Sensible Engine Upgrades

[fatboyoz]

I'll have to wait to get my engine back before proceeding, but one thing that I first have to solve is the fact that the PM supplied alternator sits far too forward on the supplied brackets. Shouldn't be a problem, but will need a bit of work.

Adi,
I also purchased an alternator and brackets from PM. The fit is just fine. The alternator came with sleeves pressed into the two mounting holes. These sleeves can be moved, with effort, to position the alternator forward or aft on the engine mounting bracket also supplied by PM. Did you also get the doubler plate, about six inches long, shaped a bit like a boomerang, with three mounting holes? This doubler spreads the adjuster bracket load over three bolts in the front cover instead of one. You could always just bid on this:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT


Colin.

[adigra]

Colin,

I didn't get the doubler plate, hmm... I have moved the sleeves, but the alternator still sits about 3-4mm too far forward and pulls on the belt at an angle. It will not be too hard to file down the extra thickness though. The engine is away now so I can't really do anything until it's back.

Adi

[billwill]

The upper bracket on my alternator has a dog-leg bend in it to position the alternator correctly.

On the bottom pivots the front one is bolted to the bracket without using a sleeve and so cannot move, but the rear one has a sleeve on it. I always assumed that this was just to take up engineering tolerances of the bracket, & slightly different alternator designs because otherwise you could crack the alternator housing when tightening the lower bolts.

[adigra]

Picked up the manifolds today. They look lovely. Anyone have any recommendations for gaskets? QED sell them, but does anyone know what dimensions their big bore gaskets are? 35mm?

I've been looking into ceramic coating and the general opinion seems to be that Zircotec are the best in the UK. Although the wrap is a fraction of the price (from Burton)... Any opinions about the two performance wise? I feel this might be going overboard a little, but as the saying goes: "In for a penny, in for a pound."

Adi

[adigra]

All done. 146bhp with a good torque spread. Sounds lovely too. Can't wait to put it back in the car.

Adi