Altenators are a labor of love ....
What really facinated me and inspired me on the subject of altenators is the link to a website below. It is there, on this website that educated me on the splendid and versatile GM (Delco) altenator. It is an all-around marvel when it comes to intelligent and reliable output power. Basically programmed to output a solid 14 volt charge at 70 amps (depending on the model)at a low RPM makes this altenator suitable for low RPM engines such as diesel types. Here is my story: My Ford F150 has had an engine swap done on it. The previous owner was a genious except for a few minor things. He kept some things Ford when he shouldn't have. The engine he chose to install in this truck was a 353 Detroit Diesel. And in doing so, it was necessary to install two 12 volt batteries in parallel so to provide the cranking power to spin this engine up and get it started. Doublely important was the cranking speed because this is a 2 stroke engine and requires a good spin to fire it off. Now, in order to crank this motor and then recover the losses, plus run the headlights was simply a 'penny dreadful' in the sense of the word. Headlights told the tale; as they varied brightness with the rpm of the engine. Moreover; many a time the electrical system would pulse and make the altenator cut off completely. This is when I decided it was time to replace the altenator with another Ford type like the one already in service. Mistake. Cop actually pulled me over one morning (before daybreak) wanting to know why I was flashing my bright lights on and off! So with the idea of keeping it simple, I set off to learn as much as I could about altenators. Found that the Delco/GM altenator is about medium size (frame) and in most cases can be used to replace difficult applications or expensive ones like my wife's altenator in her 1995 Jaguar Vanden Plaas. In my Ford Truck, I was swapping a standard Ford Altenator with a Delco which was physically smaller by just a fraction of an inch. By loosening the top slotted bracket, the size difference was immediately solved! The pivot bolt on the Delco was smaller and had to be 'hogged'-out to accomodate a 7/16ths bolt. In addition to that I had to make a spacer to make up for the shorter pivot housing dimension. Once that was all done, the belt was added and alignment was luckily right on centerline, otherwise, washers may have had to be used. I purchased a Delco 2 wire pigtail at Autozone and spliced both leads to +12 volts and then clipped it into the altenators' regulator input connector. The 2 terminals labled R and F are Relay and Field. Field gets +12 volts and Relay needs +12 volts to turn the regulator on. Normally, the relay wire is connected to the ignition key or a terminal on the oil pressure switch. After the engine starter gets the engine running, the altenator then gets 12 volts to the relay and turns the altenator on. Supplying 12 volts to both R and F is okay and won't hurt the system so long as it is supplied through the key switch, otherwise the battery will run down in time. The Relay terminal could also be wired to a toggle switch to alow manual starting and stopping of the altenator. With RPM's as low as 2400 rpm, the altenator can output a 50 amp charge. My Detroit Diesel will only spin up to 2300, yet keeps my 2 batteries fully charged and my headlight burning steady and bright! One of the other advantages here is, the Delco/GM altenator is easy to service(rebuild) and with easily available parts. Kits for little over 20 bucks can be purcased at Autozone that include bearings, brushes, regulator and Diode packs (no soldering needed). I purchased the Delco for my Ford truck for 20 bucks at the local junk yard. I paid 15 dollars for the Delco I modified and installed in my wife's Jaguar (she doesn't know the difference) and have purcased a 90 amp version for a generator project I intend to do later on. All and all and all around, you can't do better than a Delco/GM altenator.
