Guys,

I'm almost through with a restoration of my 57 Bird and am running a passenger car engine without the waterpump spacer and using the passenger car damper.  Before ordering a alternator kit I am wondering if there is any interference with the shock tower or would this just pertain to running an orginal generator setup?  I decided to leave the orginal drivetrain intact due to converting to an AOD and having a spare 312 to build that I had run in a 55 Crown Vic many years ago.  If someone has been down this road before I would appreciate your input.

Thanks,

Larry Boyer

Pelahatchie, MS

Cell (601)260-7646 

Larry Boyer

57 Black Bird

I've not done what you propose but have wondered about it so hopefully someone who is knowledgeable will provide the answer.  Seems to me there must be an alternator set up that would clear.

I think that the alternator mounted in the stock passenger location would interfere with the frame.  With different mounting brackets it could be tucked closer to the engine ala T-Bird, but being shorter than a generator it would not hit the front of the block.

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

I think Mummert's bracket will probably fit just right.


Lawrenceville, GA

Larry our bracket should fit in the T-Bird chassis but I haven't tried it.

http://ford-y-block.com 

20 miles east of San Diego, 20 miles north of Mexico

Thanks for the responses, but apparently most folks rebuild their original engines or at least use the waterpump spacer and crank dampers for use on a different engine.  I had about decided to try John's bracket setup anyway, but was hoping someone might have tried one already on a engine such as mine. 

Larry Boyer

57 Black Bird

Larry,

Do you have a stock bird setup? Take some measurements of the stock setup using the bolt farthest to the left in the picture John posted for reference. I can compare your measurements and we will get a good idea if it will or will not work.


Lawrenceville, GA

If the engine is in the car? Line up the alternator pulley with the waterpump pulley (no brackets for now) and swing it down in line - see where the rear of the alternator will fall - relative to the frame crossmember. I built my own bracket - and its a very low mount - and it has about the thickness of my hand for clearance between the back of the alternator and the crossmember tubing. Its a GM one wire alternator - so it might be "shorter" than the one you are using? My car has the waterpump spacer - its exactly one inch thick.

This picture doesn't go down far enough to view the point of interference - but if it were back one inch, it would be very close. Anyway at low elevation - and you might not be shooting to hide yours down here - the one inch pump spacer gave me room to sink it in there.

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

Found another picture taken while fitting it up - still nothing on the back side....

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

Charlie,

The Bird and the original drivertrain is all out at David and Robin Church's Metal Finishing Building where the restoration shop is also located and I have been out of pocket for a week or so and haven't been over to Jackson since I posted my question.  The body has been back on the frame for a while and all the body work has been completed and the engine compartment has already been painted and taped up while the body has been in the paint shop.  This is one reason I haven't been able to get in there to do any measuring to see how much room I may have. When I get back over there I will do some looking at the original engine and get some measurements on the generator location or even better maybe the 3rd coat of paint and the clear will be on it by then and I can get back into the engine compartment to see what I've got.  David was running a alternator at one time on his yellow 55 racecar but we have been unable to locate the brackets that he had rigged up for reference purposes.  It has been a long and slow process to get the car to where it is, but it is getting a lot closer that it has been and hopefully it will make it to Columbus next year. 

Larry Boyer

57 Black Bird