Alternator Alignment on 63 FI

[Michael G.]

Re: Alternator Alignment on 63 FI

Pat, is the fan pulley aligned with the crank pulley?

[Pat L.]

Re: Alternator Alignment on 63 FI

Pat, is the fan pulley aligned with the crank pulley?

Yes it is.

[Michael G.]

Re: Alternator Alignment on 63 FI

Pat, from the thickness of the metal of your upper alternator brace, it appears that you have a repro upper brace on the alternator. Your brace also seems very flat compared to mine. The brace on my car is contoured so that the top of the alternator mounts farther forward (to a plane that is closer to the front of the car). Here are pics of two cars. Notice how much contour the braces have.

alt brace.jpg

[Pat L.]

Re: Alternator Alignment on 63 FI

Pat, from the thickness of the metal of your upper alternator brace, it appears that you have a repro upper brace on the alternator. Your brace also seems very flat compared to mine. The brace on my car is contoured so that the top of the alternator mounts farther forward (to a plane that is closer to the front of the car). Here are pics of two cars. Notice how much contour the braces have.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]44522[/ATTACH]

Mike here is a better picturephoto copy 2.JPG

[Michael G.]

Re: Alternator Alignment on 63 FI

Your brace still looks odd. What happens when you take the top bolt out of the alternator?

[Pat L.]

Re: Alternator Alignment on 63 FI

Your brace still looks odd. What happens when you take the top bolt out of the alternator?

I have not taken the top bolt off but I will. However, what is suppose to happen when the bolt comes out. I have always thought that the bracket that mounts to the exhaust manifold provides a rigid mount for the alternator with an adjustment from back to front/front to back but no adjust towards or away from the motor. I also thought that the brace allowed the alternator to be moved away from the motor to tightened the belt. After the correct tension was achieved on the belt, the bolt was tightened to the brace. Let's assume that the sleeve with the bracket has been trimmed and the alternator pulley to be in line with the water pump pulley and is then tightened. I HOPE I'm am wrong in my assumptions. If my assumptions are correct, then the lower bracket has to be wrong as someone pointed out. I can then either shim the existing one or try to find the correct one. I value all of your suggestions and PLEASE don't take my assumption as being argumentative.

[David L.]

Re: Alternator Alignment on 63 FI

Back in the late 1980's I studied the 63-E64 and L64-64 alternator brackets. They are identical except for the location of the 1/4" threaded hole. Enclosed is my drawing. Is the 3825451 spacer located properly in your bracket?

Dave

[Dan H.]

Re: Alternator Alignment on 63 FI

Pat, went and looked over my 64 to see how I got rid of the 'tilting inward' condition of the pulley. Assume your water pump and crank pulleys align correctly? If so, then loosen the top and bottom bolts, remove fan belt, see if you can 'wiggle' the alternator to correct the misalignment. If not, see if the spacer is loose or crammed into place. Mine was very tight. I removed the spacer, ground it down so I had slop in it, then put a flat washer between the front of the bottom boss of the alternator and the front tab of the lower bracket while pushing the bolt into place, then inserting the shortened spacer at the rear of the alternator boss, and through the rear of the bracket. This shifted the front/pulley of the alternator towards the passenger fender. Snug bottom bolt and check alignment with straight edge to water pump pulley. Good luck, PM with with any questions etc.
Dan

[Pat L.]

Re: Alternator Alignment on 63 FI

Back in the late 1980's I studied the 63-E64 and L64-64 alternator brackets. They are identical except for the location of the 1/4" threaded hole. Enclosed is my drawing. Is the 3825451 spacer located properly in your bracket?

Dave

David,

The attachment didn't come through.

Pat

[Michael G.]

Re: Alternator Alignment on 63 FI

Pat, I think you are correct in your assessment of what should happen regarding alignment. The top brace should really not be a primary factor in axial alignment, only a top support and adjustment device. With that said, however, the fact that it now looks improperly shaped would seem to suggest that it has been bent by tightening, perhaps due to some problem with the lower attachment.

From your pics, its looks like the axis of the alternator is not parallel to the axis of the engine. In essence, it looks like the alternator is angled such that its front is closer to the center of the car than is the rear of the alternator. Is this correct?

If so, I suggest two possible problems: is the lower bolt correct? The long bolt should be of "full-body" design, i.e. the shank above the threads should be the same diameter as the thread, not "reduced body", wherein the diameter is smaller than the thread. This is because hole in the alternator, as well as the hole in the sleeve on the lower bracket, is sized such as to to be a tight fit over the bolt. This aligns the alternator with the axis of the bolt. If the bolt has a reduced body, it allows the alternator to cant slightly during tightening, which might cause your problems.

The second possibility is: is the front hole in the lower bracket the correct size? If this hole has been opened up, the alternator could cant slightly.

[Pat L.]

Re: Alternator Alignment on 63 FI

I have purchased a new alternator Brace. Now I am going to try to find the alternator bracket. If anyone knows where I can find this bracket for my 63 fuelie, Please let me know. It would really be appreciated. Since I have overhauled the engine, fuel injection and transmission, I'd rather just put all new stuff on it. I hope the bracket it available.

[Pat L.]

Re: Alternator Alignment on 63 FI

Pat,
Paragon Corvette sells a repro 3860461 bracket for $36 put technically it is not correct for 1963's (see my drawing today (02/04/2013) @ 12:57 AM. I know that I have some used 3860461 brackets in my collection but I don't know if I still have a 3825460 bracket (1963-E1964). If interested, send me a PM and I will check tomorrow to see if I still have an original 3825460 bracket (63-E64) with the 3825451 spacer.
Dave

PM Sent. Thanks David.

[Dan H.]

Re: Alternator Alignment on 63 FI

There's an NOS one on EBAY right now, I think from Keen Parts.

[David L.]

Re: Alternator Alignment on 63 FI

There's an NOS one on EBAY right now, I think from Keen Parts.

The NOS 3860461 bracket on Ebay is technically correct for a L64 and 65. The 1/4" threaded hole in the 3825460 bracket (63-E64) is in a different location. I assume this is noted in the judging guides. If it is not it should be. I bought a NOS 3860461 bracket from my local dealer back in the 1980's and I remember that it was not welded the same way as my original 3860461 brackets.

Dave

[Pat L.]

Re: Alternator Alignment on 63 FI

There's an NOS one on EBAY right now, I think from Keen Parts.

Dan, the one from Keen parts is for an air conditioned 63 for the driver's side.