The alternator is mounted so that approximately half of it protrudes into the wheel arch area which exposes it to road debris and water so I wanted to make a cover for it. I used fibreglass for this task as it was easy to form the shape of the inner guard and small bends. The first step was to apply masking tape to the area around the alternator opening in the wheel arch and lay some cloth & resin to get the shape of the wheel arch.
A photo up into the front right wheel arch (the round hole is where the headlight bowl is mounted) :
Once dry, the piece was then trimmed and with the alternator installed, I measured and marked how far out the cover would need to be to cover the alternator.
I made some flat sheets of fibreglass to form sheets approx 1-2mm thick and sections of these were cut to size and attached to the flange of the cover, initially with superglue and strengthened by additional fibreglass.
I quickly found that the plug in the back of the alternator was going to be an issue. Due to space restrictions in the wheel arch, I had to make a step in the cover to cover the main plug/cable.
The final design (still to be primed/painted) :
Clearance to the headlight bowl in front of the alternator cover also had to be considered and I ended up with a 3mm gap between the bowl and cover. This photo is taken from directly underneath the cover.
The alternator cover is mounted using a few bolts through the inner wheel guard and for the final install there will be a thin piece of neoprene foam (which does not absorb water) between the cover and panel to complete the seal.
In my application the alternator is mounted backwards compared to the factory orientation and despite the shaft rotating in the opposite direction, this does not affect the ability to produce power as an alternator produces AC power which is then rectified to DC - however cooling had to be considered. I talked to an electrical rewinding company about cooling on a reversed alternator and was told that it would be fine. The company advised that because the alternators with internal fans have flat or a minor blade pitch, reversing the direction of rotation would have little effect on cooling ability when running in the opposite direction. Additionally, the electrical load on the alternator in the Mini is less than in a Toyota Starlet as I'm not running electrical ancillaries like air-conditioning, rear demister, and a bigger heater fan, therefore reducing the heat produced by the alternator.
A photo up into the front right wheel arch (the round hole is where the headlight bowl is mounted) :
Once dry, the piece was then trimmed and with the alternator installed, I measured and marked how far out the cover would need to be to cover the alternator.
I made some flat sheets of fibreglass to form sheets approx 1-2mm thick and sections of these were cut to size and attached to the flange of the cover, initially with superglue and strengthened by additional fibreglass.
I quickly found that the plug in the back of the alternator was going to be an issue. Due to space restrictions in the wheel arch, I had to make a step in the cover to cover the main plug/cable.
The final design (still to be primed/painted) :
Clearance to the headlight bowl in front of the alternator cover also had to be considered and I ended up with a 3mm gap between the bowl and cover. This photo is taken from directly underneath the cover.
The alternator cover is mounted using a few bolts through the inner wheel guard and for the final install there will be a thin piece of neoprene foam (which does not absorb water) between the cover and panel to complete the seal.
In my application the alternator is mounted backwards compared to the factory orientation and despite the shaft rotating in the opposite direction, this does not affect the ability to produce power as an alternator produces AC power which is then rectified to DC - however cooling had to be considered. I talked to an electrical rewinding company about cooling on a reversed alternator and was told that it would be fine. The company advised that because the alternators with internal fans have flat or a minor blade pitch, reversing the direction of rotation would have little effect on cooling ability when running in the opposite direction. Additionally, the electrical load on the alternator in the Mini is less than in a Toyota Starlet as I'm not running electrical ancillaries like air-conditioning, rear demister, and a bigger heater fan, therefore reducing the heat produced by the alternator.
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