If I upgrade my 60 amp alternator with external voltage regulator, should I go with an alternator with internal regulator? I am going to go with a 135 amp alt.

Not sure which way to go here.

Thanks.

Where do you get a 135 amp alternator that uses an external regulator?

The short answer, yes. Converting from externally regulated to internally regulated is easy. You need to mod the wiring as shown in pic below, or you can by a kit (http://www.americanautowire.com/Alternator_Conversion_Kits.html) to convert if you don't want to cut and splice any wires.

http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/data/500/alternator_wiring_pic2.JPG

Where do you get a 135 amp alternator that uses an external regulator?


I asked the question wrong. It should have been "how do you go from external to internally regulated alt....and it was anwered. Thanks!

Ok, so you eliminate that big box (old regulator) and jump the red to white and brown to blue, seems straight forward.

At some previous time, my older brother put a jumper between the +battery wire to the #1 spade. I never understood what he was doing, but it worked so I didn't try to understand. Can any of you help with this?

Thank in advance,
TJ

Number 1 is the sense wire so the regulator is sensing the voltage right where it comes out of the alt. If you wire according to the schematic then the regulator will sense voltage at the main electrical junction. Depending on load on the alt there can be several volts difference between the two points due to voltage drop. The way your brother did it will work but you'll have a more constant voltage through out the system if you wire according to the schematic.

In a true "1-wire" alternator, they only put the power wire on. In that case, I would guess that they've jumped that sensing wire (1) to the power wire internally, but then what about terminal #2? What does it do...or what does it now not do if there's nothing hooked to it.

Thanks again.
TJ

Actually, I think the number 2 spade on the internal voltage regulator is the voltage sensing wire. Often it is hooked directly to the bat post on the alternator, but the problem with that is that it reads voltage at the alternator instead of at the junction block where it should be. But it will work fine there in most cases. If you look at Wes Vann's article in tech archives he shows the #2 spade jumped to the Bat post on alternator. My understanding is that the #1 spade on the internal regulator is the ON\Off switch. It gets power only when the ignition key is ON, by moving power through the firewall in a brown wire, and then joining to the blue wire at the external volt regulator, and carrying on the blue wire to spade 1. Jumping blue to brown at the external volt regulator seems the preferred way to connect them in the alternator conversion process. I believe the brown wire, on its route from the ignition key switch to the external volt regulator passes through the generator (warning) lite on the dash. When you put the key on, the lamp lites up, but it goes out when the car starts and the #1 spade no longer acts as a path to ground. But I could be wrong on this, just my understanding from doing one conversion, and in the middle of another.

thanks bhawk, that brown/tan wire is another thing that my brother fiddled with to make my generator light work in the dash. I'll have to peel some tape to see what he did..

Try this diagram instead. UNLIKE the one above, this one keeps the correct color codes at the alternator. Note the different jumper wire arrangement at the regulator connector.

Using this will preserve the dash indicator light AND the remote voltage sensing.

http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/data/500/medium/Alternator_wiring_harness_conversion.GIF