Grinding the alternator bracket for upgrade. Done, What is NOT mentioned....

[MustangLX-5.0]

No complaints or anything. Took care of grinding down the alternator bracket 2 days ago. Piece of cake. What they don't tell you , is that you also have to grind down the upper portion of the bracket where the upper bolt goes in. The bottom end side must be ground down otherwise the alt will hit the end of the bracket. Doesn't take much. But I just thought I would tell those of you who haven't performed this upgrade just yet. The alt fits nicely now. The only thing that bugs me a little is that the upper bolt isn't totally snug in the bracket. I know tightening the bolt fixes this, but due to the amount of movement ( because the bolt diameter is much smaller than the original bracket bolt hole) Side to side movement occurs, and a lot of it. Even though tightening fixes this, will there be a problem later on? What I mean is, could the alt slowly shift out of place causing a slight misalignment on the belt making it eat up the belt? I thought about some kind of bolt sleeve, like the lower bolt has. But I'm not sure if it is necessary. Thanks. I will upload pictures later sometime.

Oh yeah, if you do this, I used a dremel tool with the cutoff wheels and sanding drums. Don't try to use the grinder bits because even at high RPM, all they do is clog up with aluminum and it doesn't seem to work all that well.

 

[beyondspexj]

i didnt have this "issue" with mine, the only bracket i touched was the top where i ground some of it away as in the how-to. did you use a aftermarket replacement of some sort or a oem reman?

how much play are you getting?

 

[Mustang5L5]

I didn't have that issue either with mine

 

[MustangLX-5.0]

Hmm.. it's the PA Performance 130A 5.0 upgrade alt. The one I had been inquiring about a couple weeks ago, and LRS rep responded. It's here somewhere. In their instructions, PA noted that all that needed to be grinded was that mid section rib that protrudes out. Thats the part that a protruding bolt on the alt will hit (alt body also) . But also, the portion at the top end where the upper mounting bolt goes. To put it simply, the alt is a pinch wider than the top mounting area, so it hits the alt body before you can push it back far enough to meet the bolt hole (it was about 1/4th of an inch off.

I done took care of that already, let me get a couple pics, now that it has warmed back up. BBIAB..

 

[mob]

Are you talking about the march style alt bracket? With the stock alternator bracket you should only need to grind the bottom part of it down. If you are using one of the march style brackets that deletes the tensioner you will need to grind the piece that the top bolts goes into IF you are using a 3g alt. They are designed for 2g alt's.

 

[MustangLX-5.0]

I have no idea what the march alternator bracket is. I never heard of it. Pic below, and yes, thats the stock tensioner pulley.

In the second image, you can see a vertical scuff made from where the bracket WAS preventing it from going over all the way. I just brought this up because it isn't mentioned in PA's documents. First I ever heard of having to scuff that down....was when I found out myself.

 

[MustangLX-5.0]

And this is the new bolt that fits the new alt on the upper side. Just wondering if this amount of slack will cause any issues later? Such as the alt sliding down more from vibrations and stress over time. If not , then no big deal. Just want to know what others think.

 

[Saleen0679]

I didn't like the slop I had in the top mounting hole so I went to Ace Hardware and bought a bronze bearing and shortened it to fit the depth of the bracket. I later found that a door hinge bushing for a GM car would have had pretty close dimensions. I don't know why Ford cast the bracket that way.

 

[85_SS_302_Coupe]

Mine didn't have slack like that...the whole on yours looks elongated or something.

Another thing i'll recommend is instead of using a bolt AND nut, get yourself a bolt that's big enough to take up the slack and then tap threads into the alternator ear so the bolt actually screws into the alternator. I then put a nut on the back side just for good measure. This isn't really necessary but it's easier to deal with than needing 2 wrenches to tighten it up.

 

[MustangLX-5.0]

Mine didn't have slack like that...the whole on yours looks elongated or something.

Another thing i'll recommend is instead of using a bolt AND nut, get yourself a bolt that's big enough to take up the slack and then tap threads into the alternator ear so the bolt actually screws into the alternator. I then put a nut on the back side just for good measure. This isn't really necessary but it's easier to deal with than needing 2 wrenches to tighten it up.

No, it's just the pic. Hole is perfectly round. i don't need a nut. The Alt already has threads in the ear. That's where that bolt came from, with the alt. I think it'll be alright. I'll fire it up later this week after i'm done with the wiring, and get a battery for it. I'll drop it back till it can't move anymore and see if that does the trick. Shouldn't be any vibration noise.