Flathead Generator/Fan Idler Conversion

I remember reading about cutting down an old generator to make a fan/idler to mount to the front of the intake when you relocate the generator to the head. Anyone happen to have a picture of this set-up or a link to the original post? I spend a couple hours trying to find it with no luck-

 

I remember seeing that as well,

I looked thru the tech articles and it was suprising absent.


I would also like to find the original thread.


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IIRC, AV8 did the tech tip. Basically you use the front and rear bearing plates and enough of the field coil case so the cut down armature fits properly in the rear bearing.

 

The front bearing is OK,but what used to do was make a plate to hold another bearing on the back of the genny housing.I preffered the oil lubed fans from 46-48 V8s.
You need a buddy with a lathe so you can cut down the amature shaft ,I used a hacksaw so the results were never real flash.
This a rough pic of one i did earlier( about 76' actually)so it's a bit blurry.the arrow points to the fan bracket.

 

Thanks Mermad. I followed your lead and came up with this. The 8BA intake deck didn’t have a hole at the left rear bracket bolt so I had drill/tap one at that location (the red one in the picture).

 

That's interesting, could you give more details? ...looks like three sheaves on the shaft? did you cut down the generator shaft like was mentioned...

looks good

 

I'm not certain of the exact year of the generator, but it was an early 3-brush with the oil hole and the tapered roller in the front bearing plate. There are actually only 2 pulley sheaves; the fan mounting boss makes it look like three. I am only using the back sheave for the belt but used the double sheave pulley to bring the fan an inch closer to the radiator.

The shaft is supported by the stock bearings in the front and rear generator bearing plates. I cut the armature just forward of the windings and turned down the stub to fit the rear bearing. The pulley limits rearward motion and a step in the armature takes forward thrust.

I cut off the clunky generator mounting bracket and machined the backs of the bearing plates to sit flat on the intake bracket. I enlarged the mounting holes in the front plate for 1/4-28 bolts and trimmed the rear plate to a small round flange attached to the back of the intake bracket with a separate set of screws.

The intake bracket is made from a chunk of 4" C channel. It was a pain but I think it came out pretty nice. The 8BA intake deck didn’t have a hole at the left rear bracket bolt so I had drill/tap one at that location (the red one in the picture).

Here's a link to a post I did on oversized belts available from NAPA for fan idler/remote generator applications:
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=197411


The fan ended up being about 2" from the radiator. I haven't decided if I am going to fab a shroud or make a spacer to bring it a little closer to the radiator.

 

Here's a couple detail pictures of the finished idle