Vintage Triumph Register

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TR6 Bosch Alternator Installation

A while back Steve Toth, yellowbullet@total.net , mentioned that the Bosch alternator from a 1978-1980 Ford Fiesta was an almost direct replacement for a TR6 alternator. I finally got around to doing it, but only after the voltage regulator in the Lucas gave up completely, of course, and thought I would share the experience with you. The advantages of the Bosch are:

Availability - the local parts places I called never once said, "uh whuuuut??" when I asked for a Ford Fiesta alternator

Performance - I won't bad mouth the Lucas unit here, it lasted 24 years, but the Bosch unit is rated 55 amps versus the Lucas's wimpy 28.

Price - I got a rebuilt unit for $20 less than I could a Lucas for.

Installation - this is very straight forward, physically it mounts right up. It couldn't have been easier if it was designed for the TR6! The brackets all simply fit. The plugs from my Lucas didn't fit, though it looked like my old TR-250 would have. I simply pushed the female connectors out of the plug, insulated them with shrink tube and plugged them in without using the big plastic plug. This was made easier by a wiring diagram drawn by Dave at Forest City Auto Electric, (815) 874-9571. Yes, that was a gratuitous plug, but you gotta like a guy that recognized my Lucas alternator instantly from 15 feet away, and he offered to rebuild the Lucas in 24 hours.

Epilogue:

It works great, the extra power is evident at idle, with the lights on, when it holds steady rather than dipping into the red. I ended up with a charging system that can keep up with the car's needs even at idle with lights, wipers, heater, and radio going. Regulator response is much quicker than was my Lucas, but that could be due to age. The only thing I'll change is to get a little longer belt. The old one works, but a little more length gains some clearance for replacing the number one spark plug.

Thanks, Steve Toth! This was a great swap, and I can't imagine it being any easier.

Tom Gentry, tgentr@wgc.woodward.com
'72 Triumph TR-6 OD
'59 Triumph 10 Sedan