Alternator Bracket

[davefrancisco]

The alternator bracket on my 77 Spider attaches to a bolt that secures the intake manifold. it's an 1800 cc motor.

On all of the videos i have watched and pictures I've seen the alternator bracket is secured directly to the block underneath the intake manifold. For my case this threaded hole is not there.

There is a threaded hole on the exhaust side, but I think this was for the now removed air pump.

This is more of a curiosity than an issue, but has anyone seen this type of mounting point? To me it looks out of place.

Thanks

Dave

[18Fiatsandcounting]

Mounting the top alternator bracket to the intake manifold doesn't sound right. I think the key to figuring out what you've got is to find out where the smog pump was originally.

Here is my understanding of the smog pump. Up until mid 1977, it was mounted up near the exhaust cam pulley and driven by a toothed belt off of that pulley. After that time, and only for a short period (late 1977 through 1978?), the smog pump was located below the exhaust manifold just above the oil pan and run off a belt from the crankshaft pulley. So, when the smog pump was mounted down below, the alternator had to be moved to the driver's side of the engine.

So, do you have any evidence of where the smog pump used to be on your car? If it was above and run off the exhaust cam pulley, the timing belt cover would have an extension for that belt, and the exhaust cam pulley would have an extra set of teeth on it. If it was below, there would be an unused groove in the crankshaft pulley for where the belt used to be.

If your smog pump was down below originally, then the alternator would be on the driver's side. If that were the case, there should be a dedicated bolt hole on the block. Since you don't seem to have that, my guess is that your alternator was originally on the passenger side. But, that doesn't jive with the smog pump being down there....

So something isn't adding up. Do you know whether your car is early or late '77? Did it have air conditioning at one time? (the compressor had to go somewhere) Any unused pulley grooves on your crankshaft pulley?

Subsequent edit: I found a manual for the '77, and it shows the smog pump on top, driven by the exhaust cam, and the alternator is down below on the passenger side. You may have a mixture of configurations depending on what the previous owner did.

-Bryan

[davefrancisco]

The only clue I can provide is the timing belt cover has an "extra space" or extension which would lead me to believe the smog pump was at the top of the engine and driven from the exhaust side CAM pully. There is also a bracket on the head just under the CAM box which would be a mounting point for the smog pump

There is also an unused pully on the crank. today. The alternator in its current position lines up with the water pump pully. I see no evidence of AC.

Manufacture date on the door jamb is feb 1977. I guess early model then.

There is evidence of the motor being rebuilt by the PO. Yellow grease pencil marks and no oil leaks.

So I'll conclude that the alternator was moved to drivers side for some reason. Looks like moving it will be a task given the wiring harness would need to be rerouted.

Thanks for quick and complete reply.

Thanks

Dave

[18Fiatsandcounting]

There is evidence of the motor being rebuilt by the PO. Yellow grease pencil marks and no oil leaks.

Dave, you're killin' me.... Yes, no oil leaks is definitely not a stock engine!

Sounds like the original set up was a smog pump driven by the exhaust cam pulley, and the alternator down below the exhaust manifold. That would have been correct for early '77.

As to why the PO moved the alternator to the other side? I have no clue, except maybe a long-term goal was to add an air conditioning compressor on the passenger side?

Take a close look at your wiring harness for evidence that the original setup was for the alternator on the passenger side. Or maybe the PO changed out the wiring harness for unknown reasons.

With old cars like these, sometimes it's a puzzle to figure out what was done to them in the past. Some changes made sense, and some.... ehhh, not so much.

-Bryan

[davefrancisco]

Hello everyone. Coming back to this post as I have new info, and new questions.

Quick recap to summarize..

Problem - 1977 Fiat - Alternator installed on intake side. Top alternator bracket mounted on intake manifold using the manifold bolt by #1 Cylinder.
New Info - the motor is not original. Discovered this recently when I pulled the head. The motor seems to be from a 1976. This is based on the head serial/model numbers.

So guessing that when the motor was swapped the PO just left the alternator on the intake side and used some creativity to mount it.

The pics in the link show a mounting point on the exhaust side of the block, and a few parts that I believe I would need to properly mount on exhaust side.

So question is, are these the parts I need (plus some wire) to mount on exhaust side?

https://photos.app.goo.gl/fReUJ7YWysKSuTZ68

Thanks

Dave

[davefrancisco]

Hello everyone. Coming back to this post as I have new info, and new questions.

Quick recap to summarize..

Problem - 1977 Fiat - Alternator installed on intake side. Top alternator bracket mounted on intake manifold using the manifold bolt by #1 Cylinder.
New Info - the motor is not original. Discovered this recently when I pulled the head. The motor seems to be from a 1976. This is based on the head serial/model numbers.

So guessing that when the motor was swapped the PO just left the alternator on the intake side and used some creativity to mount it.

The pics in the link show a mounting point on the exhaust side of the block, and a few parts that I believe I would need to properly mount on exhaust side.

So question is, are these the parts I need (plus some wire) to mount on exhaust side?

https://photos.app.goo.gl/fReUJ7YWysKSuTZ68

Thanks

Dave

Please disregard this post. I have determined that the 2 parts shown are the same part and they are not made for my motor.

Thanks

Dave

[Nut124]

Does your oil filter mount not have the alternator mount on it?

That is what you need. The top bracket could be improvised.

[davefrancisco]

Yes.. I have that mounting point. This is how it was installed prior to pulling the head off. Will need to modify the upper bracket to make it fit properly.

See attached photo. It's hard to make out, but this shows the upper bracket mounted to the intake. The bolt that is supposed to secure the intake manifold near #1 Cylinder is not completely seated.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/aDBc8sCTTCG5CsTx7

Thanks

Dave