Alternators - Paperformance 3G, PowerMaster, or?

[70vert]

Hey all,

I'm trying to get little projects around the engine out of the way while I save for my 408w, and so it's 1-wire alternator time. I understand that the same alternator will work with the current 302 and the later 408w, so the Q is, given that:

1) I'll have an EFI, and all the electric goodies (fan, pump) etc that I can run in there
2) there will be a Mac Mini in there someday with some tiny screen.
3) Sound system will be nice, but not insane, no crazy amount of bass - 400w? 600?

what should I go with? paperformance-3g at 140 amp or so, or 200, Powermaster in that range, or Powermaster up to 200amp? I also need it to run off the v-belt for now, still deciding what I'm going to do in the long run for belts.
So far I've read in the archives:

1) paperformance.com seems to be the place to get the 3G - all the wiring issues are solved for you there, and they do some custom finishes including powdercoat colors, polished, and chrome if you're into that.

2) 3G seems more reliable from everything I've seen. Voltage regulators can fail on the Powermaster - it's an AC/Delco unit.

3) Powermaster looks better to me, whether in black or chrome. 3G looks too "new OEM" and Powermaster looks more "original OEM"

4) Powermaster is more of a true 1-wire unit. 3G needs some integration into the existing wiring harness.

5) 3G would seem to be easier to service, being essentially an original Ford OEM part

6) 3G larger units may require 2 v-belts to prevent squealing. I'm confused on this. Is there an additional v-belt pulley on the original engine for this, possibly an unused one for AC? (excuse the newbieness, I could always pop the hood I guess

7) The Powermaster unit from mustangsunlimited comes with an unacceptably small 6 gauge wire - you really want 4 gauge or higher for these 130amp and higher alternators.

Anything else? Anybody find this summary useful? Bueller? Oh, and I'm pretty set on a Powermaster mini starter along with this upgrade - less weight, more starting torque, and combined with my Optima battery I should have a good healthy starting/electrical system . . .

I'm leaning hard towards the smaller PAperformance 3G right here - anyone have any feedback on the one on the left with the 80/150 capacity?

http://www.pa-performance.com/6585.asp

 

[Bullitt]

I've gone through 3 powermaster alternators... Car has ~25k miles on motor...

Granted I run the engine at the limit of the alternator's RPM capability (you'll get a little tag with the alternator that lists this).

With that said, when they haven't failed, I'm fairly happy with them.

 

[70vert]

Thanks for the info - probably I'll go 3G

Bullitt,
Thanks, that helps a lot. I'm not going to be at the limit very often with this or my eventual 408w, but that info helps. I'm settling on the smaller version of the 3G, with the higher output option. I'm sure you have a much nicer underhood look, and the "true one-wire" nature of the PowerMaster is attractive, as are the looks, but here in Oakland, I can't afford to break down in the wrong neighborhood - where I live is OK, but I can travel through some rough neighborhoods to get to where I'm going.

I've gone through 3 powermaster alternators... Car has ~25k miles on motor...

Granted I run the engine at the limit of the alternator's RPM capability (you'll get a little tag with the alternator that lists this).

With that said, when they haven't failed, I'm fairly happy with them.

 

[stangkid88]

I ordered a 140 amp Powermaster alt. from Summit Racing but have not gotten around to installing it yet, so I don't know how it will perform but installation looks really easy and it's a good way to clean up some wiring. I'll let you know how it goes once I install it.

 

[Sicarius428]

Powermasters havn't been so kind to me either. I ordered the black 140a one. I could have done better with a spray can and the "powdercoating" they had. It just flaked off. The 8gauge wire it came with is totally substandard and just waiting for a fire so that was useless. You will need 4gauge with a 150A fuse. The instructions were not very useful if you wanted to hook up your external gauges. Though it did put out amps, at idle it didn't produce much which is exactly where you need it for a good stop light. Stick with the 3g from paperformance.com. It looks clean and can be powerder coated too. Stay away from chrome. I have been hearing that they don't work so well.
Kevin

 

[68keyblr]

I did the 3G conversion and installed a 130A alternator. We could not solve the belt squeal problem so I just installed an underdrive pulley on the alternator. The V-belt setup simply does not provide enough belt to pulley surface area to turn that alternator without chewing up the belt and squealing.

If you go serpentine, it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[70vert]

hey 68, did you do the 2-v-belt setup?

I sure hope not, since I went ahead and placed the order today. I went with the 2-groove-v-belt setup. I don't run A/C so I should have room in there for another pulley. I can imagine that one belt could be slightly longer than another, though, or stretch at a different rate, and you could end up running on 1 or 1.5 belts, for example. It seems kind of inexact to have 2 v's. We'll see how it installs, I can do a write-up when I get it done. I went with the smaller case, larger output alternator, plain finish, 1-wire-plus-ignition-wire setup.

 

[68keyblr]

With 2 v belts you should be fine. I couldn't do 2 v-belts because I have A/C installed, otherwise I would have done that instead.