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Replacing Festiva alternator; sources, upgrades, etc?

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  • #31
    Movin' on/ and that alternator I have, etc.

    I'm starting to take seriously the idea of overhauling the alternator myself; inspired by Movin's expertise and my notion I could actually accomplish, what he suggests is feasible-I like to think; while of course well possible for someone with his command of resources.

    While, I can daydream about spending time someday in a lonely cabin's isolation with Movin far above some snowline; talking out our differences over a winter or maybe several of those. With maybe a cribbage board at hand; a game my grandfather favored and tried to teach me, I've never come close to learning.

    One of my grandfather's hunting and fishing buddies during the 1950s Richmond Pearson Hobson, Jr. wrote three great cowboy non-fiction books* about ranching in the remote inland regions of British Columbia during the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, which can contribute greatly to such a fantasy with Movin; or my grandfather's own stories of an isolated aloofness during the height of the depression of the 1930s memorizing all of Robert Service's poetry from a logging camp cook who'd memorized Service from a book. When easy to imagine them spending time with other interests intellectual, also.

    One of the problems of logging or ranching, is that both are consumer driven interests; without the least possibility of existence, other than as articulated by demand for their products: Under capitalism, socialism or whatever sort of system, or more accurately probably lack of one, exists. Thus, much of the character of those livelihoods has to be determined by how any given society makes use of material resources. I worked all day yesterday on writing in reply to what Movin contributed to this thread, external of alternators; so imagine if I get the time, trying to extract both of our commentaries; to make a thread in the off-topic forum.

    Winging it yesterday without posting, was just too diffuse and diverse to keep heaping onto a good thread about alternators; particularly when Movin writes so authoritatively, that in substance there is much which could become a sticky...is what I think at least.

    While my own thoughts can use the time to mature and percolate; as if now similar to the "green" beer some friends used to consume about three weeks old, anyone could imagine aging might've benefitted-I think those guys liked to be perverse.** To give a hint, some of my dialogue got as far as speculation on Romani culture and society; the so-called "Gypsies" who even subtle stereotypes fail, in describing much of what is an amazingly diverse and influential global if often exploited entity, out of India originally at least ten centuries ago.

    What I think my grandfather captured well, is the idea of an old growth forest making lumber superior to second, third or fourth growth; each of those a decline in quality due to the reduction of nutrients in the soil, only a natural cycle of many types of trees and other plants reproduces, leading to the timber of a mature forest again. He certainly had a few things to say about Weyerhauser, critical as well as by his actions; who gifted all his grandchildren with ten shares of stock in the company when we were little. I sold those I had, to help a little getting myself through college in the 1970s.

    *Grass Beyond The Mountains, Nothing Too Good For A Cowboy, & Rancher Takes A Wife; which about a dozen years ago became the basis of one of Canada's most popular television series Nothing Too Good For A Cowboy, that ran a couple seasons: Which looks from on-line descriptions, as if sort of a cross between Bonanza and Gilligan's Island; while perhaps not very authentic to the sources.


    **One of the three Douglas Schular, once a boyfriend of one of my sisters when she was an Evergreen student, is now a professor at The Evergreen State College, in Olympia, WA an expert in computers. When he and his pals "Rogger" and "Nor" were drinking their homemade brew; they'd been living a couple years and over a winter or two guessing, during the mid 1970s in a forty foot diameter geodesic dome built with two by fours, covered with fero-cement over wood-fiber kiln felt used to dry lumber; which scavenging with about $200 cash to work with, they constructed on a tree farm near Onalaska, WA my grandfather planted in 1951, I was supposed to inherit I've never seen a cent from. "SES" or "Space Enclosure Systems" is what they called their co-operative I remember visiting once; listening to a broadcast out of Portland, OR of the old "Doctor Demento" radio show, which seemed very appropriate.

    Those guys grossed me out by using as the bottom of their outhouse, the cistern a long departed dairy farmer and his family had there for drinking water, whose cleared pasture land the tree farm was initially planted on. Ultimately d-isgusted with their tiny trio's tribe, my grandfather and his friend John Thompson, someone wealthy from within the logging trades, rented a cat and scooped out a hole in the ground and pushed down the dome and put the whole mess in the hole, then covered everything up with dirt. My rich alcoholic uncle in Eugene, OR continually sold parcels of the original hundred and sixty acres, until I was told long ago everything was gone; in his scheming making money without doing work or having a job-by using my grandfather's capital, as a local real estate developer and investment counselor in Eugene.
    Last edited by bobstad; 05-11-2012, 12:40 PM.
    '91 Festiva L/'73 Windsor Carrera Sport custom

    (aka "Jazz Bobstad," "The BobWhan," etc.)

    Art is the means whereby(a) society advances: Religion is the definition of the parameters of art. Poetry is the actualization of these...

    Comment


    • #32
      I just took one apart, it was squeeling, and I want its' pulley on the good one I have.

      For fun, I started to tear it down even further, to find out there are 2 bearings, one on the front cover behind the pulley, and one in the rear.

      Now, this one in the rear, it is tiny, mm...14x7.5x23. Both front and rear bearings seem fine, as far as you can tell with a sealed bearing with no pressure on it. The shaft however is scored pretty bad, and I think that is the source of the noise. I might be able to have that turned, or even do it myself with some sandpaper, but what about the teeth in the rear cover?

      I don't see a way of removing the coil without having to heat up the old solder and resolder it when it goes back together. To add to that, I see no way of holding the teeth down while I slide the shaft back in the rear cover.

