73 Centurion
05-20-2010, 04:03 PM
Hello everyone,
My voltage regulator suffered a quiet death sometime during the long cold winter. :sleep:
I had purchased a chrome alternator in the past and liked the look, but another one would be more money than I'm prepared to shell out right now. I decided to try my hand at rebuilding the alternator.
It was surprisingly easy, and I'm happy to say it works perfectly. It's only been a month so time will tell how the parts hold up but for now I'm happy. :D
There are a few tips I'd like to pass along.
There are some good instructions on the net with pictures for the process. I didn't have a camera so I didn't take any pictures.
I had 2 alternators in my parts pile. I think the first is the original one from the car. There is no play in the pulley. I kept it when it crapped out in the distant past. I also had an older chrome version I got in a salvage yard. The bearings in this one are worn out, I may tacklie that later.
I decided to rebuild my chrome version and the original one. I was a bit leary of replacing the bearings and I thought 1 spare would be sufficient. I bought 2 rebuild kits.
I would recommend you buy the most comprehensive kits. In particular make sure they include the bolts for the voltage regulator and their insulating sleeves. The bolts from my original alternator were too large to fit through the new regulator with the sleeves on. (Skipping the insulating sleeves is NOT an option). With the new bolts and sleeves it fell together easily.
There are detailed instructions on the web so I'll give a breif overview.
Disconnect the battery and wrestle the alternator out of the car. Clean it and spray some penetrating oil on the bolts and the iron wring around the middle of the alternator.
Unless you are replacing the bearings it is NOT necessary to remove the pulley or fan. This is good news because getting the pully off requires a large deep socket and usually an impact wrench.
Make note of how the front and back of the alternator are aligned. They can bolt together four ways and you want to put it back the way you found it. There are four bolts around the outside of the housing. With the four bolts out you can seperate the 2 halves. My chrome one came apart easy. The original one fought me pretty hard. I used a large screw driver to gently pry the two halves apart working in stages. Creating an eighth inch gap all the way around then expanding it to quarter inch etc.
Once opened you can lift out the core. The windings are attached by 3 nuts to a big aluminum block (the diodes). Undo the nuts and wiggle the windings out. Again the chrome one came easy and the original fought.
Study the back of the alternator noting which bolts have insulators. There are tests you can do to determine the health of each component or you can take the simple route and replace everything. The diodes bolt in easy enough. The voltage regulator and the brushes fit together like a puzzle held together by bolts. 2 of the 3 bolts must have insulators and the third does not, get this wrong and you will let out the magic smoke.
The brush holders have a small hole at one end. Stuff the new brushes in and slip a paper clip through the holes to hold them in place. The paper clip will stick out a hole in the back of the alternator.
The power post has insulators to keep it from grounding on the case. One of mine was cracked so I replaced that as well.
A little sand paper cleaned the corrosion off the original housing so it wouldn't fight. Emery cloth or scotch bright pads will polish up the copper contacts on the core. Clean the housing and paint if you feel like it.
Reassembly is the reverse of disassembly. Start at the back of the alternator and work your way up. When it's all together pull out the paper clip.
I don't fully understand how all of the parts work. I just put everything back the way I found it, and it works beautifully.
John
My voltage regulator suffered a quiet death sometime during the long cold winter. :sleep:
I had purchased a chrome alternator in the past and liked the look, but another one would be more money than I'm prepared to shell out right now. I decided to try my hand at rebuilding the alternator.
It was surprisingly easy, and I'm happy to say it works perfectly. It's only been a month so time will tell how the parts hold up but for now I'm happy. :D
There are a few tips I'd like to pass along.
There are some good instructions on the net with pictures for the process. I didn't have a camera so I didn't take any pictures.
I had 2 alternators in my parts pile. I think the first is the original one from the car. There is no play in the pulley. I kept it when it crapped out in the distant past. I also had an older chrome version I got in a salvage yard. The bearings in this one are worn out, I may tacklie that later.
I decided to rebuild my chrome version and the original one. I was a bit leary of replacing the bearings and I thought 1 spare would be sufficient. I bought 2 rebuild kits.
I would recommend you buy the most comprehensive kits. In particular make sure they include the bolts for the voltage regulator and their insulating sleeves. The bolts from my original alternator were too large to fit through the new regulator with the sleeves on. (Skipping the insulating sleeves is NOT an option). With the new bolts and sleeves it fell together easily.
There are detailed instructions on the web so I'll give a breif overview.
Disconnect the battery and wrestle the alternator out of the car. Clean it and spray some penetrating oil on the bolts and the iron wring around the middle of the alternator.
Unless you are replacing the bearings it is NOT necessary to remove the pulley or fan. This is good news because getting the pully off requires a large deep socket and usually an impact wrench.
Make note of how the front and back of the alternator are aligned. They can bolt together four ways and you want to put it back the way you found it. There are four bolts around the outside of the housing. With the four bolts out you can seperate the 2 halves. My chrome one came apart easy. The original one fought me pretty hard. I used a large screw driver to gently pry the two halves apart working in stages. Creating an eighth inch gap all the way around then expanding it to quarter inch etc.
Once opened you can lift out the core. The windings are attached by 3 nuts to a big aluminum block (the diodes). Undo the nuts and wiggle the windings out. Again the chrome one came easy and the original fought.
Study the back of the alternator noting which bolts have insulators. There are tests you can do to determine the health of each component or you can take the simple route and replace everything. The diodes bolt in easy enough. The voltage regulator and the brushes fit together like a puzzle held together by bolts. 2 of the 3 bolts must have insulators and the third does not, get this wrong and you will let out the magic smoke.
The brush holders have a small hole at one end. Stuff the new brushes in and slip a paper clip through the holes to hold them in place. The paper clip will stick out a hole in the back of the alternator.
The power post has insulators to keep it from grounding on the case. One of mine was cracked so I replaced that as well.
A little sand paper cleaned the corrosion off the original housing so it wouldn't fight. Emery cloth or scotch bright pads will polish up the copper contacts on the core. Clean the housing and paint if you feel like it.
Reassembly is the reverse of disassembly. Start at the back of the alternator and work your way up. When it's all together pull out the paper clip.
I don't fully understand how all of the parts work. I just put everything back the way I found it, and it works beautifully.
John