What all is envolved in switching from generator to alternator. Is there an alternator that will bolt right up to my 61 f85. What compoments would i have to do away with, Thanks.

 

I'm not sure if there is a direct replacement for your generator. GM didn't start using the Delcotron until 1964 so the generator on your car is probably much larger than a 1 wire alternator from the late 70s. You could always find a Delcotron alternator setup from a 64 F85 and put it on your 61. The problem is that the Delcotron still has an external voltage regulator; however, it is closer to the size and shape of the later 1 wire alternators. Someone else might have a better answer for you. You could always order an aftermarket alternator from Summit or Jegs. You would just have to manufacture a bracket for it.

 

A few things to consider. First, I'm not a big fan of the one-wire alternators. The Delco alternators require the load from the GEN light to charge properly at low RPMs. An integral regulator three-wire alternator will connect directly to your wire harness with minimal mods. You can adapt a 10SI/12SI, but I'd recommend going with a newer CS130. These are common on the Series II 3800 FWD cars and come with mounting lugs at 12:00/6:00. You will need to change the pulley from the serpentine to a V-belt, but that's a bolt-on. The alternator may just bolt to your existing brackets, or you can try to source brackets from a 64-67 Buick 300, which should fit. Also consider later model Range Rovers as bracket sources, as the 215 was sold to British Leyland and morphed into the 3.9 and 4.4 motors in the Rover.

 

One more thought. Powermaster now sells alternators in a generator housing. Not cheap but it bolts on and looks correct.

 

The first question is why do you want to switch to an alt? Have you added additional electrical devises? If it is stock I would say keep the gen in. After all it has worked for almost 50 years.

I am a big fan of 1 wire alts, but only if they are built correctly (many aren't) and used correctly. They do have some limitations and the electrical systems demands must be known before you decide if and which 1 wire alt to use.

Do you have an indicator light? Do you want to keep the indicator light function? You can have a 1 wire 10DN 10SI or 12SI that will allow you to keep that function or do away with it. The CS130 1 wire will not allow you to use the lite function.

If you can't mount the alt there are universal mounting kits that can be bought.
If you don't want the lite do as Joe said and use the CS130. If you want the 10 or12SI ,as Joe said connecting them as a 3 wire is only slightly more involved and the 3 wire will react to system loads controlling volts where the 1 wire won't. As far as a direct fit the only one is the one built in a generator housing. and the price is high. I am starting to sound like a parrot. Joe sure knows his feces.

 

How does this work, exactly? The three wire alternator has one large +12V wire on the screw terminal and one smaller one on the #2 terminal in the connector. The one-wire alternators simply connect these two together. The third wire is the brown one on the #1 wire in the connector and that's the one that is used to operate the light. How do you operate the light without it?

That's the benefit of having to pick up after the horses...

 

yep, i have a light on the dash, checked charge at battery at only 12v, new generator extremely expensive.

 

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12 volts is low - not charging. Have the gen tested. It can be done pretty easy on the car. If bat wiring and gen test good the only thing left is the reg. If gen is bad have it rebuilt . If you can't find someone local I would be happy to do it. If you need help testing I may be able to walk you thru it on the phone. PM me if necessary

Joe, my goof. I should have said you will need to connect the#1 term to the lite thus making it a 2 wire. Of course the lite won't work without it being wired in. There are a few ways to make a 1 wire alt. Depending on how it is made and what parts are used will determine if the lite wire will function. Not all 1 wire alts are the same. And not all 1 wire alts can operate a lite . I said you CAN have a 1 wire alt that will allow a lite function and I should have been more specific allowing for the fact that not all 1 wire alts will allow for a lite function.

 

i dont know how easy it will be to test, being that its mounted on the bottom, anyway i may have been premature on the 12v, i checked it with battery hooked up abd car runnin, i pulled battery cable off and car died instantly, stellar ai appreciate your offer, aand I may just take you up on it. Water pump is off right now so it will be a bit..

 

You can check it from the reg. You don't have to get to the gen except to make sure the wires are good and connected. I am usually pretty busy and don't always check the forums, so call me when you are ready. 412-563-2100 It should only take a few minutes to walk you thru it. Mark

 

Joe You deserve a public apology. I hope you aren't offended by the Quote. I should have said you sure know your stuff. Sorry. You are due more respect. It won't happen again. I was just trying to keep things interesting.

 

Actually, I'm offended by your apology.

I liked your original statement better. It nearly made coffee come out my nose, aand I wasn't kidding about cleaning up after the horses. You'll have to try a lot harder than that to offend me.

