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TR4/4A Alternator Converstion for a TR4

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SCguy

SCguy

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I was thinking of switching to an alternator and narrow belts on my TR4. https://www.trparts.com/newitems/altkit.html sells an alternator with the wiring and directions, but doesn't have the pulleys. I believe moss sells the pulley for the conversation. Is it an easy sway? Is there a better way?

Ok... I seem to have a little more information. If I buy the pulleys that Moss sells than I need to convert to an electric fan. Right now I'm running a TR6 fan up front and was planning on adding a fan in front of the radiator at some time. Would it be better to switch pulley and add a puller fan to the back right now? Alternator, narrow pulley, new electric fan...
 
In my opinion, definately ditch the mechanical fan and go electric. I'd do that first! If you buy that alternator conversion kit, and Moss's kit, you will need to find a narrow-belt pulley for the alternator (which won't be hard). The biggest benefit of that kit is the wide-belt pulley. Check on the VTR site for some good how-to guides on your own alternator conversion.

I'm in the process of converting to an alternator on my 4A. I chose to go with Denso alternator. These are originally from Toyota forklifts, but the muscle car crowd likes them becase they are quite small. The one I have is about half the lenght of the generator, and about the same diameter.
 
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Go with the electric fan and narrow belt conversion. What you can do is go to any auto parts store and ask for a 7127-3 (Delco 10SI). That's a generic Lester number that the industry has been using for years. The -3 in the part number indicates the clock position of the alternator. It's the same alternator that you linked to, but it will come with a narrow pulley. Then at the same auto store you can get the wiring adaptor for the plug in. A couple of bolts at the hardware store, and you can get set up for less then half the price of the one your looking at. As Darrell mentioned, the big advantage of that kit is the fact that it comes with a wide belt pulley, and those are custom made.

Edit: Here's a link to how to do the conversion on a TR4 using the Delco alternator.
 
Does that mean someone is now selling a narrow belt conversion kit for the TRactor motor at a reasonable price ?

The 10Si is a very snug fit on the TR2-3, so the Denso (or one of the other newer mini-alternators) sounds like a good idea to me.
 
TR3driver said:
Does that mean someone is now selling a narrow belt conversion kit for the TRactor motor at a reasonable price ?
Click to expand...

I don't know what you consider a reasonable price. Here's what Moss is getting for their conversion.
 
If you want to stick with the mechanical fan, maybe take a look at BP Northwests offering

Narrow fan belt kit

I'm interested in getting an alternator set up as well, but I hadn't been too worried about wide vs small belts yet.

Randy
 
Larry, if you order from BPNW would probably get to you on Tuesday.
 
I can't remember where I picked up this web link, but most likely it was on this board a while back - if you want to stick with the wide belt, and just do the alternator, I think these guys have a pulley for you:

Alternator bits

Randy
 
martx-5 said:
I don't know what you consider a reasonable price. Here's what Moss is getting for their conversion.
Click to expand...
Seems reasonable to me ... I paid more than that for just the damper !
Thanx for the link, I poked around on their site but didn't spot it.
 
There just was a post on all the connectors,wasn't there?
 
You can adapt a Geo Metro/Tracker Denso alternator fairly easily. If you want to use the wide pulley, it will fit on the Geo unit. Its very similar to the forklift unit.

If you're going for a thin belt conversion, use a TR6 water pump pulley, and a MGB smog pump pulley on the crank. Might have to shim it a little to line up, but it should be very close. The generator pulley is standard equip for later lucas alternators.
 
One more thing I'd like to add about the Moss conversion. The pulley they show for the generator most likely has a 15mm bore, as that is the size on the generator shaft. Most alternators come with a 17mm (.669) shaft. It may be a moot point, as most alternators you buy from the parts stores come with the pulley attached. Check with Moss if this is an issue. Some small Nippondenso alternators have 15mm shafts, so just be aware of the different shaft sizes out there.
 
I took some pictures of the Nippondenso alternator in place. The only mod I had to do was to shorted the mouting pedestal by about 1/2", then I drilled out and retapped the hole for a 3/8" bolt.
 

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I like your adjuster. What are those called again? I want to use that on my 6
 
DNK said:
I like your adjuster. What are those called again? I want to use that on my 6
Click to expand...

Turnbuckle. I added some jam nuts as well, one is left-hand thread.

The stock bracket would have worked, but it looks kind of cool.
 
Re: Alternator Conversion for a TR4

TR4nut said:
I can't remember where I picked up this web link, but most likely it was on this board a while back - if you want to stick with the wide belt, and just do the alternator, I think these guys have a pulley for you:

Alternator bits

Randy
Click to expand...
I am putting the GM 10si in my TR3. As TR3driver says. it's a snug fit, but doable. I found the big-belt pulley and a "universal mount" adapter at the link above -- all very cool. The mounting adapter works great. The 3/4" pulley fits the alternator just fine, too.

The essential wiggliness of all of this modifying is that one needs a longer belt to accommodate the increased diameter of the alternator. Just TRY to find a 3/4" belt anymore -- except for the ones that the big 3 have, which are now too short. I have dropped back ten and punted. I just ordered the BPNW small pulley kit and will restore the stock pulley to the alternator. Belt availability is about to improve dramatically -- and the lesson of this post is that belt availability became the overriding factor in deciding whether to stay with the big belt or convert to small. At least, that's the lesson I think I learned...
 
Re: Alternator Conversion for a TR4

Moseso said:
Just TRY to find a 3/4" belt anymore
Click to expand...
Does NAPA no longer carry the one I mentioned before? It's been a few years, but one store had them on the shelf and the other was able to get them in a few days, last time I bought some. Effectively only slightly longer than the stock belt; but enough that my alternator (with a bored-out original pulley) almost touches the body when the belt is tight.
 
Re: Alternator Conversion for a TR4

You know, Randall, just when I think I've tried everything -- and I had tried the napaonline site, apparently just not well enough -- you pop up and make me try harder.

So I tried the napaonline site again and found something that just might work! (3/4" x 38.43") I'm going to go to my FLNAPS and order one. If it does the job for $16.99, I might have to send that pulley kit ($192.86, delivered) back to BPNW.

Dang it!
 
Re: Alternator Conversion for a TR4

Two things:

1) If you click "More Info" on the Moss narrow belt conversion web page, you'll find that you can purchase all the bits individually.

B) The 3/4" Napa belt number used for the alternator conversion is 2524379/Gates TR24379

Ok, 3 things:

2) I kept my mechanical fan because I hate the sound of the electric fan. It's a 12" same as everyone sells with the black and blue wires. And its loud and sounds like an F150. So factor this in your equasion when deciding.

Lastly,

4) We've been having trouble breaking alternator mounts on the 3A. It seems to develop a visible vibration in the alternator around 2.5krpm. Makes a great noise slinging the hardware around when it breaks. not.

-First the bolt broke off at the waterpump.
-Then the end of the adjuster bracket broke around the bolt at the waterpump.
-Then the bottom bolt broke at the front where it goes through the alternator (which DOES have to be trimmer back 1/2" to get the pulley in alignment. I actually used a stud with aluminum tubing between the ears of the generator bracket - and the front threaded part of the stud broke.

-This was a rebuilt alternator but after the last break, I bought a new reman (lifetime premium model for more$). Whe I compared the old and new, I found the original reman to have in-out play at the pulley end. The new one is tight. Now I have a 7" grade 5 bolt the goes throught the alternator at the front and it secured by a pair of nuts jammed together at the rear of the generator bracket.
 
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