Alternator transplant and dizzy matters

[thomas]

Thanks all. I've filed away that mini ones fit too, it's just a question of whether the dynamo is longer than the alternator and the bracket to hang it from, I was thinking Chevette bracket - Chevette alternator, I'll likely plump for a new or reconditioned one. There's a known hoarder of Chevettes in Carlisle, I might go to him on some pretext and try smuggle some bits out 'up my jook'

[pbottomley]

Thomas, I am a bit fresher this afternoon more than I was last time I wrote a reply.... In essence you seem to be overcoming most of the issues, which is good news.

I think the lack of response is down to, the Viva is a far rarer bird than a Beetle and the amount of owners is less than 1% of the Beetle (we estimate maybe 1200 vivas of all descriptions left) and not all are on-line and able to respond at the same speed many of the VW forums do, purely down to numbers of on-line active folks, not attitude.

However that all said keep asking a few of us are happy to try and assist, its patients at the end of the day, most work full time and this is a hobby on the side, in the evening after work when they should be attending to the kids!

Right your correct on the Chevette bracket, don't forget the bottom bracket as well as this is slightly diff shaped and will help the alternator fit. Its worth seeing is anyone here can confirm the wire changes you need to make, I think Tim our regalia rep is well up on the wire changes needed, alas he does not come on-line often so its best to send him a private message as chances are he will not read this post. PM "vivaha" he should also confirm if the coil is correct, all i know is the correct coil will have 666 in the number stamped on the side, the coil of the devil.....

[thomas]

Thanks Paul?

The car hasn't lost its charm, I'm just not so used to crawling about under and leaning into cars, so much these days; usually restrict my molishing to bikes and leave off till the winters past and the suns is shining. Just have to get this car reliable enough for a weekly shopping trip really, the pressure is off as I think I'm keeping my Cavalier for another couple of weeks, it's presumptively sold but the buyer doesn't want it for another couple of weeks, only wants the shell and is willing to pay for it in advance and let me strip almost everything from it before he takes it away, it only has to still roll by hook or by crook I'll make its alternator fit the Viva hopefully.

I'm taking things slowly, despite the frantic posts, was held up waiting for manuals and stuff to arrive and quite in the dark for technical info, torque settings and basic stuff. Fiddling around inside the dash is agonising at times, requiring contortionist skills and patience never simultaneously evident, especially when cold and getting hungry. I realise that modern cars seem to tolerate less day to day attention, but if I can schedule things so that things that might require pre-emptive work, like the mot test occur in the summer, rather than the permafrost that's persisted outside for the last week, things will be easier. I found the first bit of corrosion that'll need further investigation too, down in the right hand forward corner of the drivers footwell, but is otherwise impressively solid.

I'm really just thinking things through to acquire knowledge, looking before I leap, so rather than finding out what's possible, I'm thinking of whats best in the longer term, if its long-winded, then the information will nevertheless serve to inform others following the same path and encountering the same problems and issues. Another issue that's theoretically arisen is that this is still on the 1159cc carb, so whether jets and stuff would be correct for the 1256, I'm unsure, it's only 97cc extra, and its my optimistic belief that the increased airflow through the carbs will induce the corresponding extra amount of fuel into the airstream and have negligible effect, it's showing no ill-effects in that respect I think and I never tinker with carbs internally, unlike electrical stuff I'm not so confident there and results have never been encouraging. I also find the steering rather heavy on 175 tyres and have grown used to power-steering but retro-fitting that would be too involved, so I might put it back to 165 or even 155 tyres to lighten the steering a bit.

I'm still learning and soaking things in by reading the past posts in the forum, so I'll be less needy in a short time.

Thanks for all the help so far, progress is slow but steady.

[hbpeter]

If its running ok on th carb as is, leave it, if its not broke, dont fix it! If your just pottering around it will be ok. 155 were the normal tyres, and you will find the steering a lot lighter. If its still heavy then some thing else is amiss. Get the tracking etc checked when you change the tyres. Standard wheels were 12", think yours has 13" on at the moment.

