Alternator Mounting Question

You shouldn't need a shim. It looks like your fan shroud needs to be shifted down a bit.

Maybe leave the shroud screws loose until you get the alternator mounted and then tighten them.

Ok, I got it back in by adjusting the shroud.  All fits fine.  Fired it up and runs great but my f&$&ing alternator light still comes on and gets brighter with increased RPMs.   😡 😡

I guess the regulator wasn’t bad,  now it’s either the alternator or I don’t know.  I’m going to put a volt meter on it.  Just not today.  

I guess the upside is that now I can replace an alternator on a speedster without pulling the engine.  
maybe someone could give me some insight on what would make the alternator light glow dim and get brighter with acceleration.  Thanks.

I assume you had to remove the shroud.  If you slot the holes on the bottom of the alternator stand next to the shroud and use bolts instead of studs, you can remove the alternator and stand without removing the shroud..

@Michael McKelvey posted:

I assume you had to remove the shroud.  If you slot the holes on the bottom of the alternator stand next to the shroud and use bolts instead of studs, you can remove the alternator and stand without removing the shroud..

No, I was able to get it out without removing the shroud.  Someone here in one of the threads explains how.  Thanks for this tip though.  Hopefully it helps the next guy learn.  
Do you know why the red alternator idiot light gets brighter with throttle increase?

Don't know about the light.

fan belt slipping maybe

Sounds to me like you may have bad diode(s) in the alternator.  You may want to pull it and have it tested.  Please let the group know how the fix turns out.  That's how we all learn.

I will let the group know what I find

First: That fiberglass shroud is absolute JUNK. Get rid of it and get a metal 36hp "doghouse" shroud. OE VW if you can find one.

Second: In your original post, it said you couldn't tighten the belt. Take it with you and get one a tiny bit shorter from the parts store. I have a shorter one on my car because of small dry sump crank pulley and 911 fan. It took a few tries to get the right size. If the fan belt is constantly slipping, your light will never go off.

.... bolts instead of studs.  Why in God's name was that not the original design?  Removing those studs is not necessarily an easy thing to do while it is very easy thing to say.

@El Frazoo posted:

.... bolts instead of studs.  Why in God's name was that not the original design?  Removing those studs is not necessarily an easy thing to do while it is very easy thing to say.

Industrial products are designed to be manufactured efficiently and cost effectively, not to be easy to service.

Be happy. At least VWs weren’t designed so the engine had to be removed or sub-frame dropped to change the spark plugs. Or the truck bed had to be removed to service the fuel pump.

@DannyP posted:

First: That fiberglass shroud is absolute JUNK. Get rid of it and get a metal 36hp "doghouse" shroud. OE VW if you can find one.

+1

Jbugs sells them now, but I bought a “blem” straight from Concept1. (And never found the so-called blemish)

https://store.concept1.ca/Fan-...OOLED.1.2.BLM-72542/

Reproduction of an OEM Thing shroud which was re-engineered for low speed, low gear off-roading. Combined with a TypeIV oil cooler, it solved my overheating problems caused by a $99 chinesium aftermarket shroud.

@El Frazoo posted:

.... bolts instead of studs.  Why in God's name was that not the original design?  Removing those studs is not necessarily an easy thing to do while it is very easy thing to say.

Because magnesium is not a very strong metal to thread bolts into. If one installs a stud in magnesium -  forever after, the threading off and on occurs on the stud, not in the magnesium. One can remove and install hardware hundreds of times without issue.

However, if you remove the studs and replace them with bolts, you must be exceedingly careful to make sure your hardware threads in far enough, your threads are spotlessly cleaned and lubricated, and that you aren't removing and reinstalling the bolts every week. Torque needs to be low. Thread in and out enough times, and it will strip, regardless.

You'll get away with it on an alternator stand, Other studs you may want to remove do better with a time-cert steel threaded insert.

This was not a case of doing something the cheap way - studs are more expensive than threaded holes and bolts, although in the case of the alternator stand, it's not the best way.

But it is the way the Sainted German Engineers chose to do it, and it was chosen on a day other than Friday, when there was no Octoberfest setting up in the square outside the windows.

"Sainted," not "Stained" Stan.  Unless, of course, they spill some of their beer.

@Lane Anderson posted:

"Sainted," not "Stained" Stan.  Unless, of course, they spill some of their beer.

Thanks, Laner. Fixed it.

Regardless of the "Holiness" of the German Engineers, going from studs to bolts on my alternator stand was one of the very first mods I did way back in the '60's.  It just made a whole lot of sense back then, and has made life easier, since.

As Stan says - How often are you going to pull your fan/shroud off in your lifetime?  Do you want it to be a 30 minute job or a two hour job?

And if you do (And if you Do-ooo...) strip out the threads, you can go to the next size up bolt or put a threadsert in there.

I still have studs next to the shroud where I slotted the stand.  I need to use a special nut there for my Vintage Speed linkage.

@Michael McKelvey posted:

I still have studs next to the shroud where I slotted the stand.  I need to use a special nut there for my Vintage Speed linkage.

As usual, Michael has what is probably the best solution. Slotting the stand and leaving the back studs takes time, but it's the best way to do it.

The stand is slotted for the back STUDS.

I didn't invent this.  Someone else suggested this here some time ago.