Alternator upgrade

[Alan73Charger]

Hey guys,

I'm replacing a fuel pump and it looks like the alternator is going to have to come out or at least be moved out of the way to reach the bolts.  I figured this might be a good time to upgrade what I assume is the original alternator.  Does anyone know if this would of been a 60 or a 78amp?  I think a 78 amp since my car has air and the alternator has two pulleys. It looks like I have a 78amp and 100amp available on Classic Industries.  No major plans that would require more power other than replacing the non working original AM radio with one of those USA-630's and adding a couple speakers in the rear.  Would u just keep the original in there or upgrade?  And if upgrading go with the 78amp?  Anyone done any upgrades to the alternator that they could share?

Thanks
Alan

[1973rallye]

If the one you have can handle everything you are running I would suggest having it rebuilt. Getting a replacement that is not exactly the same size may present problems in attempting to mount it on the original brackets. At least that's one of the issues I had in attempting to put a bigger alternator in my big block car.

[Pete in NH]

Hi,

The original alternator was a 60 amp unit and I would keep it. Going to a larger unit is going to put a real strain on the original wiring harness and bulk head connector pins. 40 + year-old wiring and big alternators are a recipe for bad things happening in terms of burnt wiring and loosing a car to a fire.

[Nacho-RT74]

doing te propper job ( without any big hack job ), you can put in a thousand amps alt if you want.

The best you can do is try to get an alt able to source 55-60 amps ( maybe even 50 amps ) IDDLING in case the car requires that. No matter the max output but iddling

[Alan73Charger]

That's what I needed to know.  I'm having the original one rebuilt.  Should get it back in a day or two.  Thanks!

Hi,

The original alternator was a 60 amp unit and I would keep it. Going to a larger unit is going to put a real strain on the original wiring harness and bulk head connector pins. 40 + year-old wiring and big alternators are a recipe for bad things happening in terms of burnt wiring and loosing a car to a fire.