Peter

[thomas]

Some quick guidance would be appreciated, ye olde Chevette alternator has arrived, after a clean up it looks quite good. Numbers stamped all over it in different places and on top of each other make identifying the exact model quite difficult, but it's a Delco, apparently 35A OR 45A depending on which stamping to believe. It'll do.

Here's the two side by side, what a monster and deadweight the dynamo is in comparion:


The upper mounting brackets compared:


This is as much for illustration purposes for others so far but there is a question to follow;


Of the four terminals, the obvious big + terminal is the output and next to it a spare earth tag, it's clear enough what they're for.  The two smaller terminals, marked IND and BAT, IND is obviously the warning lamp, the BAT one I'm hoping I can leave unused, Chevette wiring diagram only shows two connections, the big brown output cable and a brown/yellow to the IND connection.  So it looks like we are good to go once the sleet and wind eases to the point that standing vertically outdoors is possible.

Up at the old reg-rect before its removal the wiring looks like this:


The two in the foreground unconnected were formerly connected at the dynamo (heavy brown-yellow and thinner brown-green). I think the thinner brown yellow wire is my warning light feed, crimped with the thick brown-yellow and attached to the reg-rect, I'm planning to split these two apart, throw away the thick brown-yellow, also throw away the brown-green from reg-rect-to dynamo and run the solid brown wire spade terminal end formerly connected to reg-rect down to the alternator, the other end of which is already connected to the battery at the solenoid. Then run the thin brown-yellow wire to the IND terminal on alternator. Anyone see any flaws in this plan, been there done that, fried the diodes, had to call the firebrigade etc. comments invited. It all looks straightforward --too straightforward!

[Johnboy HB]

If i remember right the combined dynamo/control box has its own separate loom, if you follow it back it plugs into two wires in the main loom, one to the indicator light, one to either battery or ignition

[bedfordbad]

Sorry ive just noticed this post, you had seem to be struggling for answers, i think you overloaded everybodys brain with questions...... im not good on wiring ect but can help with brackets alternators, coils, dizzys wiring harness second hand bits ect, just pm me, good luck steve P.S i even drive to grangemouth twice a week!

[thomas]

Thanks guys, the alternator is in and kicking out a juicy 14.4 volts, lights and everything much brighter, even the demister is a lot faster, more effective, ignition sparks too are impressive. I did need the BAT connection on the alternator also, without it there was no output from alternator and no warning light, with it connected to the battery (at the solenoid terminal) all works perfectly. The theory is that it senses the battery voltage separately from the output cable which, possibly carrying heavy currents, is not so reliable a point to measure it at, you could just run a wire from the alternator's output terminal to its own BAT connection and that would work too, but defeats the purpose of having a separate sense connection. I'll probably replace the Brown output cable with something heavier as the dynamo's max output current was around 22amps whereas the alternator, still using the same cable, is capable of outputting far higher current, probably 45amps. Such a high load on the alternator would only result with a near flat battery and a load of accessories running, though there's not much on the 'Deluxe' to consume much power.

It was a non-starter for a time, flooded, wet petrol soaked plugs, resulting from running on choke and much start-stop short running while testing things. Both Powerspark strobe lights purchased still do not flash at idle revs even with improved power supply voltage with their own Powerspark electronic ignition kit, so they're going in the bin or being sent back with with some strong words of disapproval, they are not recommended. Though the electronic ignition kit itself I cannot fault.

Electronic ignition and alternator transplant were the two main upgrades I planned to make to the car, though I did not expect them to become necessary so soon, there's a knock-on improvement too in headlamp brightness and wiper speed (though actual swept area of the screen is sub-optimal, the passenger side is far better covered than the drivers), next up is the noisy (when cold) thrust bearing replacement and a pre-MoT checkover at the garage.

[hbpeter]

Good to hear all is now working. Can you lubricate the thrust bearing through the clutch arm opening? Might be worth a go, save dropping the gearbox. Now you have a better elec supply you can go ahead and fit that monster sound system!

Peter

[shamm]

The BAT connection enables the Alternator output and is part of the system to control and protect the regulator