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mercruiser 1987 470 alternator brackets

L

lime4x4

Contributing Member
Does anyone know i've a place that sells just the brackets? I have a 1987 165 (mercruiser 470). Every where i looked they only sell the kit with a alternator. I have plenty of 1 wire marine alternators.
 
Re: mercruiser 470 alternator brackets

Ayuh,... It's all about Marketing,...
Either buy the "Kit", or build yer own bracket...
 
Re: mercruiser 470 alternator brackets

Have you tried contacting one of the companies that offers these conversion kits?
One of them may be willing to sell you a bracket only..... suggest to them that yours broke, and that you need the bracket only.

Here is an e-Bay page where several are listed.

Sierra shows this as Sierra 18-5968 BRACKET ALTERNATOR FROM 18-5953 KIT
Our own host here offers this bracket........ Bottom most item shown.

These guys offer it for $139
 
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Re: mercruiser 470 alternator brackets

that one kit from sierra also requires a pulley. I did contact one of those ebay sellers and they don't offer just the brackets. I'll just end up making my own bracket. Also do i have to remove the magnets from the dampner?
 
Re: mercruiser 470 alternator brackets

Be careful with making your own. I have read on several occasions about people doing so and the bracket either breaking or the mounting bolts going into the front of the timing cover breaking off of the block. The one that I bought has two mounting brackets. One anchors the alternator, the other is simply a slotted curved adjuster. I have power steering so I had to install a high mount version of what you are referring to. You did not specify whether or not you have power steering but I am assuming that it does being that you said it is a 1987 3.7l. Don't forget you are bolting into aluminum. Make sure all of your bolts are the proper length with respect to the thickness of bracket. Too short and over time you may pull threads or break bolt. Too long and it could get even uglier. Run the bolts by hand to see what length would give you the best bite. See if you can make your bracket grab somewhere on the head. I think there are threaded holes in it that you may be able to utilize. Also, take a straight edge and get a real good measurement on the outside edge of all respective pulley's. Make sure the bracket brings alternator far enough forward for belt allignment. If alternator is not straight, this will cause you nothing but grief. It will eat up belts, heat up alternator etc.,etc. Hate to eat your ear off but figured I would give you fair warning! Take your time and do it right the first time. I just went through all that B.S. and you are right about the kits being expensive. wish all the best, Tom
 
Re: mercruiser 470 alternator brackets

Well the boat is a 1979 grady white. I bought i for fishing and crabbing. The price was real good. The previous owner had a 1987 3.7l installed. The marinia just the motor in place and that was it. The boat sat for almost 2 years like that. It doesn't have power steering. After getting everything wired in. i got the boat to run and it was charging but there was some very slight smoke coming from the voltage regulator. I had a garden hose hooked up directly to the voltage regulator. Drive wasn't installed yet.. I just assumed it was the paint burning off. The next day i went to start it to finish tuning the engine and to change oil and i took notice it was no longer charging. I'm not really in the mood to spend over 300 bucks for a alternator conversion kit and i don't even know if the boat floats...lol. The engine still uses the 3 inch heat exchanger which i heard could cause a over heat condition. My goal was to just get thing running and do a couple of test drives too make sure the boat handles well before sinking anymore money into it. My thought process was to mount the alt on the top and just use the cylinder head for mounting. If i decide to keep the boat i will probably install a 3.0 or 4.3 during the winter.
 
Re: mercruiser 470 alternator brackets

You will also have to use one or two of the bolt holes on the timing cover to stabilize the bracket, but I think the one I have also uses an open thread hole in the cylinder head. I don't blame you for trying to save a couple of bucks but just wanted to make sure you don't create other problems for yourself, that is all. I paid around $400 for my aftermarket upgrade and to tell you the truth I wasn't happy with it. First of all, I had to take the alternator to a buddy of mine who rebuilds starters and alternators for a living. The alternator originally was overcharging and he had to do something with one of the diodes to get it working for me. The alternator was brand new! I told him how much I paid for the kit and he told me that he would not charge me anything for this one. Next, I tried to install alternator and all seemed well until I started engine and found that I could not get the alernator to run true on the prefabricated bracket that I just paid for. I later found out after really looking hard and putting a straight edge on the pulleys that the bracket had been welded on crooked and was not running true. I had to take the whole thing back off and apart and cut, square up, reweld, reinstall, repaint and all the rest of the bull**** that I thought I had overpaid for to begin with! lol So, more power to you for trying to make it yourself but just make sure you take your time and maybe try and look at some pictures of how these aftermarket outfits are putting these things together. As for the wires you mentioned earlier, you can cap them off real good but be aware that they will still be hot as long as the rectifier,damper,magnets are intact on the crank. I took mine apart and got rid of all that slop. The charging systems were one of the reasons the 470s got "infamous" name. Although, some old timers sware they have never had any problems, but I seriously doubt this to be the case. You will be happy when you install your alternator setup. I have a 65 amp alternator and was told that you don't even need that much but that does depend on accessories and power demands that you will be happy with. If you decide to keep the boat consider the following upgrades: replacement of the two camshaft seals if you are leaking coolant at front weephole, replace points with Pertronix electonic ignition, 8mm plug wires that are compatible, install 40,000 volt coil, new distributor cap and rotor, a new set of NGK plugs, reset timing to around 5-6 degrees btdc (don't try and set timing by ear cause it don't work), gap plugs at .040 after Pertronix installation, replace 3" heat exchanger with a 4" heat exchanger, make sure you change impellar in drive as required, drain coolant at the front 7:00 position on timing cover every season and put in new 50/50 coolant mix.
But before you do anything that I recommended above, do a compression test, see if the engine runs without overheating, make sure the cooling system is working properly, change the thermostat with OEM part, make sure drive and controls are working properly. If you plan on running the boat with some sort of confidence or reliability in mind you really need to do the above before you run it hard. Your call! P.S. there is a good site for 470 owners called breezeworks 470 talk that I am a member of and you will get all the help you need with your engine system if you are not already aware it exists.
best of luck, Tom
 
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the dist has already been upgraded to electronic. I'm going to try and get the boat on the lake this weekend without a charging system. I'll have 2 fully charged batteries on board along with a portable battery pack. That should allow me a couple of test runs on the lake to c if the boat is worth sticking more money into it. Compression was 155 to 160 on all cylinders that was one of the fist things i checked. I paid 500 bucks for the boat. It came with a new sei outdrive upper and lower. the transom seems solid along with the floor.
 
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