Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Can anyone identify the alternator that Jay Leno installled in his 26R clone? He says it's a Haitachi, but I have searched all of the Haitachi pictures on ebay and didn't come up with a clear match. His Mechanic joked around about a Kobota tractor and it may be from that, but still the model eludes me. Would like to find out the model, make, year of where this alternator comes from.

Also, since we are on the subject of alternators, it is obvious what my intentions are. Trying to keep the car more period, I was thinking of using a ACR 17 that I believe was in the later S4 Elans. While these new alternators are better from a size and perhaps a technology stand point, are they that much better? Basically I'm thinking that our cars really don't need a 100 amp alternator but it wouldn't hurt. Let me know what the collective is thinking, appreciate all view points. Thanks Allan

Hello,
first of all, its "Hitachi" rather than Haitachi.
Second, what Elan is yours ? S1/2/3/4 ?
If you have now a dynamo (S1-S3) and want to look original, look here:

http://www.powerlite-units.co.uk/dynalite.htm

I got one and am quite pleased with looks and works perfectly.
Battery always at 100%.
Regards

Guillermo

Hi
As Guillermo says it is Hitachi, some of the historic racers use them and I believe they are used on mini excavators and the like so in fact the Kubota link could be correct.
Regards
John

Ray has them at Rdent.com or it is the same as used on the '86-89 Suzuki Samurai.
55 AMP NIPPONDENSO 14684-A

Grumpybodger just PM'ed me and it appears that it not a Hitachi at all. It is a Nippon Denso for a Kubota tractor. Searching under this criteria I found tons of these things from 30 to 80 Amp units that looks identical. The 40/45 Amp versions appear to be priced around $75.00 USD and I think that should be more than sufficient. After all, the Lucas generator on my S4 only produced 22 Amps. Mystery solved. Part number was L2650 L2950 L3450 L3650 B1550 B1750 B2150 12198 for future reference. Thanks Grumpy.

Hey Dan, you beat me to the punch lol. Thanks for the lead, I've seen Ray's unit and it is a bit different than the one on Leno's car. But definety a Nippon Denso alternator.

Best reason to go with the Lucas - they're cheap and plentiful and pretty much fit right in where the dynamo is located. I had very little fettling to do when I did the conversion. As was stated above, unless your car has heavy electrical modifications, then 40A - 45A is more than adequate. Anything above that is wasted!

Bosch Alt - Purchased 1983 for $25.00 from wreckers - one rebuild since with new bearings.
Hasn't missed a beat. We discarded all of the Lucas stuff because we couldn't
supply enough smoke to run it all
Note also the row of relays that also keep the rest of the electrics in order.
Warning: Do not over tension the drive belt otherwise the water pump bearing
will suffer from failure.

Galwaylotus wrote:Best reason to go with the Lucas - they're cheap and plentiful and pretty much fit right in where the dynamo is located. I had very little fettling to do when I did the conversion. As was stated above, unless your car has heavy electrical modifications, then 40A - 45A is more than adequate. Anything above that is wasted!

Am I to understand from your post that the 17 ACR will just bolt into the Lucas generator mounts? Also, I have noticed that these alternators are either Right Hand Fixed and Left Hand Fixed. Which ones do we need? Thanks Allan

I fabricated a special steel bracket to mount the alternator.
Nothing is ever easy when you are changing things...it
just takes a bit of work.

Col

Just for variety's sake: Lucas ACR18, 43 Amps. The front pivot hole is in the same place as the generator's except 0.5 inch higher.

Bottom bracket from Escort Mk1/2 1600 will provide the correct lower mounting, available from several Escort spares suppliers on the web or for rather more money from SJ Sportscars, but his does come with a coat of paint. The adjustable bracket for the dynamo can be used for the top mounting. The Lucas alternator does suffer from being cooked by the exhaust manifold over time, so perhaps a modern alternator-tive might be better!

Nigel F.

The ACR18 has gone 23,000 hard driven miles since 1996. Opening the bonnet a bit when parking in the Summer helps prevent "cooking" many things.

dlbutler wrote:Just for variety's sake: Lucas ACR18, 43 Amps. The front pivot hole is in the same place as the generator's except 0.5 inch higher.

It's hard to tell from your photo, but from what I have seen, these ACR alternators are available left or right handed. Making it more confusing, is that when they were originally installed in TR7's and MGB's they were on the passenger side of the engine and hung upside down with the two pivoting mounts up and the adjusting mount down. So is it your left or my right?

Left or right makes no difference. It's the rotation that counts - clockwise or anticlockwise. Even at that I'm not sure it matters electrically but the fan works better in the correct direction!!