том
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"If in doubt, flat out!"
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My dynamo's been shagged for about 2 years now, have to carry a spare battery with me everywhere i go, so i'm gettin off my ass and fittin an alternator.
Unfortunatly, as i'm skint i can't afford the propper one, so i'm puttin one i got for free on, of a metro or summit i think. It didn't have a pully on it, so i popped to Hereford Auto Electric and had a rummage through their scrap bin, the bloke down there found one to fit and put it on for me, 5 quid, done . ;D
Now though, as i haven't got the bracket to put it on the propper side of the engine i'm havin to mount it where the dynamo was, and the fittins on the alternator are on the wrong side, so i've gotta make some extention bars to bolt onto the bottom bracket. Why is it the drill bit you need is always blunt?
Anyway, if it works i'll eat my hat, but if it does, alternator power for a fiver, can't argue with that ;D
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1988 V8 Rangey Bobtail :: 1968 Volvo Amazon 133 Ratrod :: 1977 Land Rover 88 :: 1985 Opel Monza GSE :: 1983 MKII Fiesta
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том
Posted a lot
"If in doubt, flat out!"
Posts: 2,707
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UPDATE: I've broken 2 drill bits, melted 4 (surely drill bits shrinkin to fit the hole defies the point of them), got a few quite nasty burns and taken the skin off my one thumb. One bracket done, and the holes aren't quite big enough in the other yet, and i've run out of bits, so i've got the metal file on it now. I recon with the amount of drill bits i buy it'd be cheaper in the long run to buy a Flowjet. (hope i can still drive home after i've mounted this)
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1988 V8 Rangey Bobtail :: 1968 Volvo Amazon 133 Ratrod :: 1977 Land Rover 88 :: 1985 Opel Monza GSE :: 1983 MKII Fiesta
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Hi Tom,
By the alternator fittings being on the wrong side d you mean the mounting lug at the back? If so, you can change it - take out the three (or 4) long bolts and rotate the rear half of the alternator against the front half. The steel ring in the middle turns with the back half. Then re-fit the long bolts.
You can use the dynamo brackets, with a spacer tube or a big stack of washers between the rear bracket of the (shorter) alternator.
With the wiring there are three wires - the two big terminals go to the battery (only one is needed really) and the small one to the warning light. The feed to the ignition switch from the dynamo control box can go straight to the battery too.
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том
Posted a lot
"If in doubt, flat out!"
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Cheers jrevillug!
*quickly runs off to check his alternator, and wonders if he's just waisted the past 4 hours*
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1988 V8 Rangey Bobtail :: 1968 Volvo Amazon 133 Ratrod :: 1977 Land Rover 88 :: 1985 Opel Monza GSE :: 1983 MKII Fiesta
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том
Posted a lot
"If in doubt, flat out!"
Posts: 2,707
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Yep, 2 mins tops, lug holes the right side now, jrevillug i could kiss you
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1988 V8 Rangey Bobtail :: 1968 Volvo Amazon 133 Ratrod :: 1977 Land Rover 88 :: 1985 Opel Monza GSE :: 1983 MKII Fiesta
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When mine died I put an alt off a Volvo 960 I think it was, £25 posted. Put in on the other side, didn't have to make anything. It lined up near as dammit, needed one washer if I recall right. Dynamo's a handy doorstop in me garage now...
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'66 Amazon <-> '94 LS400 <-> '86 Suzuki 1135 EFE
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том
Posted a lot
"If in doubt, flat out!"
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With the wiring there are three wires - the two big terminals go to the battery (only one is needed really) and the small one to the warning light. The feed to the ignition switch from the dynamo control box can go straight to the battery too. Can anyone explain this in a bit more detail please ta ;D
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1988 V8 Rangey Bobtail :: 1968 Volvo Amazon 133 Ratrod :: 1977 Land Rover 88 :: 1985 Opel Monza GSE :: 1983 MKII Fiesta
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bortaf
Posted a lot
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R.I.P photobucket
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Right. If your came from a Metro it's very probably one of the following: - a Lucas ACR (bit dark, sorry): - a Lucas A127: Here are some diagrams of the back of alternators: Here is a wiring diagram of the Amazon's dynamo charging system. Ignore the B+ terminal on the generator unit and the wire connected to it, for the moment. The wire from the B+ terminal probably connects to the starter motor solenoid, rather than directly to the battery. This isn't the best wiring diagram, since it's too complicated, but it's the best I've found. However, if you ignore the green and purple wires (switched and permanent live) it's all you need. The thick red'n'white wire goes to the B+ terminal, while the brown wire goes to the WL terminal. So what you need to do is to remove the dynamo control box and it's wiring (mainly the DF and D+ wire), connect the B+ terminal of the alternator to the battery, and the charge warning light to the WL terminal of the alternator. If there is another wire connected to the B+ terminal of the dynamo control box, it's the wire that connects the fuse box and ignition switch to the power supply. That needs to be connected to the battery terminal. You could, in theory, move the wire from the B+ terminal and just connect it to the alternator. However, since the alternator will be more powerful than the dynamo, the wire will be under-rated and could over-heat, possibly catching fire. If you want more info, I'll take my own pics and do a complete new thread on it.
