Pictures of the Week November 6, 2006
Today I test fitted the alternator in the engine with the drive puck attached. I left the back half of the alternator case off so that I could spin the alternator by hand and determine the fit. All was well with the trial fit so I welded the magneto drive flange onto the alternator hub and test fitted the alternator in the engine with the drive puck. I could not find a good way to measure the drive puck engagement depth but it eye-balled at about .200". The puck depth is .250" so it seems ok for now. I now have a 40 amp alternator that looks to the engine like a magneto! Finally, it's only been two years working on this project.
Welding cast steel to mild steel was a little tricky but I went slow and got a relatively good looking weld. The cast steel wanted to melt at a lower temperature so torch control was critical. The cast steel seemed to have a lot of impurities in it that made it fizzle and spit if heated to much.