Alternator

[bruce caldwell]

It has been a long time since I worked on a stock Alpine. As a result, I need some help: Can someone post a picture of a stock Series V alternator showing the mounting bracket with spacers, washers, etc? I am doing something wrong in terms of alignment. Thanks

 

[hartmandm]

Not sure my spacer and washer setup is stock, but here is what I have:
http://wp.mhartman.net/wp-content/uploads/20190609-001-water-pump-bolts.jpg


The alternator adjustment bracket is directly against the backside of the alternator. Note that I have an aftermarket aluminum water pump from Sunbeam Specialties. Everything appears to line up fine, though.
http://wp.mhartman.net/wp-content/uploads/20191117-001-cooling-system.jpg


Mike

 

[hartmandm]

Another photo from a better angle.

 

[hartmandm]

Alternator on lower bracket:

 

[Tom H]

Mike, it appears the "spacer" between the bracket and the water pump is a hex head. But it's on the shoulder of a bolt, so I assume it's an oversize nut. I believe the original spacer was an non-threaded round spacer. But I'm also guessing the dimension of your spacer is quite close to stock.

Tom

 

[65beam]

I have a couple original brackets that had a step up near the pump that allowed the bracket to set against the alternator without having to use a spacer. The problem is that they had a tendency to break. Round spacers are available at any hardware store. Zoom in on this and you'll see one of the spacers. My alternator is threaded where the bracket hooks. FYI, The straight brackets were used on the later Arrow range due to an entirely different water pump and everything else on the front of the engine. They were much stronger and superceded the original bracket.

 

[hartmandm]

Mike, it appears the "spacer" between the bracket and the water pump is a hex head. But it's on the shoulder of a bolt, so I assume it's an oversize nut. I believe the original spacer was an non-threaded round spacer. But I'm also guessing the dimension of your spacer is quite close to stock.

Tom

Yes. It appeared to me to be a slightly larger nut where the threads were possibly drilled out some. I could see remnants of threads internally. The nut sits on the shoulder of the bolt. The alignment of everything seems good.

65Beam's setup does raise a question of whether the spacer should be at the alternator versus the water pump. There might have been some late production change for that based on the Parts Manual showing a longer bolt and a distance piece.





Mike

 

[65beam]

Never noticed that in the parts book but it seems that the service departments had a usual problem. The reason for my spacer being where it is on our cars is that I've been there and done that. I used a spacer on the water pump but it seemed to set the bracket very close to the pulley. I found that using a longer bolt needed when using the spacer in that area makes it difficult to remove the bolt without loosening the pulley, etc. No need to do more than you need to if you're setting on the side of the road trying to fix something that broke. Back in the days when we drove the cars a lot it seemed I was changing the bracket quite often. This bracket was something that I always carried a spare one when we were on the road. I went as far as welding part of a broken bracket to a new bracket. The bracket broke near the pump. It seems any misalignment of the bracket puts a lot of stress on it. I bought a bag full of spacers and used trial and error to find a spacer that is a snug fit. Haven't had a problem with the set up on this car so it's one of those "if it ain't broken don't mess with it" situations. It worked for me but might not for others. This was a common problem so does anyone else have other suggestions or fixes you've found to work?

 

[hartmandm]

A beefier adjustment bracket design should help, with a corresponding shorter spacer if necessary to keep the proper alignment.

Hopefully Bruce has enough info from this discussion to figure out his alignment issue.

And there is some more parts info in the Parts Manual addendum. Looks like the spacer might have been at the water pump on earlier Series Vs.



Mike

 

[ChrisR]

I too had the offset bracket that broke on my SV. I now have a straight bracket and spacer at the alternator. Same setup as 65beams blue car. Also carry a spare just in case.

 

[65beam]

It wouldn't be too tough to make an adjusting bracket that is a combination of the thickness of the original bracket and the thickness of the spacer. I don't think it would ever break but could add a few pounds of weight to the car.

 

[hartmandm]

The Parts Manual only lists a single part number (1235179) for the alternator adjusting strap. That part number does not appear elsewhere in the Parts Manual. I assume that is the flat bracket I have on my series V. Were folks maybe using prior series generator brackets or do we think the Parts Manual didn't capture that an offset bracket was also used on series Vs?


Here's an earlier series generator bracket I had:





Mike

 

[65beam]

Good question Mike! I have original parts books for not only Alpines and Tigers but also Hillman, Singer and several other Rootes vehicles. In the back you will find what was named "amendments to the parts book". There were various reasons for these amendments. Some amendments gave a different part number to use or other info.This was before a parts clerk looked on his computer and said," the warehouse has one". They sold you a part that they had in stock and would work even if the part number was different than what the book said. Early series 5 used a different head and engine block than the later series 5 but the parts book shows only one block. I have a parts book from 01/68 that does show the early head superceded by the part number for the late head. The late series 4 had some features that carried over into series 5 production. Maybe early series 5 used the generator bracket until their supply was deleted. This all happened at least 50 + years ago so who knows what happened! Maybe there was no reason to reprint the parts books to reflect a change if all involved thought the parts guy knew what to sell you. A couple years ago I sold an NOS right front fender that had no parking / directional opening but had the part number tag for a series 5. I guess that could be called a universal part. FYI, The part you show would break at the offset where the adjusting slot starts. I have a couple broken ones stashed away. Do you notice anything different about my green car?

 

[hartmandm]

It looks the engine bay has parts from different Alpine series and there are some after market parts. Anything in particular that you want to point out?

Mike

 

[65beam]

Mike,
My point is that over the years improvements have been found that eliminate the problems that occurred over the years but still retain an original appearance. If that means deviation from using what the book says in order to improve reliability is that a problem? The brakes on this car are one of those improvements. There are parts of this car that have been modified based on long term knowledge from folks such as Nisonger, Tiger Tom, Doug Jennings and others but as I said still retain an original appearance.. These folks spent many years repairing and finding solutions for common problems. This car has had the full treatment.

 

[bruce caldwell]

Thanks for the info!

 

[hartmandm]

Mike,
My point is that over the years improvements have been found that eliminate the problems that occurred over the years but still retain an original appearance. If that means deviation from using what the book says in order to improve reliability is that a problem? The brakes on this car are one of those improvements. There are parts of this car that have been modified based on long term knowledge from folks such as Nisonger, Tiger Tom, Doug Jennings and others but as I said still retain an original appearance.. These folks spent many years repairing and finding solutions for common problems. This car has had the full treatment.

That's great there are many improvements and upgrades that can be made to these old cars. However, the point of the thread was an inquiry to what is the stock setup for a series V alternator to assist with an alignment issue. So my posts were about ascertaining what the various stock setups might have been to help the original poster address the alignment issue.

Mike

 

[65beam]

I posted photos that show how to install it so he won't have to repeat the process at a later date, still retain the stock appearance and keep it on the road.