Pop N Wood Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 I need to get a smaller alternator for my LS motor to clear my steering shaft. I got two Nippon Denso alternators at the JY. The one from a Honda has the proper pulley and probably can be made to fit. The second one from an old Corolla is smaller, but has a 5 rib pulley and a smaller shaft than the the Honda unit (so no pulley swap). I notice Jegs sells East Coast electric super mini alternators, but they all have V groove pulleys. They also look a lot like the smaller of the two Nippon Denso units I already have. So does anyone know of a small alternator with 6 rib pulley? Or does anyone have a source on a 6 rib pulley that will fit on a Denso alt with a 15 mm diameter shaft ? How about a good source with the measurements of different alternators? I have the engine about where I want it, but don't want to do the final weld up of the motor mounts until I get an alternator solution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinhZXT Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 The Honda alternator fits on the passenger side of my motor perfectly. it will be a lot harder to make the brackets to mount the honda alternator on the driver side. Here are pictures of my alternator mounts for the honda alternator. I can give the measurements of the mounts if you want to do this way. Let me know Here is a picture of the honda alt mounted with these brackets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cody 82 ZXT Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 Quite often the pullies can be swapped over to the other alternator very easily. If it doesn't fit then try a alternator rebuild shop and see if they have what you need. Most bigger cities have a place that specializes in this type of work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted October 4, 2006 Author Share Posted October 4, 2006 Thanks for the input guys. Hit the pick and pull this morning and found a pulley off a V6 Toyota that will fit the smaller Denso alt. Traded the Denso alt I got off a Corolla for one from a 90 Celica that has the power lug coming straight out the back rather than from the side (the old one looked like it would short the power lug to the frame rails when the engine torques). Also grabed an alternator off a 3.1L Olds that looks to be an inch smaller in every dimension than the F body LS alt. Has some odd brackets, but looked to be brand new. I now have 4 alternators. One of them is going to fit. I like your Honda bracket, but I am not quite ready to go to an electric water pump. I am pretty sure I can get one of these alts to hang to the side of the driver's side head. Absolute worst case I switch to F body accesories which will allow me to mount the stock alternator up high where the tensioner is. Fitting this alt by trial and error is getting expensive. Don't want to hear any more smack about how expensive the JCI kit is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinhZXT Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 Pop, Yeah I forgot about the routing of the belt if you put the alt on the passenger side. If I remember correctly you have no room to put it up high unless you want to put it above the valve cover. I have another picture where I had the GM alternator on the driver side. It should work with the stock belt route and the brackets are easy to make. Here is the pic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted October 5, 2006 Author Share Posted October 5, 2006 You're running the F body accesories. The vette acc on my crate motor puts the belt back 3/4 inch. I tried to do what you did but could not make it work. But the alternator I got out of a Celica should do the trick. The pics below have roughed in brackets to determine clearances. Have already pulled the unit to make something more substantial. The belt route looks good. Will be able to delete the idler that sits on the stock bracket. I have a good inch on the side and below the alt. Think the engine will rock that much? Those S&P bisquits don't seem to have much give. Now to do something about the steering shaft hitting that vette aluminum motor mount. May need to make a new one out of steel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinhZXT Posted October 5, 2006 Share Posted October 5, 2006 Pop, I have the C5 motor also. If your motor sits further back than mine the steering shaft should clear the left mount. I had to cut the skinny leg from the left mount and grind a little bit to get 1/4 inch gap between the mount and the steering shaft. Here is a pic I had the alternator on the driver side for awhile and I later didn't like the way it looked so I moved it to the passenger side. This will make it look a lot cleaner. Of course the trade off is you have to go with the electric water pump. Something for you to think about there. GL Vinh Edit: From your picture looks like you don't even have to cut the skinny leg on that mount. You can grind it off a bit and it should clear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted October 5, 2006 Share Posted October 5, 2006 I have a good inch on the side and below the alt. Think the engine will rock that much? Those S&P bisquits don't seem to have much give. An inch?!? I bet you're golden with that much room. I can't imagine even worn out mounts giving that much deflection. The caveat is that your engine is running smoothly on all cylinders. It seems that when an engine is misfiring, the whole engine bucks from side to side. I think you'll be ok (outsider's viewpoint here). Davy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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