Removing a Generator from an Old Series II-A

[Jeff Aronson]

One of my II-A's still has a generator/positive ground system. When the charge light remained on last week, I called Rovers North and received a diagnostic procedure to determine whether the problem was in the voltage regulator [rare] or generator. It appears the problem is with the generator.

Yes, I have already whacked it with a hammer [which worked two years ago] and cleaned all the terminals.

I found an old generator at home, bought new brushed, oiled the bushing and greased the bearing, cleaned everything up inside with quantities of spray cleaner, and reassembled it. It sounds great turning.

Now comes the hard part - removing the old generator. With much grunting, the nuts and bolts came off the adjusters. Now the problem lies with a threaded rod inserted into the block onto which the rear ear rests. I can't remove the rod so as to extract the generator. Also, the motor mount seems in the way.

It's been over 10 years since I last made myself this miserable with the same task on the other II-A. I've tried double nutting it, but the bottom nut only turns on the threaded rod. I've put in a lot of PB Blaster, but to no avail yet.

Any hints? It's a bear!

Thanks,

Jeff

[singingcamel]

jeff, i would first like to commend you on the wonderful articles you have written for Rovers norththru the years they are wonderful.

thats the first section i go to when i recieve their news letter. i admire your stubborness and persistance with these old rovers, i tip my hat to you
i would try to heat it up with a torch if you have one and try to back it out, we call it cherring the darn thing. watch the gas. back it out with a vise grip, be careful and good luck.thanks again . marc
www.singingcamel.com

[jp-]

I've had some luck in the past, welding a nut onto a stuck or broken off bolt and then turning it out with a wrench. If the threaded rod is grade 8 (you did use grade 8 didn't you?) then it will probably turn out, otherwise it will break off.

[Jeff Aronson]

I've had some luck in the past, welding a nut onto a stuck or broken off bolt and then turning it out with a wrench. If the threaded rod is grade 8 (you did use grade 8 didn't you?) then it will probably turn out, otherwise it will break off.

I didn't install the threaded rod; actually, I always try and use a smooth shanked bolt, lathered with NeverSeize, instead of the rod.

Wish me luck - I'm going to tackle it again this afternoon.

Jeff

[Jeff Aronson]

Marc,

Thanks for your kind words. I appreciate your compliments and hopefully, will be able to entertain and inform for a long time to come.

I'll try some heat but I only have a small propane torch - nothing useful around an engine block. I'll be at this afternoon.

Best wishes,

Jeff

[jp-]

Jeff,

Have you tried a pair of these:

http://www.labsafety.com/store/Facil...sredirect=true

If you have enough room to get the buster on, it can work wonders. It'll grip into threads like you wouldn't believe. If you put a nut on the rod before you try to use the pliers on it, the nut will probably back out the threaded rod if the pliers won't (because the pliers will bugger up the threads pretty good).

[Jeff Aronson]

Yes, without realizing it, I did try ChannelLock pliers. There's no room to use them from under the car because this one has the inner fender wells.

I'll posted my "solution" shortly.

Jeff

[Jeff Aronson]

Thanks for all your advice. Yesterday late afternoon, I tackled the problem again. I checked for stuck washers, or invisible nuts, from above and from underneath.

Finally, I started to just wiggle it madly on the very-stuck threaded rod. Doing so with increasing violence finally broke the rear ear , which did release the generator. Using a screwdriver, I could pry the remains of the ear off the rod -which still refuses to move.

When I tried a test fit of the one I rebuilt, I found it quite hard to insert onto the rod. So I found a rattail file and opened the hole a bit more. The metal is soft so it was easy to enlarge the hole. It did the trick and it slid on smoothly.

That also let me try and remove the pulley and woodruff key from the shaft of the now-broken generator. With gentle prying and a breaker bar applied firmly to the nut, I managed to get the pieces off without losing any of them, and get them onto the rebuilt generator.

It's been pouring so I've not gone any further with this outdoor repair, but hopefully tomorrow, I can button the whole thing up. I have to polarize the rebuilt generator but with my fingers crossed and prayers said tonight, it should work fine when installed tomorrow.

Wish me luck, and thanks for all your help.

Jeff

[singingcamel]

we're proud of you , jeff..