Sonuva... ALTERNATOR CLEARANCE!

I just bought a newly rebuilt 120amp alternator for my '96 XJ. It had the 90 amp in it.

The new alternator didn't fit, despite the rebuilder assuring me repeatedly he's done this same upgrade many times without issue. I called a local wrecking yard, and they told me the same thing... Did this upgrade many times without issue, no grinding necessary.

I've ground down the cast bracket to get the alt to fit. Now the alternator bumps against the block. I'd prefer not to start grinding material off the block for the sake of making an alternator fit.

The wrecker is going to charge me by the hour to go through the yard and pull brackets off XJ's until he finds one that fits. Guys, this can become VERY expensive very fast.

Does anyone have any insight as to what bracket I need? They don't have any 120amp units in stock to just go pull a bracket off of.

Geoff

i got one from a local shop...$220...200 amp...this beast is strong.....guy said direct bolt in but same issue..its about 10% larger and didnt fit right at the bottom...i used a 1 3/4 long plate 1 in wide...drilled new holes and bolted up factory bolt then nut and bolt second were i needed...been like this for 2 yrs...rock solid...hope this helps...||charles||

i did the mod to a 136 amp alternator. i did some grinding. why not? its worth it. just dont go ape shit on it and make only enough room needed . i had to grind bracket and block. lots o fun!

I'd recommend doing what Dallas XJs did rather than grinding the block.

Well, i ended up using Dallas's idea, and went one better. I used a piece of theaded rod (M10x1.5) in the lower most bolt hole, letting it extend through the back of the bracket. This let me use two little homemade brackets instead of one on the bottom of the alternator. But, with everything fitted as tight as possible, I ended up with only about 1/8" of clearance between the alternator and the frame rail. I didn't like this much, so I ended up grinding. Worked great, fits great.

Geoff

Have the same prob w/165 amp. Not using the xj much right now so just using top bolt. I thought of grinding the bracket but stopped to ask the guy i got it from, what car he got it from. He never answered back. Paid $75 so i figgure i'll just extend the bracket too. Thanks for the pic.