Has anyone had a problem with installing the Texas T external alternator? I have followed the instructions. I put the pulley on, no problem. I removed the two head bolts and installed the supplied bracket; torqued to 55 lbs. put alternator on the bracket and found that it does not line up with the pulley on the crank. The alternator is forward on it's bracket about a 1/4"-3/8". It also hits the head if you try and put the supplied belt on it. The belt will not go, it is to short. I have talked with the former owner and all he said was that he sold hundreds and nobody complained. He said he wants to see it, but gave no instructions on how he would see it. He lives in Texas and I live in Utah. I have talked to the new owners of Texas T Parts, Birdhaven and they are willing to listen, but have no knowledge of how it goes on; or what could be wrong. Totally understandable, just buying the company. I hope one or more of you have some constructive input on what is going on and what I can do to remedy the dilemma.
Can you take pictures of it and post here? You may want to also send to Ben, he can walk you through it. A picture is worth a thousand words. Respectfully John
John, I have no way to contact Ben. Everything goes to the new owners; Birdhaven. They are working out the bugs in buying the Texas T store, so I thought someone may have had the same dilemma I have and are willing to share a fix for me. I did talk to Ben and he said he could not understand it. I would send him pictures but I do not have his email address and he has sold Texas T Parts to Birdhaven. Birdhaven is offering to help, but they seem overwhelmed at the time, which is understandable. I just got caught in the middle of the buyout.
I wonder if you installed the flange forward of the bracket, and instead it should be behind the bracket? A picture would help us to solve your dilemma as John suggested,
Ted, The bracket is solid one piece aluminum casting, which bolts with two bolts in place of the two head bolts on the left side of the engine. The alternator spans the bracket. There is no other way it will fit on the bracket. The way I see it; the front bracket was cast wrong or belongs to a High head engine. don't know about high head bracket being different, just a guess. Or do I cut the bracket back, and if I do what about strength of the bracket. The instructions show I installed it as pictured. For a picture look on www.TexasTparts.com . Thanks for all the input. I am just scratching my head on this one.
Kevin, Texas T Parts manufactured two models of the external mounted alternator; one for the early Low head, small diameter crankshaft pulley; and one for the later High head, larger diameter pulley. I am also positive the different kits used a different head bracket. The difference in pulley size, alone, would account for your belt being too short, if you have a late motor (and you didn't state which year you're working on). I'll bet your kit got miss boxed, either at point of manufacture or somewhere between manufacturer and retail seller. I'd check the part number on the package and if it is correct for your motor, the kit is likely for an early motor. I've bought quite a bit from Ben and if a problem existed, he was quick to fix. Respectfully submitted, Terry Woods
Terry, Thanks for the input. The motor is a 1916 low head. The lower pulley went on firm but it went on without any hassle. If there is a difference in head brackets that may be the culprit. Ben called me yesterday and I talked with him. But now when you call the Texas T # you get the new owners of Texas T parts, which is Birdhaven in IA. I wish I could talk to Ben and talk some more but I do not know how. Also, my T is not at my house and I am not where I can look at #'s of stuff, but when I am there tomorrow I will get all the papers. I bought it from Texas T parts about the first of June this year.
Terry, Thanks for the input. The motor is a 1916 low head. The lower pulley went on firm but it went on without any hassle. If there is a difference in head brackets that may be the culprit. Ben called me yesterday and I talked with him. But now when you call the Texas T # you get the new owners of Texas T parts, which is Birdhaven in Ia. I wish I could talk to Ben and talk some more but I do not know how. Also, my T is not at my house and I am not where I can look at #'s of stuff, but when I am there tomorrow I will get all the papers. I bought it from Texas T parts about the first of June this year.
Terry is talking about the OD of the pulley, not the ID. Sounds like you ordered the wrong kit. One is for 09-19 and the other is for 20-27. You're just beating a dead horse until you find out what kit you have.
Kevin, what's the latest? Have you got your problem solved?
I am in the process of mounting the Texas T Alternator on a ROJO 5 valve head and sure enough the belt is too short.
Right now the engine also has a distributor and a water pump and I think the whole thing is a nightmare waiting to happen. The picture with the instructions for mounting with a water pump require yet another special bracket which I will have to fabricate. I am also concerned that the whole thing is too wide for a brass radiator engine cover.....
There is no simple answer. I seem to recall that the instructions mention that if the belt is too short, NAPA stock longer versions....
I would just stick with the stock set up. Seems like there's a lot of headaches with trying to update everything when the original system works great..
Why not just get it with the gear and put it where the generator is suppose to go?
Careful James! You'll end up with a reputation like me. They'll start calling you the "P" word.
Perfectionist?
No, I think he meant, "purist".
There are those of us (older, non-purists) with non-starter cars that have been converted to electric start but no accommodation to utilize a gear driven anything therefor no way to re-charge a starting battery thus the option for a bolt-on belt drive is welcomed.
Here's what mine looks like, if it's any help:
Terry, It has not been resolved yet. Ben is looking at some photos I sent yesterday, but have not heard the phone ring from him today. I will keep you all informed on the outcome if any. Thanks all for your interest, Kevin in Utah.
If all you are using on the battery is the starter, you can eliminate the alternator. There are kits to trickle charge the battery off the mag. I have never run the battery down on my 11. When the car is going to set a few days, I will put a battery charger on. The car starts very easy so not much effort is put out on the battery. An 8 volt battery available at most farm and home stores is also an option.
Like Harry my son has a 16 roadster with our HSBCK1 battery charger on it running off the magneto. We ran the car all season for over 5 seasons now and it never has had an external charger on it. We do check it to make sure the battery is at full charge at the end of the season before we store it but his car fires right up on starter and you really only have to drive a few minutes to put back the charge.
If you assume that the starter draws 200 amps (which is probably more than it actually draws) and that your engine starts up in 5 seconds (probably less) then you have drawn 1000 Amp-seconds of charge out of your battery. If you charge 1.5 amps from the magneto then the battery will recover in something over 666 seconds which is about 11 minutes. The only thing unrealistic in this estimate is that if you actually time it - 5 seconds is a lot of cranking and most T's fire off sooner than that unless there is something wrong with the initial settings of timing and fuel choking. His roadster is fast and runs cool with a new radiator rather than a water pump. In the event he gets caught out at night the full size battery can easily get him home before morning and an external charger can be put on to bring the battery back up if the next days drive is not an all day drive.
Hal, there are worse things to be. Some of them even start with P.
I need good headlights for my trip to Willowbee.
I installed this alternator on my RHD RAJO BB head. I don't recall having a problem with aligning the pulleys. I did have to create a new lower bracket using heims(sp) joints and a different fan belt. Despite the problems, I love having it on the T!