Chrome alternator question
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From: Northern Illinois
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Chrome alternator question
The pulley on my chrome Powermaster alternator broke (causing the serpentine belt to come off) this afternoon, and I had my car flatbedded to HP Performance Corvettes in Mundelein, IL. I purchased the alternator a couple of years ago through Summit Racing and paid around $800 for it. Does anyone else make a cheaper chrome alternator that's just as good? I'm not sure that I want to fork out that kind of money again for a replacement. 
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From: Northern Illinois
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I've got some good news. We found that the bolt that holds the pulley onto the alternator fell out, which then caused the serpentine belt to come off. We took the bolt from my old alternator and fixed it. I did discover that the chrome is peeling off the top of the alternator, which really pisses me off. My car has never been in the rain and the alternator only has about 1,500 miles on it. Unfortunately, it only has a one year warranty. Not very good for something that cost me $800 a couple of years ago.
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I'm one of those guys that usually has a few parts left over after assembling something.
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From: Cape Coral FL
Am I missing something? Why not just purchase and install a new pulley?
Gene Culley has them. Alternator Pulley
Hope this helps.
Gene Culley has them. Alternator Pulley
Hope this helps.
Safety Car
Joined: May 2004
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From: Madison Wi
Rebuilding an alt. is pretty easy. Pretty much just replace the bearings and brushes and clean it up. Having the case-halves chromed is the way to go, paying $800 for a chromed alt. is really getting raped. 
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From: Northern Illinois
Oldtimer
Am I missing something? Why not just purchase and install a new pulley?
Gene Culley has them. Alternator Pulley
Hope this helps.
Gene Culley has them. Alternator Pulley
Hope this helps.
Thread Starter
Race Director
Joined: Mar 2003
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From: Northern Illinois
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How's your chrome holding up? Just about everyone I've talked to says it's really difficult to find a quality chromer anymore. I'm sure that Powermaster uses an assembly-line type chroming process. I don't mind paying for a "quality" part, but I'm sure not going to spend over $800 again on something that's going to peel in a year or so. I'm actually thinking about having my old alternator powder coated.