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MG MGB GT V8 Factory Originals Technical - Upgraded alternator for factory V8

Hi.

I'm upgrading the audio system in my factory V8 and I need to fit a bigger alternator to cope with the extra drain.

Ideally, I would like to find a 90A - 100A, but I know this may not be possible. There is really not much room for a physically bigger unit, and I really don't want to relocate it elsewhere.

Hope you can help.

Cheers

Sally
Sally Crewe

Wait, aren't you the one who's taking the guts out of a factory V8, one of the ~2,581 ever made, and chucking them into a new Heritage roadster shell? If so, IMHO you should be locked up. Sure, put a big sound system in there! Cut some holes in the bodywork! Throw in a big honker of an alternator (make sure you tighten the fan belt to turn it, and see what that does to the water pump) ... what the hell, you've already buried the thing, feel free to pee on its grave./HMP
Harry

Harry,

I bought the car last year as a Roadster. Someone else already did all the hard work 3 year's previously. They bought a rusted through GT V8 that had not moved for 6 years and was destined for the scrap yard, and they gave it a new lease of life as a Roadster. Oh no! Call the police!!

What's wrong - can't stand it that young woman has a nicer car than you?....
Sally Crewe

Sally,

I fitted an uprated alternator to my car a couple of weeks back. The 90+ size wont fit at all as std. Way too big. None of the Lucas models at least. I went with a 70amp ISKRA AER1560 14V. It fits right in, looks pretty stock and you see many conversions on the Web using this alt. No additional drag on anything is evident, in fact it is a lot quieter than the AC Delco unit and requires no more tension on the belt either. The only thing you'll have to do is use the RHS terminals so the cables will reach and also fit the AC Delco pulley to it.

As for your Stereo, try not to cut holes in the car if you can help it. You should be able to get them to make you up a Sub box for very little - but you probably already know this! )

Best of luck,
Neil
74 V8
http://www.apphosting.com/mgstuff/v8/
Neil Cotty

> What's wrong - can't stand it that young woman has a > nicer car than you?....

Eaahhhh, yer onto me. But enough about that old hunk o'tin; let's talk about you ...

> There is really not much room for a physically
> bigger unit

... I find that credible.
Harry

Iskra alternator? Isn't "iskra" Polish or Slav for "spark"? Who makes it?

Good heavens! a Polish alternator on a Factory V-8!!!

I think I'll stick with the Delco. And don't worry, Harry - I'm putting the finishing touches on a totally stock Factory GT V-8, complete with an NOS Delco puny little alternator.

Cheers,
Paul Kile
Paul Kile

Paul, do you mean _totally stock_ stock? I'd gathered, reading your posts, that you'd been tempted a couple of times by some subtle aftermarket goodies. (I can't remember what exactly, composite springs etc.?) Not that I can blame you. I guess it's like me asking you to eat your broccoli, but man, I'd keep that bugger as stock as the day it was born. It's sort of a mascot for this group. We all have these slightly tarted up cars ... tarted up in relation to exactly what, though? ... that thing has to be the lodestone. You oughta keep it bone stock! It's the difference between Pamela Anderson and Sophia Loren.
Harry

Paul,

Poland has quite a few famous car people AFAIK. Tadek Marek being one - the designer of the Twin Cam Six cylinder engine in the Aston Martin DB series. :) Not half bad that. The country of origin of my Alternator doesn't bother me and neither does my American Weber Carb and Offenhauser manifold! <G> I'm New Zealand born, Australian 'growed', English parented ex-ex-pat living in Ireland so I guess my car is a little like me. :) <G>

BTW I still carry the AC in the boot for a spare. I don't discard or sell any of my original parts and keep my V8 stock externally and interior wise. You should see my spare bedroom. It has all my parts sitting in there right now, somehow I have to fit Paul H. & his wife in there in a couple of weeks. <VBG> ;)

I use my V8 every day and have put 7000mls on her since January touring the UK and Ireland. Mods I make are to keep her entertaining and make her completely reliable. I don't make any mods that aren't easily reversible. Thats how I like my V8, upgraded under the bonnet for fun and reliablity reasons, but stock everywhere else. :) It's great we all have our own ideas on what our cars should be like otherwise the MG world would be a boring one.

Congrats on your Car Paul, must be a jewel in your part of the world. :) Are you anywhere near Citrus Heights CA BTW?

Cheers,
Neil
74 V8
http://www.apphosting.com/mgstuff/v8/
Neil Cotty

Neil, if you keep V8 spares in the same room Paul H stays in, better do a stock check before he leaves.. LOL
David Smith

Harry,
My car is as close to stock as I could manage. Visually, there are only a couple of things that I have done otherwise, mostly for safety and operation in the California climate. The car was fitted with the side marker lights that were required in the US, and I have retained those. I have put in a thicker radiator core to help solve the temperature problem (still using the stock tanks and mounts), and I have a manual override switch and indicator light for the electric fans, unobtrusively mounted under the dash. I have the "lifesaver" nut installed on the unused stud on the air filter plenum, to prevent the stud from working loose and causing disastrous effects, and I have put the cotter pin into the differential spider gear roll pin, again to prevent a potential disaster.

The only two interior bits that are not totally stock (yet) are the black door seals and rear quarter window seals. I have not been able to find a set of those in Autumn Leaf colour that fit! If anyone has a lead on NOS ones, let me know! I will pay a handsome price for them.

I have been tempted with some of the aftermarket goodies (like the composite springs and the RV8 front crossmember) but couldn't bring myselt to do it.

Neil,
Give a big hello to Paul H and Jen when they arrive. My wife and I met them in San Francisco last year when they came through on a tour - unfortunately they didn't have time to come over to Sacramento to see my project. I know all about parts in the house - my study is just now becoming visible again since the parts have gone back on the car. My wife even granted me some shelf space in the living room as a "display area" for choice bits I had restored and were ready to go back on the car!

