Hey guys, I soon will be switching to a one wire alternator and I have one question about this conversion.Will the junction block at the firewall thats connected to pos. battery terminal be needed after the conversion?

What year Chevelle are you talking about??

Im sorry. Its a 71 malibu.

Okay...I have a 1971 as well. This may not make sense, but it worked. An old dude, who liked like Dusty Hill from ZZ Top, showed me this trick one night.

Right behind your charcoal canister there is a small relay bolted to the frame of the car. Unplug it. Take the plug and look at the wiring. there should be a blue, yellow, orange, and black wire there.

Run a jumper from blue to orange, and from yellow to black on the plug. Go to the other side of the engine compartment and find the blue and white wires that run to the alternator. These can be spliced to a typical alternator plug. You will still have the heavy gauge red wire that bolts to the back of the alternator.

Keep in mind that I'm trying to look in my engine compartment, and re-piece together something a guy did for me ten years ago, when we were "tipping the friendly cup".

If anyone can tell me what the hell I just explained, feel free!

If you need some jpeg's of the conversion, let me know.

Well Gorbe I have to say you seem to have a great memory even if you were tipping the friendly cup.I am switching to one of those powermaster alts because of the power they put out at idle. I re-did my old alt with one of those Quickstart kits to bump it up to a 105 amp, but now I think theres even less power at idle.All I ask is to have my lights,heater,radio(not high powered)and an occasional turn signal to use without my car dying.Thanks for the help.

Sean,
The original type alternator should work fine. They did when the cars were new, why not now ??? The one wire types are nice but not really needed. Have your alternator tested at an Auto Electric shop (not a chain store) to make sure it is working ok. If it is, you may have a voltage regulator problem. My 71, that I bought new, still has the original alternator and regulator in it and I have never had a problem.
The only reason I am saying this is I would hate to see you spend money on the alternator, only to find that you have some other electrical system problem, such as bad grounds etc. I would go over the entire electrical system and check all the connections, especially the grounds, for corrosion etc.
Hope this helps,

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Bill Koustenis
Advanced Automotive Machine
Waldorf Md

1971 Heavy Chevy - original owner
Team Chevelle #100

Pull the plug on the regulator and find the wire that is hot all the time (even with the key turned off), Now turn on the key and find the other hot wire (when switched on). Go to the altinator and look at the back of it. There should be a 1 stamped next to one terminal and a 2 next to the other one. The 1 terminal gets 12 volts only when the switch is turned on. The 2 terminal is hot all the time. The two remaining wires at your regulator conection get jumped to give you the combination you need at the altinator. The juntion block at the firewall remains the same. You may want to run a heavier gauge wire from the altinator to the block and to the starter and battery if you are going to a 100 amp altinator.

I am pretty close to Bill K on this one. Try to keep GM stuff on your car as much as possible. If you ever are on the road and need service/repair parts you will have a much easier time with the stock or near-stock stuff. As for the "near-stock" term, I threw that in to cover any upgrades, like to an internally regulated , higher output alternator from a later GM car. As far as the junction block (which is really a horn relay), yes it will still be needed to connect the battery +12 to the rest of the car. This terminal has nothing to do with the voltage regulation.

[This message has been edited by JWagner (edited 12-05-99).]

Bill, I was wondering the same thing about why I would need these extra amps if the car didnt originally need them to begin with.When Im driving and turn on the heater there is almost a quick instant where it seems everything stops(electricity wise)and then continues.I guess its ground checking time.Any ideas on where to begin?Most likely culprits?BILL thanks for your advice you have curbed my appetite for something that may not have solved the problem. But have I done something bad by pushing up the output of my delco-remy?

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Check your grounds, possibly add some ground straps from the engine to the frame, and frame to the body. I know it doesn't seem like much, but one Chevelle I had a while ago had electrical gremlins, nothing major, but one of them sounds similar to your problem, sometimes at idle, with the headlights and maybe the heater fan on low, it seemed as though the altenator would crap out. One of the older guys I used to get car advice from suggested grounding everything like I said above, and while it didn't make the problem go away 100% (must have been something else wrong too) it did fix it enough to make the car driveable, and more importantly sellable.

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Steve

72 Chevelle SS402/4sp

Sean,
Sounds like maybe the voltage regulator is "hesitating" for a second when you put a load on the system. The first thing I would do is check all the connections going to the voltage regulator. Then you might want to take the cover off the regulator and look at the contacts to see if they are burned at all. You can clean them lightly with some 400grit or finer sandpaper, just be careful. If this temporarily fixes the problem, get a new regulator. Give that a try and let us know what happens. If I don't respond asap, you can e-mail me as I get busy and don't look at Chevelle tech that often.
BillK

Sean, I tried to e/mail you direct, but got no connection.

Early remote regulator alternators used a regulator that is point actuated, and will have problems in voltage control. A better external regulator is available, one that used electronic voltage regulation like the internal regulator 12SI alts. Made by Wells, p/n VR715, directly plugs in to the stock regulator feed. The stock GM regulator cap may be mounted to the Wells regulator for a stock look.

You do need to check all the wiring and grounds first if you are having problems with the charging system, then look into the other stuff.

If you want an internal regulator 12SI conversion, there is a 78 ampere unit available. It is designed for three wire hookup, but making it one wire for cars with guages and/or charging light is simple.

Start by removing the old alternator and mounting the new one in its place. Connect the large battery feed wire from the rear post on the old alternator on the same post on the new one.

Next, make a jumper wire (14 guage), with a round terminal on one end that fits the large post on the rear of the alternator you just put the large wire on, and a female blade termional on the other end, and connect it to the number 2 terminal on the regulator. This terminal is marked on the rear of the alt, but the wire will insert into the side of the alternator. This now makes the alternator a single wire setup. This will be all that is needed for use with an ammeter or voltmeter equipped vehicle.

If your car has a charge indicator light, then it may also be connected. Find the light feed wire from the old regulator terminal (easily done by turning the key to the run position and MOMENTARILY touching each wire to ground. The wire that turns the light on is the one you want to use).

Add wire as needed to the charge light feed wire, to reach the terminal side of the new alternator, and connect it to the number 1 terminal on the side of the alternator. The charge light will now work as stock.

Even if the alternator that came with the vehicle was rated with much lower ampere ratings, always add amperes for added useage later and to make the alternator work easier as it makes electricity.

The GM 78 ampere internal regulator 12SI alt is a good one, not expensive, last check was about $40.00 outright for a lifetime guarantee Pep Boys rebuilt (no core needed). I have used these alts for just this setup for about 5 years, only had one go south, and it was replaced without question, free.

The one wire alts I have seen from the different mail order houses use a farm and industrial regulator that has the jumper wire internal, and are fair quality, lots more money.

[This message has been edited by IgnitionMan (edited 12-06-99).]

Thanks to everyone especially BILL and IGNITIONMAN. Last night I found the main culprit. It was a semi-lose connection at rad support for the fusible link. I noticed when I wiggled the wire the dome light would fade or go out. I tightened it and drove all over Austin today with no problems. I still need to check all the grounds because the volt meter still reads a little low at idle with accessories on (about 10 volts)which is scary but at least its not dying!Some day soon Im going to check into replacing the fwd lamp harness.It seems like all the engine wiring harnesses die first.I guess its all that heat and moisture.Any way replacing the engine harness was one of the best things I done.This is my only and daily driven hard car so I MUST attack the gremlins systematically and often. thanks for all the help!

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71 malibu 350/350