alternator install question

[Rebar]

I am about to reinstall the alternator on my 77 and wondering if you should add any loctite or other product to secure the 6 nuts that connect the alternator to the fan housing with the deflector sandwiched in between. I know they are low torque and you just snug them but when I took them off there was some white stuff on the threads and they were not very hard to loosen. I hesitate to just leave the nuts there without anything for fear of them coming lose.
Thanks.

[Jdub]

You will be fine simply snugging down the nuts and making sure the housing is
aligned with the entire unit. Most important, and often overlooked, is to be sure the ground to engine is clean and petroleum jelly or similar smeared to fight corrosion.

Might check the transmission ground strap at this time to ensure it is also clean if you have the car in the air.

[Determined]

I agree on checking the ground strap, actually I replaced mine with a new cable. Years ago I struggled finding why my car was having electrical issues even with a new alternator, turns out after going through and cleaning up all my grounds my issues completely went away. Over the years there is a lot of build up and a good cleaning and some new ground straps/cables worked great for me.

[Rebar]

Thanks I will just snug them with no loctitw. I will also make sure the ground strap is in good shape. Cheers

[Jdub]

I can't recommend cleaning and protecting grounds enough - cheap and smart weekend job. I was shocked to open up a seemingly good negative ground cable ('69 MGB) to only find white corrosion - the lack of flexibility is often a good test, esp. when compared to a new cable, side by side.

I also replaced both the alt cable and trans cable grounds when I put in my new alt. The old alt cable (to engine) was quite stiff.

[mhackney]

+1 Jdub, but don't get me started about The Prince of Darkness!

I use a Scotch Bright pad sprayed with Gibbs (my new go-to all purpose spray, but WD40 works too) and clean the lugs, nut and washer until they are shiny. Then clean the post itself. A final spritz with electronics cleaner and then reassemble. Gibbs claims to protect electrical connections against corrosion so I just started spritzing it on the completed junction - I'll see how it works in a year, 5 years, etc!

[DG624]

I cleaned everything while I was in there and got some parts replated like the fan strap. You could also have the fan/shroud cleaned up. It is hard to reassemble these parts and you will not want to take them apart again.