Morris Minor Owners Club

I'm considering upgrading to an alternator, and I have 2 questions for you guys.

(1) Which is the best alternator kit to buy?

(2) I've read that the regulator box becomes redundant. I'm aware that the regulator wires have to be connected together in 2 groups of 3. (Maybe somebody can tell me which wires are connected together)
My brainwave is to remove the inards from the reg box and solder the appropriate spade ends together........thereby leaving the wires connected and giving the illusion that the reg box is still in use (originality, and all that )
Wadya reckon?
All comments would be appreciated, folks!

Excellent idea - and what I'm planning on doing next time Have a look in 'Useful tips' for 'Fitting a 1275 Engine! Jons dubious guide.' which gives good wiring instructions.

I would suggest that you leave the regulator box in situ as it becomes a
useful connection box when converting to an Alternator. Full details on the
conversion are elsewhere on this site. You do not have to remove ANY of
the 'innards of the regulator.

"You do not have to remove ANY of
the 'innards of the regulator."

Please explain.

If you read the instructions for converting to an Alternator you will see that
it involves moving wires from one terminal to another on the existing regulator box and removing and connecting together a couple of them. This,
in effect means that the innards of the regulator box are no longer in circuit
so have no further effect on the charging system.( the Alternator has a built
in regulator). So it is pointless to remove the old regulator box.

OK. Can anyone point me towards the alternator conversion instructions on the site? I can't find it.

Not sure if you meant the wiring thing I mentioned. That's here - http://www.morrisminoroc.co.uk/index.ph ... ic&t=10236

Thanx for that.
I actually meant the wiring instuctions whereby the reg box actually remains in situ..........I'm sure I read it somewhere on the site in the distant past.

If you are a member I would recommend buying the clubs' Technical Manual'
which is available either as a book or CDROM. This has want you want and much more besides.

Good idea.

Can anyone recommend the best alternator conversion kit to buy? I don't suppose any of them include a Lucas alternator?

All the ones I have did, but I bought them all over the place and can't recommend anybody in particular. Have a look at the ESM site

I found these instructions from a seller on eBay:

Disconnect any radios, electronic rev counters or any other electronic equipment.
Fit the alternator and bracket where the dynamo was. Tension fan belt.


Connect the heavy wire to the terminal marked ‘S’ or ‘+’


Connect the thin to the terminal marked ‘IND’ or ‘WL’


Locate the control box. Remove the black wire from terminal ‘E’, the brown/green wire from terminal ‘F’ and the brown/yellow or plain yellow wire from terminal D.
Connect these 3 wires together securely. Best to solder.


Remove the wires from terminal ‘AL’, ‘A’ and ‘D’ .Join them together too.
You should now have 2 groups of 3 wires soldered together.

Insulate the ends and secure them somewhere they cannot earth out. Insulate the terminals on the control box too.


Alternatively, if you want to keep some originality you can carry out this conversion inside the control box by removing everything inside and connecting the remaining terminals (as above) inside the box. This limits the chances of the wires earthing out too.


Does this seem to ring true? I notice he dosen't mention connecting any reg box wires to earth once disconnected.

Sounds right to me. I'll try and dig out a set of the instructions that came with a kit and see - wish me luck...

When fitting an alternator everthing looks so much tidier when the control box is removed also makes room for a modern fuse box

Alternator kit arrived today from ESM. It has a 3-wire harness, two wires of which are brown, connected together, and apparently get connected to the battery side of the starter solenoid.



The remaining thin brown/yellow harness wire should connect to the existing thin brown/yellow dynamo wire.

The control box looks like it remains in situ, but the terminals F and D are to be disconnected. (Says nothing about insulating them)

I imagine that this would leave the BIG existing spade wire to the dynamo totally redundant and going nowhere?

Oh, and there are no mounting bolts included with the kit, I suppose I should just use the old ones from the dynamo.

Take a look at the diagram, folks and please tell me if you think it looks straightforward enough.

Thanks.

Cripes!
I've made all the connections are per the diagram. The red IGN light is staying on permanently.
I have a battery condition meter which does indicate some movement, but the needle is below 12V, in the RED sector, and indicating "Off Charge" HELP!

Just a thought - You are running negative earth, aren't you?

Not sure quite what would happen if you weren't

Yep..........and......

The new fanbelt is very tight.........the connections to power are tight.......have disconnected the 2 wires as directed in the diagram. (The thick brown/yellow on terminal D and the thin brown/green on terminal F.

It's a bit confusing but your Alternator should now have the thick brown
wires connected to its '+' terminal and the thin wire which used to connect to
the Dynamo fitted to its 'ind' terminal. Your Regulator box should now be
wired,from left to right: A1. Brown +Blue, A. 2XBrown AND the THICK Yellow
F. nothing, D. nothing, E. Black............The Green/Yellow and Thin Yellow
should be joined together and insulated but not connected to any terminals.

Here's the instructions:

jojax64 wrote:Alternator kit arrived today from ESM. It has a 3-wire harness, two wires of which are brown, connected together, and apparently get connected to the battery side of the starter solenoid.



The remaining thin brown/yellow harness wire should connect to the existing thin brown/yellow dynamo wire.

The control box looks like it remains in situ, but the terminals F and D are to be disconnected. (Says nothing about insulating them)

I imagine that this would leave the BIG existing spade wire to the dynamo totally redundant and going nowhere?

Oh, and there are no mounting bolts included with the kit, I suppose I should just use the old ones from the dynamo.

Take a look at the diagram, folks and please tell me if you think it looks straightforward enough.

Thanks.