As I mentioned before, I was in the process of developing a custom high output alternator kit for 7th gen Civics. We spent a few hours last weekend doing some preliminary measuring and fitting and spent probably 10 hours today working on getting a small case GM alternator to fit into a 7th gen Civic. While the concept is not entirely difficult, there was a huge amount of trial and error making this thing fit. Lots of grinding, test fitting and re-grinding to make things go together. A bit of time with a torch, and a bit more with a hacksaw. We almost got it done and will have it in tomorrow. I am pleased to say that we will then be offering this system as a kit to fit our cars
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While there was a TON of labor involved in this install, my car was the prototype and any other kits that we will have to make will be a whole lot easier. The kit is going to most likely include a modified engine mounting bracket, alternator adjustment bracket as well as the piece de resistance, a 180 amp small GM alternator. Price is TBD, but that's not important right now. What IS important, is...
PICTURES!!!!!!!!
The car in stock form... not much to see, just the obligatory before shot.
The upper mounting hole on the new alternator didn't allow the pulleys to line up properly.
The solution? Taking a lathe and hacksaw to the case of the alternator will allow it to line up perfectly!
Modifying the alternator casing allowed us to keep the stock engine mounting bracket. Originally we thought that we would have to move the mounting holes on the bracket over, which would have been a lot of work. After trimming down the casing, all we had to do was do a bit of grinding on the bracket and the alternator dropped right in.
Again, instead of modifying the bracket by moving the mounting hole forward, we simply used a bushing between the alternator and mounting bracket. When we put the bolt in that holds the alternator, the stock bushing in the bracket will be pushed forward, making everything fit snugly.
To make things line up on the bottom, we had to pick up a new alternator bracket from Honda and bastardize it to fit the small case GM. A few minutes later, thanks to a torch and some skilled hands, the bracket was heated up and bent to fit properly. A mounting hole was added, and we removed the tensioner bolt as it was rubbing on the belt now that there is a larger alternator in place of the stocker. The new alt will have to be tensioned from underneath. We figured out a new way to modify this bracket after the fact (although the tensioner will still be lost), but you get the picture. Obviously, on the right is the stock bracket, on the left the modified one that we made. Of course it will be painted before it goes in the car.
A shot of both alternators from the top. The stocker is on the left, the new one on the right. As you can see, the mounting holes are identical, however offset differently on both, which was the reason that we had to modify. The pulley on the new alternator is also smaller, allowing the alternator to spin faster and produce more current. We will have to clamp it tomorrow after it is installed to get an actual reading.
And now, the money shot. You can truly see how much larger the GM alternator is compared to the Honda version. The size of the alternator prevented us from simply rewinding it, there simply wasn't enough room. Clearly the GM casing is much larger, allowing for a much larger stator and more current. Also, the windings on the new stator have 4 windings, as opposed to 2 on the stocker. We also got a regulator for a honda, which will allow the plug that goes into the stock alternator to hook right up to this one. Truly plug and play. The output bolt on the GM alternator is also way beefier, allowing it to pass tons of current. In fact, the 0 gauge terminals that I have will have to be drilled out to fit over the bolt.
Like I said, we worked 10 hours on this thing today (with another few hours of messing around doing other stuff on top of that), so as you can imagine I am tired as hell. Tomorrow morning I have to go pick up a new belt, as the stock one is now too short. Once we have the belt, we will do the final install of the alternator, wire it up using 0 gauge wire, test it to see what it outputs, and take some more pics, so stay tuned!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After we finish up, I will iron out some details with the builder and we will start producing kits for everybody that wants them. So anybody who is in the market for one of these badboys let me know!
But like I said, stay tuned for the rest!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
