With the alternator disassembled, Alternator Disassembly, and the bearings selected, Bearing Selection, it was time to clean up the parts and put the assembly back together. I cleaned up the housing with just a brush and elbow grease, which cleaned up very well. For the electrical windings I first sprayed it down with CRC electrical contact cleaner. The diode panel did not seem clean up very well so I tried some more powerful Lectra-Motive cleaner that is claimed to be for this very application. The smell this spray emitted was brutally strong and it did not seem to clean up the parts any more than the contact cleaner did. I decided to leave it as it; I will probably not use the Lectra-Motive spray in the future but who knows.

For the stator I used some 320 grit sandpaper and scotch brite to clean up the internal surface that seemed to have built up some surface rust in storage. I also cleaned off the protective enamel that was worn on the external surface and resprayed it with red enamel.

For the rotor I had a local alternator shop machine down the commutator slip rings. This is where the brushes contact the rotor and over time wear a groove. If the grooves are relatively shallow the rings can be left alone. In my case it was necessary to smooth out the surface, as with deep groves there is a risk of the brushes not seating or wearing out prematurely.

The assembly of the bearings onto the rotor shafts went smoothly, especially with the help of a vise. For the assembly of the housing I needed to purchase replacement screws as I previously had to drill them out or the head was almost stripped. For the four screws that mount the FWD bearing plate, I was able to easily find equivalent replacements at Marshall’s Hardware in San Diego. For the 4 screws that held the entire housing together, I had a difficult time locating replacements. After searching the web for several days I located the replacement screws at Alternator Starter Parts Wholesale. While on that site I was also able to find a replacement AFT bearing mounting sleeve, a plastic cup that goes between the bearing and the housing.

For the voltage regulator, which holds the brushes, I decided to go with the KAE replacement even though a Bosch replacement was available. The Bosch replacement did not appear to be of the same quality as the part that I removed. The replacement had riveted connections and the brushes looked to be made of a different material. The KAE had soldered connections and also happened to be made in Germany, unlike the Bosch which was made in Spain.

I also replaced the capacitor just to make sure, as it’s not an expensive component.

As of writing this post, the alternator has been installed on the 968 and has accumulated 4,000 miles without any issue.