Hiding an alternator

[V12guy]

I got tired of having the non period correct Alternator hanging off of the engine.

[V12guy]

So I bought this little guy, and decided to fit it into my original Generator case

[V12guy]

Cut the original input shaft...

[V12guy]

Skip about 100 steps (sorry) and there is a 45 amp 12 volt alternator in the "can"!

[Deaf Bob]

Looks good.. So the original generator was a chain drive?

[V12guy]

The Generator is driven by the timing chain and also acts as the tensioner for the chain.
Not nearly as fun to swap out as it sounds.....
The generator also turns the aux (2nd) distributor

[DanStokes]

Nice camo job! And it really DOES look the part. E.L. would be proud.

Dan

[CTX-SLPR]

When I was reading up on doing this, the big failing point seemed to be the alternator getting too hot inside the can. Are you sure there is enough cooling capacity with where it's located and airflow through can?

[V12guy]

I did think about cooling holes. At first I thought that I would drill 3/8 or 1/2" holes in a grid, then thought that a large portion of the can cut out on the back side where it cannot be seen with a nice stainless steel screen, and well...
I just cut the "window" and put it on.
There's about an inch between the back of the generator case and the engine block, my 'window' is about an inch longer on both ends than the alternator itself, and maybe 3 inches wide

[TheSilverBuick]

Interesting.

[V12guy]

a few more pics if you are interested, no particular order

[Hemi Joel]

Cool deal! I love your V12 stuff. What is the rpm of the alternator with the chain drive, compared to the belt drive? Is it sufficient to make enough amps?

[V12guy]

Cool deal! I love your V12 stuff. What is the rpm of the alternator with the chain drive, compared to the belt drive? Is it sufficient to make enough amps?

Thanks Joel - a very good question! since the generator runs the aux (2nd) distributor, it is geared to be 1/2 crankshaft speed. On one hand this is 'bad' as the alternator will be going slow compared to normal/conventional setups, but this tiny alternator is designed for a Kubota 3 cylinder diesel tractor, and even though they (can) adjust the alternator's speed via pulley sizes, its' overall duty RPM is pretty low (compared to say a LS1 engine's speed)

so far, the only bad thing is that it will not start to charge until it sees 1,000 rpm (2K crankshaft) once it 'flashes' to start to charge, it keeps charging until... I don't know for sure
So I just rev the engine, and see the voltmeter jump up, and it goes from there.
luckily, I do not have that many electrical items- lights, fuel pump, ignition coils. NO a/c or electric fan.
the radiator is out of the car right now, so I have not been able to run it very long. Currently a "Proof of concept"
Radiator will go back in next week sometime.