So I kind of have bits and pieces scattered across several threads, and ive had questions about the swap so I figured id condense it all into a single how-to.
So im planning to put air ride on my 64, as well as a small stereo and possibly electric rad fans, in addition to the fact my car has factory AC. I knew my stock alternator would not be able to keep up and had plans to upgrade this coming winter but while out for a cruise last week the alt shit the bed forcing me to bump up the conversion.
I picked up a Tuff-Stuff 140A 1-wire alternator from summit:
http://m.summitracing.com/parts/tff-7068k
The housing bolts right up, didnt need to clock it or anything, and there is lots of clearance all around. I did however have to swap out the included single V-belt pulley with the dual V-pulley from the stock alternator. Here is the new alternator installed on the bracket with the old pulley & belts installed:
For wiring, I pulled out the stock regulator and the harness going to it. you will need to remove the fan/shroud, as well as the channel bolted to the rad cradle. You'll likely want to remove the hood to.
heres the regulator and harness removed:
there is also a plug behind the driver headlight that is just the power to the reg to turn it on. just unplug the harness from their and tape off this plug. I also removed the little rubber shield thing that kept water off the regulator that was bolted just above it on the inner fender apron:
OK, now onto the fun part, removing the old power wire. Here is approx the path of the 8AWG power wire in a 64/65 LC.
Im not kidding, there is probably a good 25' of crusty old 50+ year old wire between the alternator and the battery because in the 64/65's all of the charging current is routed through the AMP gauge on the dash. since I bypassed my amp gauge and replaced it with a volt gauge ( How to on how to convert can be found here:
http://www.thelincolnforum.net/phpbb3/v ... =2&t=48378 ) this was essentially just a giant loop of useless wire that could easily be shortened.
As i started to pull the old 8AWG wire out I found that the distribution block below the battery tray was broken.
- IMG_20160418_205513-1600x1200.jpg (26.65 KiB) Viewed 6897 times
Luckily this did not cause a fire, however another member DID experience a fire from this very failure:
http://www.thelincolnforum.net/phpbb3/v ... =2&t=37717
So I eliminated the distribution block, and pulled to old 8AWG wire back as far as the solenoid, added a ring terminal, and hooked it to the battery side of the solenoid:
then all I did was add a ground strap from the alternator to the chassis, and run an 4AWG wire from the alternator + terminal:
along the frame below the battery tray:
to the + terminal on the battery:
and done. Also you probably noticed that my battery does not fit my tray properly. thats because I actually installed a tray from a 67-70 Mustang:
The Mustang uses a group 24F battery and uses J-hooks instead of the end tang as was factory in the LC's. Group 24F is the same size as a standard group 34/78, so that I can replace the battery with a standard size battery. Im ordering the XS Power V3400 next week:
http://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/xsp-v3400
- xsp-v3400_oh_xl.jpg (29.65 KiB) Viewed 6897 times
Its AGM, can supply a TON of current, and it looks good! Also notice the terminals on the new battery are opposite if the stock battery so I left my power wires long. Once the new battery is in I will shorten/ tidy up the 3 4awg wires at the battery.
Any questions just let me know!
