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Mon Feb 01, 2016 8:54 pm

I am going to be doing the alternator conversion sometime this week. I wanted to start my own thread to ask some basic questions that are more-than-likely hidden in 33 pages of the other conversion thread.

EDIT: The alternator I had was too short to put in the place of the generator and have the belt line up properly. I will update once I find the right one.

When looking at this diagram of the voltage regulator, can I just remove the regulator and splice DF to B+ and then splice D+ to WL?

With this diagram, I am assuming top plug is alternator light (D+) "lamp"
and bottom plug is signal wire (DF), "sense"

When coming off of the large POSITIVE terminal of the alternator, is it standard to run a robust wire from that terminal to the large positive wire on the starter?

I am pretty sure I have it sorted out in my head. I just need to get a piece of thin strapping material to make a bracket with and a good measurement for a belt. Other than that, chop off the ears and either strap it to the base like the generator was, or fab up a bracket to allow for adjustment.

Mon Feb 01, 2016 10:07 pm

I'll try and take a stab at some of the wiring.
Yes, you can get rid of the Voltage Regulator under the seat, as it's built into the Alt. You'll connect the green wire from the gen to the blue wire to run the light.
Now, here's where things can change, depending on how many amps your alt puts out. You can either tie all of the big red wires together at the VR location, and re-use the big red wire on the new alt. Or you can bring in a new larger red wire from the alt to the battery, and not use the red wire from the gen (abandon it at both ends). That should be all you need to do wiring wise, other than add a short jumper wire from the bolt on the alt to the "S" terminal on the alt.
You might want to check Toby's site (1st to add that style alt) to verify it all, but I think that's it. I hope this helps.

Tue Feb 02, 2016 4:55 am

Thanks Bob. Between your post and Toby's write-up, I'll be fine.

Here is a link to Toby's page for consolidation sake.

http://www.aircoolednut.com/erkson/ttt/engine/gen2alt.htm

Thu Feb 04, 2016 5:51 pm

Here are a few more pictures of the progress. I have a swap meet to go to on Saturday. I might save the install till Sunday. That way I am not testing new parts out on a long drive.

I have the little metal pieces cut for under the alternator and dangling off the studs to take up room. I will see how I am going to make a hold down strap once I get the other one off. We shall see.

Mon Nov 07, 2016 3:13 pm

So how did your conversion go? Any problems? Any issues with the alt pulley?
This is something I intend to do over the next few months.
All tips, warnings, advice appreciated.

Mon Nov 07, 2016 3:18 pm

Air-Cooled Head wrote: So how did your conversion go? Any problems? Any issues with the alt pulley?
This is something I intend to do over the next few months.
All tips, warnings, advice appreciated.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=8052995#8052995

All went great. It has been working for 500 to 1000 miles now. Look at the last post on my build thread. I linked to the conversion I ended up using.

Mon Nov 07, 2016 3:37 pm

Cool! Thanks!

That fuse block conversion is something else I need to do.

Mon Nov 07, 2016 3:55 pm

Air-Cooled Head wrote: Cool! Thanks!

That fuse block conversion is something else I need to do.

I debated it for a bit, but I got tired of loose fuses. It makes a world of difference.