Hey Anth, i used a spacer on mine in the lower mount... it was on the one i took off and used it again.
And my bracket at the top missed by a few mm of getting the bolt through and i was going to grind it but
went with a little 'love tap' instead... much much quicker. It runs true and no sign of wearing with a few thousand km's.
Mine is on the second pulley,i only got rid of the third pulley and i can just change belts... just! lol
100+ amps is great! especially when thermo kicks in and everything else is hummin
Mick

Cheers Mick, and thanks for the pics too, your car looks great!

How big was the spacer? and what did you give the love tap to? the top bracket? I don't think mine will budge, here's my custom brackets I made...









I made them to perfectly fit my current alternator, I'm not sure if maybe the OEM brackets had more 'give' in them? I wish I had used a turnbuckle style adjuster, because I can't take that bracket off without taking off the water pipe, it's a bit of a chain reaction that would probably end with half the bay ripped out.

I really hope I can just transfer the guts of the RB alternator into my old one, because then I know it'll slot right in. Shame I spent so long cleaning and painting the RB one!

_________________
build-threads.com

So the transplant operation started off well, I managed to screw the guts of the RB alternator into the rear shell of my old one, everything is in exactly the same position. The problem is the front covers are different, the RB one has 4 phillips head screws holding it together that you undo from the front, but my current alternator is different, is has 2 or 3 (can't remember now) screws that are put in from the REAR, so you can't get to them. I tried to fit it with the RB front cover (so that's FJ rear cover, RB guts, and RB front cover), but I still had some fitment issues.

I'm taking both of the front covers to work tomorrow, hopefully the mechanic across the road can press off the front bearing on the FJ one so I can pull it apart. The saga continues.

_________________
build-threads.com

From what I can tell, you don't have the standard FJ20 alternator to begin with.
Probably irrelevant but just my observation.

_________________
Regards, Graeme
Just trying to help...
http://nissanman.shutterfly.com/
graemes@internode.on.net

Yeah I get that feeling. I wish I knew what it was out of, it's sooo similar to RB30, just minor differences. I rang up Bosch tech support with my part number and the overseas call center muppet on the other line told me to ring Bursons or Supercheap, gee thanks!

_________________
build-threads.com

Doing some more internet sleuthing tonight, think it might be a CA20 unit?

Check this out... http://datsun1200.com/modules/newbb/vie ... 0&start=20



It also looks like the last three digits only refer to the type of regulator: http://apps.bosch.com.au/AAExtranet_Tec ... sB2-0a.pdf

Also found this old OzDat mailing list link, also referring to CA20 https://www.mail-archive.com/membersozd ... 26702.html

_________________
build-threads.com

Well that was funny, I took both of my front half alternators to my mechanic to see if he could press them out, he sent me to his auto elec. So I went there and asked the guy if it was possible, thinking he'd put them in some elaborate press, or use some bearing pullers, or heat up the housing. Nope, just put it in the vice and wale on it with a hammer and center punch. Did the trick, I now have the RB guts in the front half of the CA20 housing, to go along with the other hybrid half I have at home. Let's hope it all goes together tonight when I get home.

_________________
build-threads.com

Anth, i gave my top bracket a tap down so i could get the bolt through... it was only missing by a few mm.
I took some more pics of what I was told was an original FJ20 Hitachi alternator (60 amp ... dont know which model/year) but it just looked so tired when i got it home that i hit ebay
and got the rb one off the guys in SA and arrived quickly ... $190 well spent though (did not receive free gift voltmeter though haha scammers!)

I took some shots of my lower bracket...
Front

Back

Top Bracket... the one i gave the love tap down 3mm...

Me Luv your car too!

Very nice! It looks like we have a similar lower bracket, but my old top bracket was way different to that, I think the previous owner modified it.

I was hoping to have the car running by now, but life gets in the way. The good news is the RB internals are all installed in the CA20 shell, and it all bolted up perfectly back in the car. I bought some new ring terminals from Jaycar, just need to find a spare evening to finish it all off. Hopefully I'll have an update soon with some good news!

_________________
build-threads.com

Finally fitted the Frankenstein alternator, it reads higher than the old one on idle yet still has voltage drop when loaded up not sure what else it could be. Wiring? Is it worth putting a new reg in this alt, considering I bought it 2nd hand? I was really hoping this would be the end of it!

One interesting thing to note is that now I can make the volts go back up if I give it some revs, that's something I couldn't do before with the old one

There is a regulatory issue there.
You are not out of the woods yet

_________________
Regards, Graeme
Just trying to help...
http://nissanman.shutterfly.com/
graemes@internode.on.net

Make sure there's a good earth from the body to the engine block and/or the alternator case itself. To connect to the body you need to actually scrape off paint to bare metal and use a star washer (shakeproof) between the terminal and the body, with a fair sized bolt. I use a bit of nickel antiseize to prevent corrosion.
The ideal situation is negative battery lead all the way from the battery to the block and then across to the body - but that's not always practical with the relocated battery, so check your battery negative connection to the body too.

Another update (you guys must be getting sick of this!)

Got myself a brand new genuine Bosch voltage regulator and installed it tonight, and...











...no change What I did notice is that it only takes the smallest increase in revs to bring the volts back in line when it's loaded up. Could it be that the engine just needs to increase the idle when there are electrical accessories turned on to compensate? Don't modern engines do this? I wonder if it's something the Microtech can be programmed to do. At least I know now that it's only happening at complete idle, and unless I'm sitting stationary with all my accessories turned on at the same time (including high beams and thermo fan) for extended periods of time, then I shouldn't really have a problem.

_________________
build-threads.com

Hey Anth, did they test the diodes in the alternator? if you have dropped a diode you will lose output.
What sort of lamp do you use? led or normal? if led you must have a resistor inline with the lamp to fake wattage,or check bulb... should be 2 watts (as per bosch?... i have led)
The rb one has a sense wire so will still work with or without lamp but without the sense wire the alternator relies on the lamp to charge.
Your battery may be dead now too! they dont really like any of this ... i went thru 2 listening to experts!
When the last one died i got a big 650cca and ordered the 105amp rb30 one and instant success.
My battery is in the boot with 2gauge to starter, neg is earthed to rear bumper. I also used the red 2gauge from jaycar to go from alternator to starter, see photos previous. With my one before i had to give a rev to get it to start charging and was a pain when cold starting and then died... our thoughts was one of the diodes went... could have been all the jumpstarting and charging the battery on trickle because alternator couldnt keep up.

For the effort you have put in for this frankenstein and auto electricians, pita!

new one much easier... goodluck mate! i hope you get it sorted