Alternator Kit.

[Wagger]

I fitted an alternator kit to my Vitesse yesterday. I was concerned that it would be tricky, having read details of problems in various forums on the topic of swapping from a Dynamo. To my surprise, it was an absolute doddle. I obtained the kit from my local classic supplier 'Wins International' in East Grinstead, East Sussex. Everything I have sourced from them has been correct, no bits short and nothing over supplied. It took less than an hour working methodically. All works fine. I can now fit some small ceramic electrical heating elements (up to 150watts)  in the incoming air supply and just about keep the windscreen de-misted. I have not chanced flushing the heater or using soda yet in case I cause leaks. It has probably had 'Radweld' or 'Bars Leaks' added several times in the past. The water coming through is hot so it is just not working as a heat exchanger.

Maybe I should have obtained a modern 2000 watt alternator, fitted my 1500VA mains inverter and used my old 1kw fan heater under the seat eh!

From my caravannig years I know that it takes 3kw to keep a 20ft long Serbian caravan at 20 C in an outdoor temperature ot minus 5 C. The Vitesse is far more of a challenge than that to keep warm.

[Patrick Taylor]

3 hours ago, Wagger said:

...some small ceramic electrical heating elements (up to 150watts)  in the incoming air supply...

Do you have a link for these, please? 

[Wagger]

Sorry Patrick, I removed these from some old Halfords under the seat heaters that they sold in 2007. They were 120 watts each and ran from the cigarette/auxilliary sockets. I had to fit 15 amp fuses. I had an Audi that developed a stuck flap so I buried these in the air intake just to stop the screen misting and icing up. It only just about worked using 480 watts.

You can also remove similar items from those windscreen demist/defrost accessories if you can find any. They will fit into air ducts but make sure that air is always flowing or they can melt the surrounding materials.

It takes a load of power to achieve real heating. Ikw is not enough to heat the car.

I am currently trying to find other ways of transferring heat from the gearbox/propshaft cover into the car using conductive material with no holes to keep fumes out. If I succeed, I will post the solution.