      Replacing the front bearing would not be hard at all, just remove the pulley and 4 outside screws, the inner screws are just for a cover behind the pulley side bearing. Don't let the coil come off with the front cover. I'll see if I can upload some pics to illustrate my point.
      2008 Kia Rio- new beater
      1987 F-150- revived and CLEAN!!!
      1987 Suzuki Dual Sport- fun beater bike
      1993 Festiva- Fiona, DD
      1997 Aspire- Peaspire, Refurb'd, sold
      1997 Aspire- Babyspire, DD
      1994 Aspire - Project Kiazord
      1994 Aspire- Crustyspire, RIP



      "If it moves, grease it, if it don't, paint it, and if it ain't broke don't fix it!"

      Comment


      • #33
        Didn't get good pics of the rear cover and the two teeth I'm talking about, but here are some, you don't have to remove the 4 inner screws to get the front cover off.

        2008 Kia Rio- new beater
        1987 F-150- revived and CLEAN!!!
        1987 Suzuki Dual Sport- fun beater bike
        1993 Festiva- Fiona, DD
        1997 Aspire- Peaspire, Refurb'd, sold
        1997 Aspire- Babyspire, DD
        1994 Aspire - Project Kiazord
        1994 Aspire- Crustyspire, RIP



        "If it moves, grease it, if it don't, paint it, and if it ain't broke don't fix it!"

        Comment


        • #35
          Yea, looks about right, they're spring loaded to rub on the shaft, the shaft is scored pretty bad, I used a drill, 200 grit sandpaper, 400 grit, then 1500 grit to turn down the shaft, and I figure a dremel tool with a sanding bit and rough/1500 grit sandpaper will do the same to the tips of those brushes....if and when I ever get around to taking it that far apart. I'm not looking foward to heating up the old solder to break the coil free from the housing.

          I still don't understand how the brushes will be held down while I put the shaft piece back in.
          Last edited by zoom zoom; 05-11-2012, 11:14 PM.
          2008 Kia Rio- new beater
          1987 F-150- revived and CLEAN!!!
          1987 Suzuki Dual Sport- fun beater bike
          1993 Festiva- Fiona, DD
          1997 Aspire- Peaspire, Refurb'd, sold
          1997 Aspire- Babyspire, DD
          1994 Aspire - Project Kiazord
          1994 Aspire- Crustyspire, RIP



          "If it moves, grease it, if it don't, paint it, and if it ain't broke don't fix it!"

          Comment


          • #36
            Cleaning up the communtator rings, a little goes a long ways, new brushes and bearings, if it makes power when done, that is what a rebuild is.. If it doesn't make power they replace the electronic parts until it does then out the door!! You want a life time warranty
            then you pay a little more...

            We used to test each part, diagnose..but we cannot compete with off shore prices so
            now we have foreign rebuilds and foreign new parts that are inferior to what we used
            to have. Rebuilding your own will usually result in a much more dependable product.

            If you do not want to solder there are new brush holders available for a little more
            money ready to be screwed into place, all new.

            usually, the end bushing or needle bearing can be greased and reused.
            the drive end bearing I would replace, it usually fails right after you put
            in new brushes..
            Reflex paint by Langeman...Lifted...Tow Rig

            Comment


            • #37
              Well, the weather here is getting milder; so with all the input from Movin and others, the idea of working on my alternator feels a solid prospect.

              I can get easily distracted; and was in town trying to participate in the local "occupy" and "99%" activities yesterday for something to do, for the exercise riding my bicycle. That got me irked enough I had to fight myself this morning, tempted to go buy a bottle of red wine and rent some dvd Redbox movies; to pre-occupy myself mentally: Always a great way to scuttle any project I happen to have on deck or in progress; too.

              Yesterday earlier in the day I went out on the bike to try and find a some used coveralls; since lately my recently expanding girth has made the two pair I have too snug to get into. Bellingham where I moved to February of '08 on a whim in a crisis from nearly seven hundred miles away is showing some dire symptoms, as I tend to gain weight if I'm feeling frustrated; and here am over ten pounds heavier than at any time in my life, which previously was my last year in high school during 1969.*

              Anyway, I look forward to the great feeling coming out the other end, if I can manage to make my alternator work reliably by my own efforts without a lot of expense-or at least good value for the money invested. That bottle of red wine and some movies still seems tempting; and since Saturday, further excuse to procrastinate. The real discouragement is if the movies turn out to be duds; since otherwise the habit isn't always such a bad one. A great motion picture can really make me feel good.

              I really thank everyone; as I've started to feel in the mood-that swing of consciousness and perspective someone often too mired in multi-tasking and/or off-the-wall reflections all over the place has to find, to get focused and build momentum so a project can get done with good concentration and attention to details. If I can just avoid too many, before the fact of accomplishment rewards to myself; for the best of my intentions.

              With the timing belt, water pump, and the seals on the end of the cam and crank shafts, still needing doing once the alternator is solid; I'm far from out of the woods, in the figurative sense at least. Too far out of them in actuality, with plenty of easy to come by alternatives to working on the Festiva.

              I have all summer is the worst attitude; when one nifty Festiva project worth doing then, is insulation of the interior gluing closed cell sleeping bag ground pad material made for use on snow and ice I already have, everywhere I can find bare metal. That could turn into something fun, versus the dirty challenging jobs on the motor; and something I've already done with other vehicles that makes a huge improvement keeping warm and free of condensation, which can even look beautiful.


              *The United States is about the only place in the world where obesity is a crisis of the lower classes; which is taken as a sign of wealth nearly everywhere else in the world. Something I've tried to study a little; by reading books about macrobiotics-the late Japanese man Georges Ohsawa greatest of the macrobiotic authors since Hippocrates, is excellent about.
              '91 Festiva L/'73 Windsor Carrera Sport custom

              (aka "Jazz Bobstad," "The BobWhan," etc.)

              Art is the means whereby(a) society advances: Religion is the definition of the parameters of art. Poetry is the actualization of these...

              Comment

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