The kid wants to change from generator to alternator on his 64 122. What are the pros/cons, and where can he get a kit? I've seen reference to this before, but haven't paid much attention.

Thanks for the help.

Jim Hampton

If you can fabricate a bottom bracket, to fit the GM pattern,
the rest is trivial. I put a $10 junkyard alt on my '65- blocked car in a couple of hours, and it really does help.
I welded 2 ears onto a piece of 1"x 1/4" stock, drilled it to match the stock holes, and wired the dash light, and off I went. About 2 hours, IIRC.
Toby

More kudos to Ron Kwas. I installed an AC/Delco alternator in the 544 a little over a year ago with his kit and have been extremely happy with it. Now if I can just get a new engine to go with it...
--Ethan
--
'64 PVMoneypit

Jim;

Most questions you might have will be answered by going to the info page Rob posted (thanks for the referral)...Cons?...a Delco alt is not original, so I wonder if they'd let you into the "stock" class at the next show, I cant even think of any others...but quite a few Pros...double the output (and even at idle!), so a good stiff system voltage (you'll love the whiter headlights and might even be surprised to see the wipers running faster), and a fully charged battery is not a rarety, no more relay regulator, replacements are available anywhere in the US, and wont break the bank...etc. etc.

As Patrick posts, if it is a later (B20) block, which had a mounting boss in the casting and were delivered with Volvo OE alternators (Bosch, Motorola, or SEV Marschall), it would be an option to revert to one of those alts., but be prepared to plunk down a lot more bucks for an alt which didn't put out much more than the OE gen. (and you'll STILL have to change over to an external relay regulator...more bucks). It's (almost) as they say: a no-brainer!

Contact me off-line with specific question.
Cheers

If it's the original motor you'll need to do some research. If it's a later block, ('67 on?) the best conversion is to the regular GM alt.. Just go to a alt specialist and they'll know which one fits . Personally I would avoid the Bosch oem 'cause it's a POS. You need to modify the GM alt by boring out the bottom bracket hole so that it's large enoughto go around the bolt that you found to fit into the bolt hole on the front of the block. It's some kind of interference fit, so bolt length needs to be right ( or a few extra washers). I also had to mod the belt tension adj (extra section of sloted steel which I bolted onto the original one). Anyway, since then (5 yrs ago) I've never had a charging/starting problem, and it's easier to adjust the fan belt tension.
-- oh yeah, the wiring, just ask the alt guys, they'll know, basically there are 2 wires, one to + one and one to the amp light on the dash.


Disclaimer: be careful, work safely!!! If you have any doubts as to the safety of the work you are doing, consult a proffessional before you hurt yourself or others!!! I'm not a licensed mechanic, I have just been fixing stuff my whole life, patrick of

Jim -- try this:

http://www.intelab.com/swem/swemkits.htm

Rob Kuhlman