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Last Edit: Jul 4, 2009 18:23:36 GMT by jrevillug
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том
Posted a lot
"If in doubt, flat out!"
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dude, thats fantastic, thank you so much, what a legend ;D
Lets get wiring...
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1988 V8 Rangey Bobtail :: 1968 Volvo Amazon 133 Ratrod :: 1977 Land Rover 88 :: 1985 Opel Monza GSE :: 1983 MKII Fiesta
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том
Posted a lot
"If in doubt, flat out!"
Posts: 2,707
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Right, all wired up and seems to be workin, don't wanna count my chickens and all that, best go for a spin and see what happens.
Thanks again jrevillug
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1988 V8 Rangey Bobtail :: 1968 Volvo Amazon 133 Ratrod :: 1977 Land Rover 88 :: 1985 Opel Monza GSE :: 1983 MKII Fiesta
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том
Posted a lot
"If in doubt, flat out!"
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Well, took off from the workshop last night back home, only about 3 miles away, and about a mile into the trip there was an almighty backfire and the sled started coughin and weezing, so i pulled into the next layby, jumped out, and lifted the bonnet as 2 pi$$ed up travellers appered with about 14 dogs and decided to help me. lucky me :/.
Had a quick scan of the engine bay and saw the wired had hit the manifold and melted, so there was a mad dash to disconnect the battery with the two travellers hot on my heals, offerin me advice and tellin me where they lived for some reason.
Battery disconnected, me, 2 travellers and now 2 or 3 dogs all in the engine bay, i'm wonderin what to do and the travellers still tryin to work out whats wrong. Then as luck would have it an AA van pulled in, tidy, i can pinch a couple of cable ties off him to get home. At this point now i'm havin to explain everything to the travellers, i tell em whats happened and tell em i'm just gonna go borrow come ties, one of em decides to some with me to tell the AA man that he only lives round the corner and that i'm his mate, i don;t know why. I explain to the AA man, and he's good as gold, jumps straight in the back and gives me a hand full full of ties, i thank him and start to head back to the car as i hear in the background... "I only live round the corner, he's my mate..." ...and turn to see a very confused looking AA man.
I get back to car to be informed by the second traveller that my wires have hit the manifold and melted, i thanked him for workin it out, and wondered if he remembered me tellin him that about a minute earlier.
Tied the wires out the way, and she fired straight up, collected my tools, shook a couple of clamy pi$$ed man hands as they slured stuff to me, and couldn;t get out the layby quick enough.
I think i'll remember to check my wiring next time ;D
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1988 V8 Rangey Bobtail :: 1968 Volvo Amazon 133 Ratrod :: 1977 Land Rover 88 :: 1985 Opel Monza GSE :: 1983 MKII Fiesta
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том
Posted a lot
"If in doubt, flat out!"
Posts: 2,707
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Quick question, as the alternators right by the manifold now and i gonna have to heat shield it?
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1988 V8 Rangey Bobtail :: 1968 Volvo Amazon 133 Ratrod :: 1977 Land Rover 88 :: 1985 Opel Monza GSE :: 1983 MKII Fiesta
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том
Posted a lot
"If in doubt, flat out!"
Posts: 2,707
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another quick question: When the cars running, it seems to be running better than ever, but it's not startin that well, any thought?
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1988 V8 Rangey Bobtail :: 1968 Volvo Amazon 133 Ratrod :: 1977 Land Rover 88 :: 1985 Opel Monza GSE :: 1983 MKII Fiesta
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Mine is right under the exhaust manifold but it was never shielded from the factory. The alternator ought to keep the battery voltage higher than the dynamo did. How old is the battery, ie is there any chance it could be dying? When I swapped mine I decided a new battery was in order as well, just so I knew both were good.
I used to get into a vicious cycle with the dynamo. The dynamo would start to die so the battery was continually running low and in turn the battery would die. Replace the dynamo. Dynamo would be working too hard keeping the dead battery charged, starter motor would be struggling by cranking with the volts too low, battery would eventually give up, replace it, then the starter would be going and the dynamo stuggling to keep up which in turn would die etc etc etc. The the car spares place got eggy with me keep replacing parts under warranty... An alternator solved all the problems ;D
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том
Posted a lot
"If in doubt, flat out!"
Posts: 2,707
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battary's only a couple of months old, bought a new'un when i got test. Granded it has been run flat, cos the dynamo wasn;t chargin, but it's been charged and put back on fresh on friday. I was startin fine untill i put the alternator on, so it must be summit do with that
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1988 V8 Rangey Bobtail :: 1968 Volvo Amazon 133 Ratrod :: 1977 Land Rover 88 :: 1985 Opel Monza GSE :: 1983 MKII Fiesta
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