me dispose of that little delusion with this:  several people responded mentioning a "pipe nipple."  What the heck IS that?  How does it differ from a pipe?

Thanks again,
Terry ('59 TR3A TS 58667)

> > When the snow clears a bit this spring, I'd like to beef up 
> > the alternator conversion by welding in the pipe between the 
> > ears of the bracket. 
> 
> I guess I'm missing something Terry. How is welding that pipe in place 
> going to beef up the mount ? Don't you already have a long bolt running all 
> the way through, that clamps the ears firmly to the pipe ? 
> 
> And is there some reason not to use ordinary 1/2" pipe (if your HD no longer 
> carries 3/8") ? 
> 
> When I need something like that, I usually just drop in at the local metal 
> supply; my favorite is M-K Metals. Sometimes they will have cutoffs they'll 
> sell me cheap, but even a 20' stick of 1/2" seamless steel tubing wasn't 
> very much. Of course that was some years ago, it may have gotten more 
> expensive. 
> 
> Or poke around on eBay, there's all sorts of cutoffs and whatnot for sale 
> there. 
> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190178828373 
> 
> Randall