RCR Alternator - by Chuck Schmidt

[Richard]

RCR Alternator


Chuck Schmidt


The area for the alternator is tight. Fortunately Rousch makes a nice aluminum bracket that fits in the space, with about a quarter inch of clearance from the adjacent chassis. A Powermaster GM style one wire alternator (100 amp) in polished aluminum, PWM-27294, worked well and looks good, with about three quarters of an inch of clearance on the back side.


The Powermaster alternator has a two prong plug, separate from the one wire power connection on the back side. This should NOT be used. It is not necessary. If it is wired as described in some wiring kits (including the Painless kit) it may provide feedback into the ignition system preventing the engine from stopping when the ignition is shut off.


A crank pulley spacer, Ford Racing part # M-8510-C351, (.950 inch) resulted in a perfect alignment of the crank, alternator, and water pump pulleys. The water pump pulley bumped against one of the support fins on the water pump, but once an eighth inch of metal was filed away it cleared with no further drama. The pulley supplied with the alternator rather than a larger one was used, since most of our driving will be cruising, not racing, in the lower RPM range. The project was finished with a 37 inch belt.