well I can hear the bearing, so can anyone recommend a good alternator for my 65 327? do I go 100 amp?? if so is it plug and play?

 

Since yours is working, check with you local Auto Parts Store such as NAPA for an alternator rebuild kit. Principally bearings and brushes... This particular kit includes a rectifier, but they fail when they fail and if yours is working I wouldn't even change it. A new one could fail in 6 months or 6 years, they don't wear out.

http://www.fleetfarm.com/detail/Vict...FcGQHwodrHoMVg

It shouldn't take much more than an hour to take it apart and replace the two bearings and the brushes and you'll be back in business for another 50k plus miles.

Unless you plan on running some heavy electronics, the one you have is more than enough to power an otherwise stock Corvette.

Good luck... GUSTO

 

55 amp would seem good

 

Compare your pulley to the replacement. You want them too match. You can swap them. Dennis

 

Danny, personally. before I would purchase an alternator from an unknown rebuilder, I would find a local shop in your area that does this for a living and does it daily and take it to them to rebuild. If there is a shop nearby that specializes in repairing heavy equipment, they will know who to use for this task.

It isn't a terribly difficult task to do, and with the aide of YouTube, you can probably find a video that lays it out completely.

Having said all of that, and if you still want to pick up a rebuilt alternator, I would only use a reputable local auto parts store such as a NAPA, so you have someone to go to if there is a problem.

To answer your question directly, you will need to compare the view from the back of your alternator to the one in the link. If the electrical connections are the same, it will probably work. It appears virtually identical to the one on my 1963.

Good luck... GUSTO

 

If you go to a higher amp rate alt. you will over load the original wiring ,it's only a 10ga. wire rated at 40 amps when new. Almost every harness I replace has melted wires from alt. upgrades over the years. Others will tell you its OK but the burned wiring speaks for itself.
Mark

 

keep it stock

 

why do you think you need to go bigger in amps

 

Find a local shop and have yours rebuilt - they can even up the amperage. My 37amp has been bumped up to 70 amp. The car will never see that load though so the wiring is fine... 63 A/C cars ran 55 amp alternators anyway with the same wiring so I'm good...

 

Frank
It's true that 63 wiring was the same but in 64-7 they added a separate feed off the horn relay so the AC current was only flowing on the short wire between alt. and the horn relay not thru the main harness.
Mark

 

My best advise, from a guy with 8 cars who has dealt with a lot of charging systems:

1. Determine if your alternator is original to the car or correct via date code. If it is, you want to be careful about sending it out to anyone who might swap it out. These have some value. If its the original and you have never before rebuilt one-and are not dying to learn-take the advise above, bring it to the rebuilder in your area (every area has one or more), tell him its your original from a Corvette and you need it back unscathed. Sometimes these guys will try and beautify them by painting things that ought not be painted, so ask them what they do.

My friends above make rebuilding one of these simple because they are good mechanics. If you are a good mechanic by all means have at it. But if not, sometimes the pulley doesn't come off so easy, or the bearings are hard to get out without a press, and you might wish you hadn't.

Which brings me to # 3. If it is a correct dated alternator for the car, put it away and buy yourself a Powermaster replacement. These are brand new knockoffs, are inexpensive, look great and work great. I've had one on my 327 63 Impala for the past 12 years.

Lastly: using an alternator with a considerably higher amp output than stock is a problem only if there is a short in an un-fused circuit as the alternator will be capable of delivering far more current than the old one did. As long as you fuse what should be fused and protect wiring that is not, a bigger alternator should not be a problem.

Dan

 

When you put the new one on dont gorilla tighten the belt. You will wear out another bearing.

 

Ha! I keep waiting for a single day that goes by when I don't learn something new about these early Sting Rays!

BTW I have my A/C hooked to the horn relay per Mad Eletric's recommendation in spite of the Vintage Air instructions.

 

I bought a rebuilt AC Delco 55 amp alternator and it fell apart in a year. The needle bearings actually fell out of it. It died about a week after the warranty expired.

Steve