This afternoon I replaced the crankshaft bearing in the alternator case, fitted a new gearchange oil seal and the glass window for the timing pointer, bolted in the alternator stator, cleaned the gasket faces and bolted it on.
This case had to be welded following the classic mistake of trying to take it off without removing the screw adjacent to the clutch slave position. This is the first time it has been put back on since I got it first welded then powder coated. The rearmost screw was slightly misaligned and had to have a tap run through it and the case itself creaked a bit when I torqued it up so obviously the welding has caused some distortion. Worst case will be the case cracking at a later date because it is being forced into a position it is not comfortable with. More likely the case will not hold oil because the gasket face is not perfect, I did my best to get the mating surface flat with a sheet of 600 wet and dry on a granite worktop before I sent it to powder coating. We shall see.
