As promised...Completed installation of the Alpha Tractor Service 12 volt conversion last night. A couple thoughts / experiences which might help others (disclaimer - I'm not an expert). The kit arrived fast, dropshipped from Richmond VA (to me in central VA). Installation is pretty straightforward. I had to remove three nuts on the cylinder head to install the top alternator mounting bracket - 2 plus 1 which helps secure the tractor throttle assembly. After some hemming/hawing I elected NOT to loosen/remove in prescribed order all head nuts, but only the affected three. I hope this did not warp the head. The kit included a number of washers several of which I stacked on one of the head bolts beneath the throttle assembly mount. If one ever installs one, they'll likely see what I mean. I had to provide from my own stash a couple additional washers for the 3/8" offset alternator mount (lower) to help secure that piece without bending it (which I initially did). It is a loose fit (maybe it is intended to be?) but I wanted something snugger (not too tight) so I shimmed the mount with a couple spare washers. All the wiring was straightforward, though I had to substitute an electrical connection with an eyelet (secured with a nut and bolt) for one which had a spade connection (slides on). No big deal. Got it all hooked up and turned on the ign switch. In a few moments the resitor supplied with the kit began to smoke and get hot! A smoking resistor ?!? I turned off the ignition and it cooled down. After some cussing I by happenstance moved my non-original ign switch. This is a heavy duty switch, weather proof, which I HAD on the lower left of the dash beneath the ammeter. After breaking off the vulnerable switch lever with my knee, leaving a hard to operate stub, I moved the remnants of the switch to the rectangular hole on the left of the dash casting where the steering column goes in (maybe that is the light switch hole???). Anyway, with the switch in that location, the aforementioned kit resistor overheated. What motivated moving the ign switch BACK to its orig location remains a mystery, but with it back where I had it before, the resistor no longer smoked/got hot/caused profanity. BTW, I had current at the coil with the ign switch OFF when it was by the steering column, which evidently is not supposed to happen. Anyway, the tractor fired right up once that bug was ironed out. I'll report back in a bit after operating it and (with luck) file a positive report about its functioning. Brian
1941 9N (now) with 12 volt system
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