This weekend I installed the modified thermostat housing, oil return plate and oil feed line. I would have gone all the way and put in the blower, but I had to replace both front wheel bearings which took all day Saturday to do.

I replaced the radiator hoses with new ones, and now I'm wondering if I should go ahead and replace the idler pulley, which makes a little ticking sound when you turn it, and the alternator, which also has gotten a little noisy lately. It makes a high frequency noise, like it has a bad bearing.

Do the blower and mounting bracket have to be removed in order to replace the alternator if I don't do it now?

So much to do, so little time.

 

Did you do your own wheel bearings?

I need to do mine and see there are decent instructions on Motorvate.com...

looks time consuming though

 

Yes I did them myself. Let me tell you, it's not an easy job if you don't have the right tools. I tried the method on motorvate and I had a lot of trouble because I used allthread from Home Depot in my homemade bearing race puller. Allthread has a coarse thread pitch so you don't get the mechanical advantage you need to pull the bearing races out of the hub. You really need to use some fine pitch, high strength threaded rod to do the job right. After my initial failed attempt (all I did was succeed in twisting the allthread beyond yielding) I borrowed an expensive bearing pulling kit from a mechanic friend of mine. Then it was a lot easier.

 

You will have to remove the blower and bracket in order to get at the alternator, so might as well do it now. I was in the same boat as you, when I did my V2 upgrade, and I also swapped the alternator. I am a big believer in the "while I'm there I might as well" philosophy. The Idler you can get at relitively easy, and you will not have to do anything other than untension the belt, so if you want to hold off on that, I can understand, but the entire assembly is only about 50 bucks from the dealer.

I say go for it, might as well.

 

Thanks for the advice, Delio. I couldn't tell from looking at pictures in the SC installation manual if the bracket had to come off or not.

 

Yes good philosophy while you are there just do it. Thats what I did with my diff to quaife upgrade.