[bhill86]

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!

[RocktimusPryme]

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.

[bhill86]

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

[bhill86]

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

[RocktimusPryme]

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.

[Goatracer1]

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.

[bhill86]

94 amps enough for most electric fans?

[RocktimusPryme]

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.

[bhill86]

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

[RA66GTO]

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

[bhill86]

Thanks, I’ll check it out.