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!