 

Glad to hear that Joe. So I can just be myself. Thursday was my 32nd wedding anniversary. My wife asked me what I want. I told her I want to get lucky tonite. She told me to go to the casino. I didn't get lucky there either. Sadly a true story, but I can forgive her this time cuz we had some grand kids staying over.

 

you guys are great..lol..i pulled the gen out because it is vey accesable at this time, and i really want to switch to an altenater now, so if i go on a trip i can easily replace it if it fails on the road. Im not to woried about the originality of the charging system. The car is gonna be a driver. I was really hoping there was some info on repacing the genny. If i find a 1 wire that fits, I run the hot wore to distribution block, tape off wires that originally hooked to genny? Maybe run brown wire to light? How do I know if an alternator is a 1 wire?

P.S. please excuse my spelling, someone changed all my keyboard keys around.

P.S.S. My genny only has 2 wires, blue and brown

 

If it fails on the road a 1 wire may a little difficult to find. Maybe you should consider the 3 wire. almost as easy to hook up.

 

I belive that a alternator was put in place on my car and had a generator at one time I have the same color wires but it has a nice alt there now I figure some day I wlll get a chrome high output one on right now my car when the lights are on does what I call wave action till you get the motor up in rpm the first picture is when I got the car prior to working on it the second is what it looks like now.I would have to look as to if it is a one or three wire.

 

ok, if i want to go to the parts store and get an altnator to fit, what do I ask for, and how doI hook it up?

 

How many amps do you want? If you want american threads 1973 to 1979 full size GM alt will work. 63 amps like a 79 chevy caprice or impala 5.0 or 5.7 I think after 1979 you will get an alt with metric threads, but it will work up to about 1984. You can act like a woman buying shoes and tell the counter person to bring a couple out to look at. What to look for is where the wires will be located and the pulley. You will want the wires to be in a position that you can get to them and not have them hitting something, so be aware of how it will be mounted before you purchase. You will also need a plug in connector for the alt reg. The parts store will have that too. We can walk you thru the wiring hookup when you are ready. It should be pretty easy and we can even use a lot of the wires that are already there, so leave them in place till you are done. Call me if you want. I will only be here for a little longer and won't be back till Monday.

 

stellar, I apriciate your input. I bought a 3 wire alternator from autozone, froma 73 chevy monte carlo. So how do I hook this baby up using factory wiring and how do I bypas the external regulator?

 

At the old reg there should be 3 connections. A arm F field B bat. Disconnect the A arm Thicker and B bat wires and connect them together. There may have been a smaller wire on the A reg connection as well, or there may be a 4th L terminal. This will be your indicator lite wire. Disconnect the F field wire from the reg and connect it together with the lite wire. At this point you should have all wires disconnected from reg and the 2 heavier wires A and B connected together and F and L connected together. The heavier wire that formerly went to the gen A post will now be hot all the time and will get connected to the new alt post on the back of alt. The alt will be marked 1 and 2 where the plug goes into it on the side of the alt. Connect the other wire formerly the gen F wire to #1. This is your indicator lite. To make it simple connect #2 to the same post on the back of alt that you connected the A wire to. This should work fine since you have no additional loads other than factory, but if volts drop below 13.4 under load we may have you move the #2 wire later. Let me know how it works out. Mark

 

thanks stellar, worked like a charm..

 

Glad all is well. A couple of more tips. I like to keep an alt belt pretty tight. Tighter than I make a gen belt. Also if you changed to a new belt you may have to retighten it after it has been run a little while. A new belt will Usually incur a little initial stretch after running and will need to be checked. Usually after a second tightening it will last a good while before another tightening is needed. To test belt tension, I grab the alt fan (engine not running) and try to turn the fan by hand. If the fan turns without the belt moving, it is too loose. I don't like the 1/2 inch play rule. Some people say a 1/2inch play at the center between pulleys is correct. I never did know if that meant 1/4in. up and 1/4in. down or 1/2in. up and 1/2in. down ( big difference) also some pulleys might be 8 inches apart and some might be 18 inches apart. another big difference. Tie a clothes line between 2 poles 5 ft. apart and another one 10 ft. apart. the 10 ft. one will have more play. By the way I'm glad you decided to go with the 3 wire. Your situation almost screamed for the 3 wire. It will be redily available if replacement is necessary and if repaired it will be less expensive than the 1 wire or the generator.

 

Try this link:

Gen to Alt