Water Pump & Alternator

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Water Pump

With replacing the radiator, I decided to replace the water pump housing with a new alloy version (a job I had intended to do in the future) while it was all exposed and easy to get at. This is because I thought the thermostat housing bolts were seized, and I expected to get out the grinder to just put in a new thermostat. These alloy housings seem to be widely available (I think they are nearly all made by BASTUCK in Germany). Rimmers sell them for £121 but I obtained an identical one from Chris Witor for just under £97. I also bought a new water pump from them, and also an Adaptor, Rear of Water Pump Impelor Housing to Return pipe in Stainless Steel and a Hose Tail 5/8" UNF Heater Hoses & Pushrod Water Pump Housing Outlet also in Stainless Steel. Chris Witor does an excellent range of items in stainless steel (as well as alloy), his prices are reasonable and the quality appears good. Please see Suppliers.


Alternator

As the alternator was removed with the water pump, I decided to replace it with an uprated 60amp version. I did fancy an alloy mounting block as sold for the Triumph TR6 et al. However the GT6 mounting block is different, as the alternator is mounted lower to clear the bonnet. I also, when rewiring the car (see Loom), uprated the cable from the Alternator to the Starter Solenoid (& hence Battery) to 63amp (8.5mm2) as it seemed wise to ensure the cable matched the output of the Alternator.

The mounting block and spacer was cleaned up and painted, and the adjustment bracket was replaced with a turnbuckle (as used for the rigging of yachts). This really neat modification was proposed by 'Ben' in his GT6 / Spitfire DIY alternator bracket improvement (visit his website click here). The bracket is in stainless steel and I obtained an 8mm threaded one with a range' of 165mm to 240mm (compared to the 150mm to 205mm of the original bracket) from Amazon for a princely sum of £5.05. This particular one had a distance between the prongs of 11mm which is perfect for the alternator I had. Ben changed the nuts, but the supplied ones were fine, I just cut off one of the prongs (to fit to the water pump assembly bolt) and added fibre washers as per his recommendation. As received below:

      

All the parts ready for assembly: