Alternator and wiring... hopefully an upgrade...

So basically, I stared at the empty spot where the alternator is supposed to be and just let my brain wander. The more I stared, the more it looked like I could use a couple of the timing cover studs and at least one of the old A/C compressor mounting holes to mount the factory bracket. Sure enough, after a little jimmying around, it popped into place and I was able to use one of the A/C bracket bolts and some odd hardware to secure the alternator bracket. Bolting the Alternator to the bracket was straight up, and there it was! The alternator is back in, pretty close to it's old spot. 




Next up, that dodgy Walmart speaker wire that runs from the starter switch to the Alternator wiring loom. I bought an 11 color bundle of 16 gauge, high-temp automotive wire off of Ebay. 25 feet of each color. I randomly picked Grey and Pink and went to work. First up I needed to 86 the speaker wire... I snipped through the zip cords the PO used to bundle the wires and disconnected from the starter button (that's another story) and pulled the spade connectors that attached the wire to the factory plugs. The pressure switch under the drivers seat had been bypassed, so the PO had done some creative wiring. Some of his spade connector crimps were pretty flimsy, so I re-did those on wires I needed and crimped them on my new wires as well. I pulled the new wire through a firewall access grommet and wired to the back of the starter button. I did the zip-tie thing as well and made my connections at the alternator end. The battery is pretty dead, but there was enough juice to crank it over, so the wiring swap seems to be a success...





Because the alternator is in a slightly different location, and I no longer have the A/C pulley to drive the alternator off of, I need to guestimate the belt length I need and get a new battery. Small victories... But I'll take them...

Up Date...
It took three tries, but I found a v-belt that fits with proper tension. Kind of a "Goldy Locks" situation... the 56" was too short, the 60" was too long, but the 58" was just right!

Drop plates, part II...

Since "Drop Plates V1.0" went so well (not), it's on to V2.0. This time I know what I'm dealing with... A36 mild steel. The internet, specifically Ebay, is a beautiful thing. I started with 4" x 8" x 5/8" plate. I went with 5/8 after reading several drop plate threads on The AMC Forum.



 I had a buddy at work cut the blanks to size on the Hyd-Mech saw. The 1/2 inch stock seems to work really well for the 1-3/4" drop style, but I like the idea of added bending resistance with the thicker material. These plates should allow almost 2.5" of drop, so a little extra unsprung weight is a worthwhile trade-off. I cleaned up the blanks at the grinder. Next is to the Bridgeport for boring the six 7/16 through holes and a little clean up. I'll chamfer the holes and send them through the tumbler. I'll either put them through the Black Oxide line, or paint them black.



I'll post additional pics as these progress...

Rust is the enemy...

I recently did a Bumper-ectomy (front and rear). I will attempt to use the factory steel bumpers as templates to create fiberglass reverse molds and replacement bumpers. The originals weigh a ton, and stick out too far. The fiberglass units will be far lighter and I can tuck them up to the bodywork. After removing the bumpers, I removed the bumper-filler (injection molded pieces that are painted body color). Those are mounted on pins that are riveted through the sheetmetal. Removing the pins left several holes. I tapped them flat and sprayed anything remotely oxydized with rust inhibitor (black}.
Then everything tan or black got a shot of grey primer...







Of course, I've never actually fabricated anything in fiberglass, but how hard can it be? Insert laugh-track here...