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So far so good... still need to get the new belt before I can fire it up.
The only thing I did differently was style of the rear brace. I know some people are evidently successfully running these alternators w/o any kind of rear bracing at all, but like Denn11, I figured I'd go on the safe side and put something in.
Ended up with this approach. It's a piece of .125" thick angle steel that I cut to fit and bolted to the side of serpentine bracket. It's simple, but it's rigid as hell...
Hopefully get to the auto parts store in the next day or so to get the belt.
The brace looks pretty much like something you can't do without, at least if you're actually going to ever approach the alt's capacity. Hard to believe people would try to skimp on something so simple.
Yeah it just seems like it was going to be too much of a moment arm on the serpentine bracket's front mounting point. That belt puts a lot force on the pulley (just in a static condition) and I wasn't convinced the bracket was sufficient to react it properly for long term reliability.
To be clear, Den11 also did a rear brace (a custom one that mimics the factory version, just shorter). I didn't have the equipment to duplicate what he did, but I think this gets the job done.
I must have got a bum alternator. Cheap NAPA reman.... noisy as hell and only putting out 13.4V at idle... 130 amp my a$$.... My old CS130 did better than that!
Got the Delco installed today... Thanks to Den11 for pioneering this swap!
Simply awesome... The factory Delco alternator is smooth as silk and quiet as a mouse. So yeah, I've bought my last "reman" anything...
The idle output is phenomenal. With everything on... A/C on high with auxilliary condenser fan, stereo, headlights, Taurus two-speed radiator fan on high, and the EFI system itself, I'm getting 14.3V at the back of the alternator.
My old CS130 would barely keep up... getting around 13.1V.
The only thing is I'm not running a smog pump... I put an idler pulley in its place, basically a thick metal strip bolted from top to bottom with the pulley from a tensioner mounted in the middle of it. So that may affect things. The pulley is smaller, so it probably an actual smog pump pulley will need a bit longer belt.