OP/D Products
Zeppelin Alternator
Objective
We wanted a modern square wire, high output alternator that looks at home in the engine bay of a 30s era hot rod. A touch of art deco design wouldn’t hurt either.
It needed to have a small footprint to fit easily in the tight engine bay spaces of early cars, and still be flexible enough to allow us to design variants for most major engine types.
Challenges
-Size. Finding a small enough alternator assembly to keep the overall diameter of the unit under 6 inches.
-Reliability. Making parts smaller tends to negatively impact cooling, so we needed to make sure it would not overheat.
-Price. Keeping the overall price reasonable for customers was a concern, as always.
Precision Sand Casting
Initial testing of a fully machined housing proved prohibitively expensive and resulted in a loss of detail. We needed a way to keep detail high and price low.
Sand casting was the solution.
Casting allowed us to keep all of the design detail we wanted for the alternator body and still produce the parts at a reasonable price. An added bonus was that the cast finish on the housing results in a piece that blends in with almost any engine bay.
Solution
We were able to source components with an overall diameter of under 4.5 inches and a rated output of 80 amps. The rotor we chose has integrated fan blades, removing the need for an external fan on the front of the alternator, this improved overall cooling AND helped reduce the size of the alternator.
Additionally, we used upgraded shaft bearings to help ensure the longevity of the unit.
Casting of the three housing components allows for the design detail we wanted with minimal machine time, allowing for a lower price to our customers.
We had a lot of fun introducing this project to the world at SEMA and now it’s available right here for anyone that needs a bitchin alternator for their hot rod.
Tools & Technologies
- Artec Eva 3D scanners
- Reverse Engineering Software
- CAD Software
Fabrication Process
- Sand Casting
- 5-axis CNC milling
Equipment & Hardware
