95a Alternator in a 75 124 spider

[rrrrob]

I finally broke down and bought a 95a alternator and am in the process of readying for install. I've been reading other posts on the subject and am still a bit unclear on the hurdles I'm about to encounter and was hoping for some advice from those of you who have completed this process already.

The alternator was on the passenger side and the current plan is to leave it there. The lower mounting block is molded into the engine block. Csaba mentioned I would find that the old bolt was 12mm and that the new one is only 10mm. I have a pair of bushings coming from McMasterCar that have 10mm id x 12mm od which should take care of any play. I've also acquired a supply of 10mm washers which I figured could be used in place of a solid spacer until I can determine the spacer size.

What I'm unsure of is the alignment of the alternator and pulley to the other pulleys. Am I going to run into an issue trying to align the pulleys? Is there anything else I need to do, adjust, plan for …… in order to accomplish this project.?

[So Cal Mark]

hmm, we supply that alternator with the proper bushing so that the stock bolt can be used. You may find that the spacing isn't correct for good pulley alignment. It's important to get the pulleys lined up or the belt won't stay on at high rpm

[mpollock]

I can't help with the '76, but I recently put one of Mark's 95 amp alternators on my '79 with excellent results. The wipers no longer run at a crawl, the turn signals don't slow down when I am stoped, and the lights are brigher. I replaced the alternator due to a failed regulator, but would make the change for the other benifits. Now I need to get the IAP headlight relay kit and new Hella lights to complete the job.

[TX82FIAT]

I did the 95 amp and the headlight relay a couple weekends ago on the 82'. The two combined are really great. I kept the original bulbs in the headlights as there is IMHO no need to change the headlights.... they are bright. The 10MM bolt presented no issues. Alternator lines up and tension on belt is just fine. Two things delayed the completeion of the project and were no big deal. One, the 12 MM bolt was about 1.5 inches too long on the old alternator. Obviously installed with the RAD out... No other way. So I cut the bolt on an angle with a dremmel. The second item was a little belt sqeal because the pulleys are slightly different on the alternators creating a different wear pattern on the side of the belt. New belt same size adjusted after about 30 miles and no sqeal.

All lights including rear lights are brighter, wipers work well and actually had to use them this past saturday and smiled the entire time. First time ever not bother driving the Spider in the rain. I can hear the extra volts in the stereo system. This is a mod I recommend.

[tartan18]

I also have a 75 and installed Mark Allison's aluminum radiator last year. Through no fault of Mark I discovered that the passenger side mounting bracket that was on the car didn't match up with the alternator. The solution was to buy the bracket from Jason Miller (Miller's Mule http://www.millersmule.com/MillersMuleS ... acket.html. A less expensive alternative would be to buy a used alternator bracket.

The only other challenge was that for some reason the space between the front body frame rail and my crank was very tight making my fan very close to the water pump bolts. I understand that this is not a universal problem. Perhaps my car was in a front end collision at some time in the past? This meant that the nylon radiator ties were not tight enough to prevent the fan from drifting and rubbing against the water pump bolts. The play was less than 1/4 inch but enough to cause problems. A wrap of stainless steel zip ties solved the problem. The ultimate solution would be to install an electric fan with a slimmer profile.

[vandor]

Hi Rob,

I think you are making this a bit more complicated than it needs to be.

With the bolt-on mount, when the front leg of the alternator touches the mount (no spacers), the pulley lines up.
I know the cast-in mount is narrower, but I *think* the front edge is at the same place as the bolt-on one.
If your stock alternator did not have any spacers between the mount and its front mounting leg, then the new alternator should not need any either.

If you have any questions feel free to call or email.
bye,