SteveBorland
VIP MEMBER
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2010
- Messages
- 838
Like so many other people, I have always had problems in getting the recommended 10 thou clearance all round the alternator stator, it's always seems a bit tight at the 1 o'clock position.
This time I decided to try the tip from Norman White in his restoration book, about taking some metal off the 3 locating studs. Not having a lathe, I did what every university engineering student has learnt - use 2 nuts to lock onto the stud, into the pillar drill and off you go. I used a coarse file then a finfer file just to take a whisker (or a half RCH if you are familiar with that unit of measurement - no, I am not going to translate that!).
I cleaned up the outer face of the rotor with some scouring pads to remove some of the smears of material which indicated that some contact was occurring, I then took a plastic water bottle & cut this up. Very conveniently, the ones we get here all seem to have a wall thickness of around 10 thou, so it's a good shim around the rotor. Lo and behold, the stator goes on without a problem, and gives a good result all round when checked with a feeler.
I feel better about this now, less concerned about potential Bad Things ™ that might happen doen there. Now just to ensure that the belt runs straight, I plan on using a length of (known straight) alloy profile and with this held securely across the clutch pulley, I inten to check the distance between the profile & the front pulley on both sides - the measurements should be identical if the 2 faces are parallel.
This time I decided to try the tip from Norman White in his restoration book, about taking some metal off the 3 locating studs. Not having a lathe, I did what every university engineering student has learnt - use 2 nuts to lock onto the stud, into the pillar drill and off you go. I used a coarse file then a finfer file just to take a whisker (or a half RCH if you are familiar with that unit of measurement - no, I am not going to translate that!).
I cleaned up the outer face of the rotor with some scouring pads to remove some of the smears of material which indicated that some contact was occurring, I then took a plastic water bottle & cut this up. Very conveniently, the ones we get here all seem to have a wall thickness of around 10 thou, so it's a good shim around the rotor. Lo and behold, the stator goes on without a problem, and gives a good result all round when checked with a feeler.
I feel better about this now, less concerned about potential Bad Things ™ that might happen doen there. Now just to ensure that the belt runs straight, I plan on using a length of (known straight) alloy profile and with this held securely across the clutch pulley, I inten to check the distance between the profile & the front pulley on both sides - the measurements should be identical if the 2 faces are parallel.
we used that abbreviation often in my biz. Crew code-word that was forbidden to be interpreted or explained 
...too many women on the set.