How do you know Citrus Heights? Fair Oaks is just one town to the south of Citrus Heights, our house is only about 2 miles from Sunrise Mall.

Cheers,
Paul Kile
Paul Kile

> I have put the cotter pin into the differential
> spider gear roll pin, again to prevent a potential
> disaster

Paul, I _think_ I can live with that! No worries.
Harry

Cheers, David!
I see you stole in and commented while I was writing my last post. What you said made me realize how futile it would be to nick Factory V-8 parts! There are only about 5 of us who would end up as suspects, and we all know each other! And I know we could never keep a straight face about it, either.

Still, you better watch those Autumn Leaf door seals!

Cheers,
Paul K
Paul Kile

Hi Paul,

You might know Ron Smith, posts a lot on this BBS? I visted Ron last time I was in the US. Great family, had dinner etc. Drove a fair whack of the US in a Mustang (new) - nowhere near as much fun as an MG! Ron looked after my Austin Healey BN2 and my CGT (which he helped me to buy) until I could export them to Australia. I got the CGT from a local man in Citrus Heights.

The MG crowd really is a brilliant bunch and the best bit is, me touring around these days I get to meet a lot more around the world! My dream is to get the V8 into the states at some stage and drive her coast to coast, then finally on a ship back home when I decide enoughs enough!

Cheers,
Neil
Neil Cotty

Paul, if I ever get around to respraying mine in Flamenco then you are welcome to the Autumn Leaf bits. You will have to come and collect them though - how's that for an excuse ?
David Smith

"It has all my parts sitting in there right now, somehow I have to fit Paul H. & his wife in there in a couple of weeks."

I'll not tell my wife if you won't, I'll just suffer the consequences later.

"Neil, if you keep V8 spares in the same room Paul H stays in, better do a stock check before he leaves."

"There are only about 5 of us who would end up as suspects"

... and only one known to be sleeping with them. Might do some midnight replacements, though ...

Hi, PaulK.

PaulH.
Paul Hunt

I have put the Rover 90 amp. alt on 8 or 9 M.G. V-8s that I have done & it fits real good.
Glenn Towery

Off the deep end again...Wanting something simple and innocuous I looked at the Geo Metro, which has 2 or 3 alternators fitted, all of which are quite compact. The one I chose is very very small so it fits in nicely anywhere and puts out about 35 amps. Heck, 30 years ago all you ever needed was 27, so it's an upgrade. S'pose I ought to add those power amps soon though. The longer they sit the more I think about putting them in the truck or the motor home. At least there's room at the mounts for a bigger frame.
Jim Blackwood

Glenn,
Is that Rover alt. a straight swap? Don't have a part number do you?

Cheers, Sally
Sally

Sally,it bolts right up, but you have to cut the plug off your harnes & put the ends on for the rover alt.. I THINK??? it was the range rover 87 to 93???? I have 190,000 miles on mine in 5 years & its never been off the car. Glenn
Glenn Towery

Glenn,

If I fit one of these Gucci 90 amp alternators to my B, is the standard harness going to do a meltdown?

Stainzy
Stainzy

Stainzy, with the 4.2 & F.I. & air with the O/E 74 wire harness I have no melt down & there are 3 others that are the same set uo & thay are having no problems
Glenn Towery

Sally, if you're using the original alternator mounting bracket, I doubt if the later Rover (Lucas ?)alternator will physically fit. Rover stopped using that bracket in '76. I suggest you visit a local auto electician ,show them where the alt. is to be fitted & find out what is available on the local market.I'm using a 95 amp Bosch alt., but I doubt it is available in UK. The same would probably apply to most suggestions from the US. Also car makers very often change componants for foreign markets, so what appears on an Australian or American car does not neccessarily appear on the UK version. Good luck, Barrie E
begerton@froggy.com.au

Barrie,

What part no. is your 95 amp alternator? I'll be back in Oz soon and might be better off waiting until I get back to get one. I have the standard P5B/early P6/BV8 bracket.

Stainzy
Stainzy

Stainzy, no part # anywhere on the casing. I think it was origially a 40 amp model off a Ford Falcon or Chrysler Valiant. The auto elec. used the end plates & fitted the 95 amp ( brand new ) innards from a Holden Commodore alt.plus a wiring adaptor so it was a straight plug in. It only just fits though. Au$265 Barrie E
Barrie Egerton

I have a Motorola 55 amp (just have a conversion, but weren't these OE to factory V8s at some point?). Looks to me like hood clearance could become a major issue with an alt even fractionally bigger ... mine looks like when it was installed way back when, one of the ribs on the side was ground down. Anybody know if there's something a little more powerful that'd fit on there, though?
Bob Dixon

Sally
LRA 517 - 75amps - standard factory mount / fanbelt plus a few waskers and new connectors - about £80 exchange.

Expect to do this regularly. The trade says the MGF alternator is the most heat resistant - expect to pay double the Lucas standard range.
Roger Walker

Bob,
The stock alternator on the Factory V-8 was a British Delco, not a Motorola. It looks a lot like a Delco off a Chevy, but it uses the standard Euro 3-blade plug on the back, like a Lucas. The output of this unit was only 37 amps, which is what started this thread in the first place!

I was lucky enough to find a brand new Delco unit for my V-8 restoration, Bob Pulleyblank had one and sold it to me a couple of years ago. I didn't mind the low output, because the only audio I am running is a good old British Leyland AM/FM radio.

Cheers,
Paul Kile
Paul Kile

This thread was discussed between 24/04/2001 and 02/05/2001

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