I'm flexible; I can either buy from my local chains (Autozone, VIP, Pepboys, CAP, Napa or Advanced - all of which are very close to me) or, I can order online.

My four questions are:

1) What brand did you buy?

2) Where did you get yours and were you happy with the value/purchase?

3) Which amperage should I buy? When shopping online and entering my vehicle information (1987 5.0 TPI) I'm seeing 100, 105, 108 and 140 amp choices. Regarding my car, it's primarily stock with basic upgrades (exhaust, K&N etc). The stereo is stock and it's got all factory power options (seats, windows, locks, mirrors etc.) The only extra draw would be dual electric fans wired to run continuously.

4) This car will only be driven in nice weather between May - November; based on this, should I go brand new or remanufactured?

Thanks in advance!

 

got mine at napa about 8 yrs ago. working great

 

Buy a 105 amp one from whatever Parts store is closer to you. If you want to spend more get a A/C Delco.

 

Thanks for you opinions so far, but what about the new vs. remanufactured question and also, is 105 the original factory amperage?

 

New Vs remanufactured???? Well new ia always better and the other is a crap shoot.
The 105 amp was stock with TPI's.

 

I have an 87 TA and the stk alt went...bought a 140A from a truck to install...there is a writeup on ls1tech.com about this...

Alternator 03 04 TAHOE 145 AMP OPT KG3 OEM

http://ls1tech.com/forums/generation...-failures.html

 

Always found advance auto's alternators to be fine. Life time warrenty usually and last a while.

 

Good article, but although I don't mind changing a connector or a bracket, I don't want to have to do fabrication work to it.

Has anyone else installed a higher amperage alternator that didn't need modifications other than say, a new connector wire or a bracket?

 

I recommend Napa or Powermaster for alternators. I replaced 6 AC Delco alternators within 3 years. Powermaster makes alternator that go up to 200 amps for those guys who are into heavy electronics. Napa also offers a lifetime warranty plus a lot better quality.

 

I got the lifetime warranty 105amp upgrade alt from autozone, 1800watt system and extra lights on the car with no dimming.

In most cases you will have to spin the back case to make it line up right, super easy job if your careful, if you screw up and brushes fall out. warranty it and try again

How GM made them, you just spin the back case to different clocks, for different cars.

 

Well, I got the alternator out today with full credit given to 1AAuto's great youtube video on removing it from their 86 Iroc. The only difference for me was some of the socket sizes were different.

Since this car is so old, I have no way of knowing if this is original alternator or if it was a replacement. Either way, it's a Delco/Remy with a 1 battery lead wire connection and one harness connection.

The casting number is hard to read but it's 3 digits and the first is either a 'B' or an '8' followed by either an 'A' or a '4' and finally what appears to be a '1'.

On the silver metal plate under the 'Delco Remy' logo are the numbers: 87437 9F01

 

Well, AC Delco never replied back to me and I ended up finding an alternator shop. The guy said it appeared to be the original and that it also looked like it had been previously rebuilt. I would have had him do it again, but a new one was only $20 bucks more. So, a new one was purchased.

A tip to pass on to those of you who may replace your alternator in the future. They suggested hooking up a battery charger to the battery to bring it back to a full charge before installing the new alternator. The reasoning is that if your battery was down say 30% because of the old alternator issue, once the new alternator (which is bench tested with a fully charged battery) gets hooked up, it's going to detect a low battery and will work extra hard to try to bring the battery back up. Depending on the quality of your alternator, it could substantially decrease it's life; even if brand new.

Thank you all who replied/assisted me.

 

what brand alternator did you buy?

 

It was put together by the shop of brand new housings and parts. Basically, an all-American no name.

Before putting it in, I also trimmed/spliced parts of the related cable and additionally blasted all my connections with contact cleaner. As soon as the new alternator went in, it started right up and it ran at idle for about ten minutes like a champ. Unfortunately, my voltage gauge is still in the red.