Sub-Assemblies: The Key to Greater Coverage by Paul E. Moore The auto electric business has changed greatly in past years, especially in the automotive lines. It’s almost impossible for a small shop to keep everything in stock to keep up with the rapid changes in the automotive indus- try. In the past, a small shop operator could keep pace with the parts stores without much hassle or expense. Things sure are different today though. Automotive manufacturers are flood- ing the market with new designs and an incomprehensible amount of unit numbers to contend with. The large parts store chains can keep up with these numbers through an intricate system of warehousing. A local store will keep its fastest moving units in stock and rely on same day or overnight shipping from a strategically located warehouse for the rest. How can a small electric shop com- pete with this? The answer, in some cases, may be simpler than we realize. Sub-assemblies are a very econom- ical way to deal with this problem. Most any type of starter or alternator has some basic components which can be pre-assembled and thereby speed up final assembly. Examples would be starter field frames assembled with fields and brushes installed or alternator SRE housings assembled completely. Sub-assembly allows the rebuilder to quickly put together complete units from pre-assembled components instead of stocking every different unit number. The idea of using sub-assemblies is not necessarily new, but it can be very effective and profitable when applied to today’s new technology. The Delco Remy CS130 alternator is a prime example of this. General Motors utilizes a countless number of different alternators on their late model vehicles, most of which are the CS130 design. However, these alternators are not greatly different from each other and they lend themselves very easily to the sub-assembly method. Let’s take a close look at the CS130. There are well over one hundred differ- ent unit numbers but most of them can be narrowed down to some basic setups. Drive end frames and pulleys are the easiest. At my last count, there were 13 different DE frames and 10 different pulleys. These are identified, numbered, and shelved. The numbering system used may be OE, familiar vendor num- bers, in-house coding, or a combination of these. The idea is to be quick and easily accessible. CS130 alternators range from 85 to 105 amps. In our shop, we use the same rotor and stator in all our exchange units. This makes the system easier to use and also gives us adequate coverage of all amperages. This has worked fine in our shop but that is not to imply that this is the only way. SRE assemblies are a little more complex. The frames themselves may be different, with some using metal tol- erance rings and others using plastic. These frames can be interchanged, but it is important to remember that the wide bearing is sometimes used with the plas- tic tolerance ring. Also, the bearing must be countersunk when using the metal tolerance ring but may be left flush with the plastic tolerance ring. Regulators are probably the hardest aspect of sub-assembling the CS130. Delco’s numerous regulator numbers can be quite confusing at first. Some numbers (ex: 1116411) have been replaced by newer designs (1116429) and many numbers are interchange- able. The 1116408 and 1116428 can be interchanged as can 1116436 and 1116437. The most important thing to remember when interchanging CS reg- ulators is to not confuse PLFS designs with PLIS designs. SRE frames should be completely assembled including stator installation. At least one SRE should be assembled with each different regulator number you intend to stock. It may be necessary to set up multiple assemblies with the most popular numbers such as the 1116411 and 1116408. Some SREs should be set up with threaded output terminals while others utilize the square output terminal. A little time studying application manuals will yield informa- tion on the most popular setups. Finally, the SRE should be marked to indicated which regulator has been installed. An overview of what we have achieved is as follows. Drive end frames and pulleys are numbered and stocked. Rotors are stocked and various SRE assemblies are stocked. When an exchange alternator is needed, its com- ponent parts are identified, pulled from the shelf and assembled into the final product. With the component parts pre- assembled, the final assembly is very fast and simple. This allows the rebuilder the capability to achieve greater unit coverage without stocking every single alternator number. Most customers will be willing to wait ten minutes or so to get an exchange unit from a reputable rebuilder they trust. This method is very versatile, as it can be supplied to many other types of units. Your company may want to use this method to sub-assemble Ford starters or 5MT starters. It also works great with Delco industrial starters such as LOMTs and the 20, 22, 25, and 27MT family. This