jrprich

I would like to at least wire brush my alternator case or possibly paint it.
But I don't want to disassemble the alternator. So has anyone done this?
If so , please describe how you kept the internals clean during the refinish process.

Thanks,
Jim

Pounder

I painted mine I just took the plastic cap cover off the back, I didn't want to paint that !!!!

Patches

I've seen a couple of posts with pics here of painted alternators where the owner's have not disassembled before painting. Some have just used some Scotch Brite on the casing and gotten a surprisingly nice finish.

I went the disassembly route and had the casing powder coated since I was doing other stuff at the same time. I admit it was a mini-project unto itself so I can understand not wanting to pull it apart.













From BLOWNBLUEZ06:
"You'll need to clear off that coating where the bracket interfaces the block and the alternator chassis. Those need to be clean metal or else you're going to have serious electrical problems. The alternators chassis is what is called absolute ground. Not the frame of the car and not the battery negative post."

You can see most of the areas I ground the paint off of to ensure electrical continuity from the alternator to the head.

Pounder

Ed, yours is a thing of beauty !!!!!!

jrprich

Ed,

BEAUTIFUL work as always!
When you pull these apart, doesn't it require some resoldering to reassemble?

I think mine would look a lot better with some filing, light sanding and maybe a good wire brushing. But I don't know how I would keep the crud from getting inside the alternator.

Thanks,
Jim

jrprich

Wow, that is one CLEAN workbench!

Patches

Others have stuffed paper towels in between the slots to keep the majority of the crud and paint out. Think about what your alternator injests during normal operation as it is - it's open to the environment including dust, dirt, debris, water, heat, etc. so I think some decent blocking of the vents would be sufficient to protect it along with blowing it out thoroughly with compressed air in between steps.

Pulling it apart requires de-soldering and re-soldering with a heavy-duty soldering iron and you have to pull the bearings and other components out so it takes some careful work. Also, notice how I've masked certain areas to maintain electrical integrity.

Mickeyrx70

Always impressed with your attention to detail!

Pounder

it's a piece of plywood over my table saw ???

neutron82

glad you mentioned that, it's good to know for anyone interested in doing it themselves... personally I would not try polishing or painting it without completely disassembling it... I went the easier route and bought one that was already polished and then had my bracket powdercoated

73Corvette

Painted mine on the car...used strips of paper cut to fit under the vent holes...tape off and masked off everything I didn't want paint on...all did was wipe it down with lacquer thinner and paint with John Deere muffler black paint....well,I was going yo post a pic, but I'm on my wife's tablet,,, I'll post some when we get home...it looked nice

69GTO96Z

I know this is an old thread, but maybe somebody can chime in.

Those of you who have done this, did you use a special high temp solder when putting the alternator back together, and re soldering the 3 lead wires?

grinder11

I take it you're referring to silver solder. Anyway, I seriously doubt it. If your alternator gets hot enough to melt conventional 60/40 solder, which melts at approx 375°, I'm certain you'll have much more serious issues than melted solder.....

69GTO96Z

Haha good point. Appreciate it!

Tusc

Patches said it right on.

Ive done it on the alternator for my 99 and had a pro alternator service shop disassemble it. Reason for this being that I didn't have a heavy duty solder gun to remove some of the parts needed. I then had them refresh it. That one was later sold.

Very doable.

What is a lot more of a pain is painting the accessory bracket only because it is a pain to remove with everything installed on the car.
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