Pre Unit Generator swap

[blackbee]

My 54 T110 came with a front mount generator but I would like to swap in out for a primary side Sparx one. I found a nice set of pre unit primary covers with the big bump to make a home for the sparx. I do not want to have a battery.

My big question is what do I do with the hole that will be left in the front case timing side where the old generator went in?

I will post picks when I get to the shop if that helps

[Flo_28]

Can't help you but verry interested about this topic.

I really want to ride whitout a battery on my '51 T.Bird too.

[Tony the torch]

there is a generator block off plate available, they are also easy to make.

[Rubone]

As Tony says, just block it off. And do you have a mounting ring for the primary? You will need it to correctly space the Sparx unit. Swing arm style (short) covers are fairly common, Rigid (long) are rare and costly. Which are you using?
Robbie

[Tony the torch]

Have you noticed even the mounting rings are going for $100, and with a swing arm primary cover going for $200 and then like Robbie says the "holy grail" of primary covers is the 1954 alternator rigid primary cover, those are really rare.
All that being what it is, why not just use a generator?

[blackbee]

Any Idea where to find the block off plate, that was the news I was hoping for. Didnt want to have to have them welded up and run the risk of anything going wrong. I am getting the T1600 and T1601 covers.

[Swan]

Hawker Electrical make nice modern 12 volt generator kits to fit inside your existing generator.

[Tony the torch]

the problem with the block off plates is they only have one bolt holding on the edge them in place so they leak quite often.

[fouraceswes]

Sell the covers and buy an Alton Alternator. They are about $500-$600 but I have used a bunch of them and love them. By the time you buy the covers, the ring, the stator and rotor, you could have an Alton.

[blackbee]

Will the Alton work with out a battery? I kinda wanted the T1600 and T1601 covers with the sparks alternator inside to clean up the front of the bike. But if thats not the best route, I am to send payment tomorrow for the covers so if thats not what I want I need to decide now

[Tony the torch]

the Alton's I've put on bikes required a 12 A/H battery.

[supercrouton]

Originally Posted by fouraceswes

Sell the covers and buy an Alton Alternator. They are about $500-$600 but I have used a bunch of them and love them. By the time you buy the covers, the ring, the stator and rotor, you could have an Alton.

^^What Wes said. The Alton gives brighter lights at idle than the 200w stator (w/out a battery), and if you have a single down-tube front section, it fills in that space nicely. And IMHO the genny primary cover is a thing of beauty compared to the stator version. A battery is not a bad compromise for all that.

[supercrouton]

Originally Posted by Tony the torch

the Alton's I've put on bikes required a 12 A/H battery.

Yep, 8-14 Ah according to the papers that come with the Alton. So if you are going that route, find the battery before you mount up a bunch of stuff that will be in the way, because those are decent sized batteries. Alton say their alternator will self-destruct with either no battery, or an undersized one.

[blackbee]

Thanks for the input guys, You guys are the pros and I am definately a newbie. Looks like I will put the cover purchase on hold and seach for a nice set of genny primary covers.

Dan, what a work of art! You sold me on the generator cover

[not45blesk]

[blackbee]

Where did you find that block off plate? Did it work well?

[whittiger650]

You can order it by part number (E2784 - 70-2784) from British Only or maybe scour the eBay ads under the search terms such as Pre-Unit, Pre Unit or PreUnit, etc.etc. or item number 120875316556... which I just found and of course you can ask for one in the swap meet section (when you have 50 posts of course ).