Made a bit of progress today... Between work and all the holidays and social events I haven't had time to monkey around with it for a couple weeks.

I basically got the belt tight enough using the pry-bar on the alternator method to keep it from squealing. In the process of doing this I added 4 7/16" flat washers between the adjustment bracket and the alternator to act as shims. The bracket naturally wanted to sit approximately 1/4" from the front face of the adjustment tab so I figured it was best to not force it together as this might throw the belt alignment off. I also decided to drill out the threads on the adjustment tab and run a bolt all the way through with a nut in the other end as it's going to take a lot of torque to hold the alternator in place once the belt is tight; I really don't think the threads in aluminum are up to this task. In either case better safe than sorry.

I think the shims are an important thing to consider here; if that bracket tweaked the alternator just a bit, it could have messed with the alignment causing slippage and premature belt wear. Possibly the belt could jump as well and we wouldn't want that.

I tested the tension on the belt to see if I could get it to slip. With everything turned in that I could turn on, I couldn't create enough load to get it to slip so I think it's good for now anyway. If slippage ever becomes an issue I will address it then.

My next step is to install the fuse which I have yet to order. I figure a bit of real estate just became available on the core support so that's as good of a place for the fuse as any. With this I will sort out the wiring harness and make it pretty.

Stay tuned...

Shims



Tight belt

 

I finally got my fuse block... It seems pretty well designed; we will see how long the soft rubber cover lasts though. While a good idea, I don't think this is an absolute necessity as long as nothing else interferes with the block should the cover fail. This was the best priced block I could find sourced at rockauto.com; I suggest throwing this on to another order to save on shipping costs. Here are part numbers if anyone else wants to purchase this:

Bussman HMEG - Fuse Block ($5.47)
Bussman AMG175 - Bolt in fuse ($2.66)







Now I just need to find a good place to mount it.

 

I used the same exact one when I did my swap.


I put mine on the passenger side inner fender. Eventually once I get to cleaning everything up, I will probably do it a little different, but this works for now.


Not the best picture, but the best I could find while being away from home.

 

I was thinking about putting it in the square pad where the hoses are routed and adjust their position a bit. Basically this is one of the few flat spots on the inner fender and it's the most direct route to the solenoid keeping the wire short as possible.



Btw Do your heater hoses have enough slack?

 

I think any area will work for the fuse holder. Just find the best place for your specific layout.


On the hoses, thanks for looking out. They have quite a bit of slack, just happens to be the angle of the photo.

 

Well the 3G alternator upgrade is complete. I ended up deciding to mount the mega fuse block on the core support where the regulator was. I then ran the wires behind the battery tray which resulted in a really clean look. I still have some unrelated wiring near the solenoid to clean up but all in all I am really happy with the results of this project. I will be addressing the starter wire next.

 

Nice job, looks great!!!

 

Thanks! I want to make the engine compartment as clean and simplistic looking as possible. This is part of that process.