August 2005

Progress has been slow lately.  Other "priorities" have been keeping me from the project, but I did manage to make significant progress on the alternator bracket. 

The bracket started life as a 7" long by 3/8" course thread bolt.  This passes through the "long" hole in the alternator and screws into a boss in the block, just below the head.  This bolt is by no means strong enough to support the alternator without bending, so I made a bracket to support the bolt.  The bracket doubles as a spacer to align the alternator with the crank pulley. 

1st up was the spacer.  It took some time but I finally came up with the perfect length to align the pulleys.  The spacer slides over the 7" bolt and secures the alternator to the block.  I still didn't feel this was strong enough to support an alternator on an 7500 RPM motor, so I came up with a bracket to support the bolt/spacer.

The bracket is made from a 3" wide strip of 3/16" plate steel.  It attaches to 2 water pump bolts and has a piece welded to it that kicks back to the spacer.  This ties everything together very nicely.  With just the one bolt holding the alternator it is very strong with minimal flex when I yank on it.

Still need to make it prettier and I'm thinking of adding a gusset to the back for just a little extra rigidity... but it fits! 

Things next on the agenda include adding a turnbuckle for alternator belt adjustment and attaching the waste gate to the down pipe.

I'll post up more shots of the bracket/spacer when I take it back apart for the waste gate.  Here's how it sits now:

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