Just curious... I'm rather sick of the overheating problems inherent with the design of my 85-86 alternator. Has anyone gone through the trouble of adapting the smaller 87-up alternator to the motor? Any problems? Is the wiring the same? I honestly never looked in depth at one of the smaller ones. I guess I'd need to fab a whole new bracket for it...? And is there any way (besides a case stamping) to tell which of the smaller 87-up alternators are the high output guys (100 amps)? I think mine is a 105 amp'er (car hadair conditioning), and would hate to drop to a lower output alternator.

Plus, I might save a 1/2 pound of weight by doing this swap.

Thanks!

 

IMO, bad idea. The later ones are even more problem prone than the earlier ones, they have a serious overheating problem and kill the puny rear bearing all the time. Overheating? Very unusual on those. I'd check/replace wiring first.

 

Wow, odd. I had heard it was the 85-86 alternators with the overheating problem. One alternator I had was throwing sparks! Fun to see- but I was nowhere near home.

So was there ANY f-body high-output alternator that doesn't burn out it's rear bearing? Or should I just throw on one of those aftermarket "Iceburg" cases?

 

Well, we installed one of those 'Iceburg' kits on my dads work van, and it has helped but still doesnt make it last that much better. I've only been through a couple alternators on my 86TA since 93, one of those was just a crappy alternator, the voltage regulator and diodes went out after a short time. The replacement has been in there since, about 1997.

 

I seem to go through a Pep Boys alternator every two years. Yeah, I get a replacement for free, but it does get a bit annoying after a while- and I've had 3 free ones so far.

 

Thats the problem with a lifetime guarantee, you'll be replacing it for the rest of your life. AC Delco makes some pretty good rebuilt stuff out of the rebuilt parts on the market, we had the least number of returns with those compared to other brands where I worked at before.