Alternator Bracket - Prototype Fabrication
After finishing my wood mock-up bracket I handed over my drawings, wood mock-up and original stock bracket to a welder/fabricator friend of mine so he could start on the steel fabrication. Here are some pictures of the tacked together part he came up with. It's already looking excellent!
Here are some pictures I took when I got the rough prototype in my hands. This also shows a really cool evolution of the design process, from stock cast part to cardboard mock-up, then wood mock-up and finally steel plate mock-up.
So my next step was to test fit to the engine, and it fits really well. There are a couple issues however.
First, the head mount position is angled off the head mounting face, so the angle of the bracket needs to be adjusted.
Second, the radiator cutout is not relieved far enough and contacts the radiator hose. This is a minor issue and the steel can just be ground back in this area to clear the hose.
Overall though, for a first time test fit I'm thrilled all 3 bolt positions lined up.
First, the head mount position is angled off the head mounting face, so the angle of the bracket needs to be adjusted.
Second, the radiator cutout is not relieved far enough and contacts the radiator hose. This is a minor issue and the steel can just be ground back in this area to clear the hose.
Overall though, for a first time test fit I'm thrilled all 3 bolt positions lined up.
In order to solve the issue with the head mounting face, I decided I needed to more accurately measure the angle between the block mounting face and the head mounting face. Up till now I've been running with the theory that my original cardboard mock-up was accurate enough.
The first thing I tried to do was use my protractor to measure the angle directly, but the tail on the indicator arm was so long that it was interfering with other parts of the engine block, thus stopping me from getting an accurate measurement.
After some pondering I decided to use some aluminum plate to make my own angle finder. I found two pieces with good sheared straight edges and corner drilled both pieces and used a 5/16" bolt (cause it was convenient) to bolt the two pieces together. This turned out to be the perfect solution and I was able to find the relationship between the block face and head face.
From there I transfered the angle to cardboard and measured with my protector: 138-degree apart. Comparing to my cardboard mock-up I was off by 2 degrees! Not bad but clearly it's enough to make a difference.
I gave the cardboard angle template to my fabricator so he could use it as a reference when he fixes the steel prototype.
The first thing I tried to do was use my protractor to measure the angle directly, but the tail on the indicator arm was so long that it was interfering with other parts of the engine block, thus stopping me from getting an accurate measurement.
After some pondering I decided to use some aluminum plate to make my own angle finder. I found two pieces with good sheared straight edges and corner drilled both pieces and used a 5/16" bolt (cause it was convenient) to bolt the two pieces together. This turned out to be the perfect solution and I was able to find the relationship between the block face and head face.
From there I transfered the angle to cardboard and measured with my protector: 138-degree apart. Comparing to my cardboard mock-up I was off by 2 degrees! Not bad but clearly it's enough to make a difference.
I gave the cardboard angle template to my fabricator so he could use it as a reference when he fixes the steel prototype.
