Ok its an alternator off a '87 - '89 Nissan Pulsar fuel inj. model. You need the Bosch model not the generic one (I think its BOsch N13). Do not get the one off a Falcon if the wrecker offers its the same to them but the lower mounting point is too far out and might bump into the grill.

Because the alt is bigger than the Lucas you'll either need to change the lower tightening bar (the metal bar to which the alt lower mount attaches) by making a new one from some CURVED or angled sheet metal or the easiest way attaching a second CURVED bracket on top of the old one to elongate it. Curved is important so as to clear the alt. fan fins. Just pick up a mounting bracket from the wreckers.

On the left top mount (not the water pump one)youll have approx 2'' space between the mount and the alternator - put a big nut inthere or some washers anythingas long as you can achieve a perfectly tight fit so as to keep the alt straight. On the right make sure by using spacers or anything else that there's a really straight allign between the fan belt pulleys (the belt has to be straigh or itll burn and whine). I had to undo the alt nut to replace a spacer to get it in line.

Removing the main nut on the alt is a real horrible bitch of a job. Its done real, real, real perfectly tight and youre supposed to hold an allen key inside the shaft (its shaped for it) and turn the nut with a socket. Its really really hard so ask the wrecker to undo the nut with an air ratchet - much easier coz you just hold the fan blades. Even if you dont need to remove anything you can still do the nut up at home and it'll be tight enough - not ridiculouly tight.

Connections: Connect the point marked as B+ to the Starter solenoid (use a thicker wire if you wanna use the full amperage increase (you can even use neat black battery cable especialy since it has the boot to cover the B+ nut) just dont go crazy with jumper wire etc). On the moulded plug there are two sides. One is marked L (thin white? wire inside the plug) this goes to the ign light wire. The other marked "E" I think (thicker red wire inside the plug) and it goes to a fused "on on ignition" +12v (you can use the existing wire from the Lucas alt but its connected to the unfused side of the fuse box. So either put it on the fused side or put an inline fuse. Do not confuse and mix the connections on the moulded plug or you'll fry up the internal control unit.

I had to splice and rewire the connections as they were joined through the old control module but you probably wont have to.

BTW thanks to JAM who's site had all the details I used for the original install (I was just too thick to find the text and so had to do everthing the hard way through pictures).

Should be a little easier to find now. I made changes after you first told me that

What capacity is this alternator? I want something around 80 amps. The lights are going to use 60 amps and the AC will use about 20 I guess. On second thoughts I reckon it had better be 100 amps. Anyone found a 100 amp alternator to fit a mini?

_________________
Chris

Everything I like is either
illegal, immoral or fattening.

75A

Chris, you must have a heap of lights.. 60A x 12V = 720Watts........!!

_________________
DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

That's what I thought until I started to work it out. 2x125 watt high beams, 2x125 watt driving lights = 500 watts = 60 amps. Can never have enough light. A fact of life is that as a person gets older, the capacity to see light is vastly reduced. What my son sees as a 17 year old I don't and apparently the difference is HUGE. Another thing that knocks around the light performance on a Mini is that they are so low. High headlights make a big difference. Where we live we have the odd roo and lots of deer wandering around at night and speaking from experience they are bloody hard to see. I got so close to deer one night I heard him grunting while he was trying to avoid the car. He would have gone straight through the windscreen of a mini, well part of him would have as the rest of him wouldn't have fitted, he was to big.

_________________
Chris

Everything I like is either
illegal, immoral or fattening.

Chris,
Power(Watts)=Volts * Amps. Amps=Watts/Volts. Thus 500Watts at 12 Volts is approx 42Amps (ie 500/12 = 41.67A)
When the engine is actually running the voltage is closer to 14-14.5V
so the current taken is approx 500/14 = 36A. You can probably get away with a 55A alternator providing you don't have lots of other high current devices. The world is knee deep in 55A alternators so you should be able to find a suitable one.

Edit: Oops!! Didn't see the bit about the Air/Con. 75- 80 Amps would be the go.

Regards
RonR

a place in the uk offers a 100 amp drop in alt for around 200 quid :S you could shop round in insustrial/truck wreckers for a cummons 170 amp truck if u wanted. thats what id do if there was a local truck wreckers

_________________
lookin for another clubby

Remember that there is no free rides

There is no point bolting on a weber for more power and then bolting on a 100amp alternator that loses you power.

The bigger the alt the more hp it takes to run. (not to mention the extra weight of all the electrical gear that you will be carrying around)

OOPS. Old timers disease. You are right of course. Its a bloody long time since I did long division!! I wish I could get 14V to the lights, they would be bright then. Actually if the relays are fed straight off the alternator output the voltage becomes reasonable. 55A alternators are a dime a dozen but it never hurts to have as much as possible.

_________________
Chris

Everything I like is either
illegal, immoral or fattening.

Point taken. I'll discuss this in Goulburn? PM about that. If the weber is not on it then it won't have enough power to run the alternator. Chickens and eggs.

_________________
Chris

Everything I like is either
illegal, immoral or fattening.

I put a `New Era' fused double headlamp relay in mine. 4mm2 cable feed from the battery side solenoid stud, really brightened the Wipac Quadoptic halogens up..

_________________
DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Don't forget that the earth return must be at least the same size wire as the positive feed, a point that most people do not realise.

_________________
Chris

Everything I like is either
illegal, immoral or fattening.

Earth return from the relay only handles the coil current, it's not much at all.
Sure the earth return wires from the lamps need to be adequate. Mini headlamp ones are not bad.

Main other reason to fit lamp relays on a Mini is to let the switchgear live longer...

_________________
DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

I must learn to be more specific. I meant earth return from the lights. It is best if they can be returned to the battery, but often that is messy and in the case of the mini not practical. Make a terminating bar that has a large feed going to the negative terminal on the battery and all the light return feeds can go to that. Very few people bother. It is something we always did on rally cars.

_________________
Chris

Everything I like is either
illegal, immoral or fattening.