>The alternator on my '77 B seems to have a problem. Rather than fix it
>again or pay $100 for a rebuilt unit, I was thinking about getting one of
>those $35 GM or Ford rebuilds with a lifetime warranty at the parts
>store.
Jeff, you should have a look at the February 95 issue of _British Car_. The
featured tech article is on fitting a non-stock alternator to a 77 B. (Why
do they always seem to use 77 B's for their fiddling?)
The article has a few mistakes in it, but the key points are as follows:
1. Higher-amperage is better (bigger alternators don't have to work as hard;
the author used a 70-amp unit.)
2. Get an alternator with an integral regulator (US alternators used
external regulators up to the early 80's, and many Japanese units still use
external regulators)
3. The author recommends Bosch. Motorcraft or Delco are fine if your engine
rarely goes above 5000 RPM. Avoid SEV Marchal (French cars and some Volvos)
and Mando (Hyundai, Mitsubishi) units, as they're highly unreliable.
4. Don't go to an auto parts store until you're certain of what you need.
Pick up a trashed unit at a junkyard for around $10 for trial-fitting to the
engine. If it's unsuitable to the engine, a junkyard will exchange it. Auto
parts stores won't exchange electrical equipment.
5. Make sure the all pulleys involved (alternator, water pump, driveshaft)
line up as closely as possible.
6. Your 77 B will have two brown wires that run in parallel from the
alternator to the starter solenoid. The terminal on the alternator for
these wires will be marked either "B" or "B+"
7. You'll have a brown/yellow wire that runs to the dash "ignition" light.
The terminal for this wire will be marked as either "I" (ignition), "F"
(field), "E" (exciter), or on a Bosch unit "D" or "61".
8. There may be a third terminal on your replacement alternator, usually
marked with a minus sign (maybe in combination with a letter, i.e., "D-".)
This terminal is for grounding the alternator in applications where the
alternator housing is electrically insulated from the engine block. You can
ignore it.
--
Jay Tilton | vt = Virginia Tech vt <> Vermont
jtilton@vt.edu |
Home page: http://fbox.vt.edu:10021/J/jtilton/index.html
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