In need of a new alternator.
 

My cheapie let go after 7 years or so but now, I’m considering adding an electric pusher fan to the front of my AC condenser to help with cabin cooling at idle. Does anyone have a recommendation on an alternator and what amperage should I shop for?

Car is a 77 Trans Am essentially stock driver.

Thanks!

https://www.holley.com/products/elec.../parts/51203NG

This made in USA Mr Gasket unit is on sale right now for a pretty big chunk off. I just bought one myself because i made an electric fan swap.

my old 78 amp 12 SI was not up to the task. That Mr Gasket did work BUT I had to add a larger charging wire. When I first hooked it up with the stock wiring, the fan would still kill the battery when it came on.

I added a larger charging wire, improved my engine ground a little, and now it keeps up.

Ooo, that may just be the ticket. Thanks for the heads up

Not in stock till the end of October I see though unfortunately

Check around. I actually bought mine from Amazon but it shipped directly from Holley. Summit was also honoring the sale and they may have them actually in stock.

I will say if you want to use the indicator light function with that one you would probbaly want to re-clock it. Not a big deal but its not on the correct side for a pontiac.

Any parts store 94 amp alternator from an 80s Camaro is probably fine. But man you just dont save that much money vs going with a unit like from Powermaster or Mr Gasket and getting a made in the US product.

The 1985 Buick Riviera with 307 V8 uses an alternator that puts out 94 amps and is a direct replacement for the other internal regulator Delco alternators.

94 amps enough for most electric fans?

Yeah probably. Obviously depends on the fan. Many of those 80s cars had electric fans.

Again I would look toward adding a larger charging wire too.

My issue is you probably pay $90-150 for a parts store reman unit. Fine, Ive used them. But you really dont pay that much more for a better branded unit. I was going to do a parts store CS130 conversion, but then when I started looking at the numbers I opted to spend like $10 more dollars and get that one I linked over a chinesium Rock Auto CS130. The CS130 was 90 shipped and I would need a $15 conversion harness. I paid 123 plus tax for the Mr Gasket with free shipping on Amazon.

I would add that if you buy a Duralast unit they will honor the lifetime warranty if you keep the box and reciept. So thats nice.

Thanks, that gives me some info to work with at least

What a coincidence. Just updated the charging system on the Angry Old Goat a couple of weekends ago and posted the video last night.

We went with a Powermaster 12SI 150 Amp High Output alternator after looking at the many different options available.

Upgraded from a 17SI 94 Amp sourced from a 1984 Camaro.

If you are interested: https://youtu.be/XFdkSzlRfNM?feature=shared

Thanks, I’ll check it out.