Alternator cover shield

An alternator cover shield which is designed to close the starter pulley opening or cavity in an alternator cover when the recoil assembly has been removed. The alternator cover shield is characterized by a flat, typically transparent plate fitted with spaced-apart peripheral plate openings for receiving mount bolts that typically extend through aligned openings in a correspondingly-shaped gasket interposed between the plate and the alternator cover face to facilitate securing the plate on the alternator cover and preventing dirt, debris, water and the like from entering the starter pulley cavity. The weep hole in the alternator cover is sealed with a plug and a pulley nipple is inserted in the pulley opening located in the alternator cover at the base of the starter pulley cavity and bolted in place to seal the pulley opening. A method of sealing the cavity in an alternator cover against the intrusion of foreign matter, which includes the steps of removing the recoil assembly and starter pulley from the cavity and the pulley opening, respectively, inserting a pulley nipple in the pulley opening, closing the cavity with a sealing plate and inserting a plug in the weep hole of the alternator cover.