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I`m thinking of changing...

  • Thread starter Thread starter 65fastbackresto
  • Start date Start date Jun 22, 2007

65fastbackresto

Active Member
Apr 13, 2007
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Jun 22, 2007
#1
  • Jun 22, 2007
  • #1
my altanator out I need one with more amps to run electric fan. Was looking at a one wire system with built in voltage regulator. Was looking at the mess of wires running from the current altanator (and silonoid) over to the voltage regulator, and there are wires running from the voltage regulator back towrd the firewall. Obviously I dont know what any of this stuff is, but how can I change this to one wire setup easily?
 
R

RUSTYNUT

New Member
Mar 22, 2007
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PDX
Jun 23, 2007
#2
  • Jun 23, 2007
  • #2
Check the search for g3 altanator swaps. Some good diagrams for this cheap swap.
 

scrutmonkey

Member
Jan 17, 2003
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16
San Jose, CA
Jun 23, 2007
#3
  • Jun 23, 2007
  • #3
65, if you want i can post up all the info i have on one wire and 3G alternator change...I'm in the process of doing the 3G wire alternator conversion.

Wires and Harnesses can be found here:
1. rjminjectiontech
2. PA performance


one wire:

this is from a site...I'm not exactly sure where but I've had it for a while...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I studied the wiring diagrams and cut here and snipped there and got it all to work fine while removing all the unused wiring. I am switching to a Volt meter so I do not discuss hooking up the stock Amp meter.

Short Version
I only had to cut two wires:
1. Solid yellow from the battery side of the relay switch (#152 in the attached diagram)
2. Green-red from the ignition switch to the regulator (#904 in the attached diagram)
3. I also shortened the black-yellow wire (removing the splice) and routed it above the radiator (#37 in the attached diagram)

Long Version
1. Follow the instructions to install your one-wire alternator. Mine was a 140 amp Powermaster.
2. There is only one wire hooking into alternator side of the harness. This is a solid yellow wire (152) that is also connected to the black-yellow (37) wire on the battery side of the starter relay. This is part of the feed for the amp meter. Cut the yellow wire about 4" from the end.
3. Remove the tape between the regulator wiring harness and the starter relay. This is the part of the harness that routed under the radiator. The other part of the same harness runs power to your lights.
4. From here you get a pretty good view of what needs to be cut and what can go.
5. There is a large black wire with yellow stripe. Don't cut this wire yet. This is the main power for the ignition switch. There is also a splice about 1/3 the way to the regulator. Cut everything away from the spice, keeping the black-yellow wire in tact.
6. You should be able to remove all of the wiring from the starter relay switch to the alternator. The only thing remaining should be the black-yellow wire and what is left of the solid yellow wire also hooked into this lead.
7. From the regulator side, you will have to cut away one or two of the plastic locks that help support the wiring harness splicing.
8. There is a green wire with a red stripe that should be exposed. Cut the greed-red (904) wire. I left about 4" just in case I need to splice back into the harness at some point in the future.
9. All of the unused wiring should now be completely free and clear
10. I cut out the splice in the black-yellow wire and shortened it about 12" and routed it around the front side of the battery to the starter relay.
11. I used shrinkwrap to protect the end of the yellow and green-red wires I cut.

'66 stang wiring...



3G - alot of people actually recommended going this route...internal cooling fan, better power at idle, internal voltage reg. Again, i forgot where I got this from....



3G Alternator Conversion Guide for Fox Body Mustang
________________________________________

I've done this swap on two of my vehicles now and figure I might as well do up a bit of a guide on how to do the swap. Some of you who have done it might have done it differently, that is fine. This guide is intended to help beginners perform the swap in the safest way possible.

Things you will need:

1. 3G Alternator, small-body style from Taurus, newer Mustang....etc. "ears" need to be straight across from each other. The big-body style (also from Taurus) will NOT fit in the fox bracket, and the ears are spaced too far anyways. Try to find a 130A alternator if possible.

2. Female "spade" connector from donor vehicle's alternator wiring harness (with white wire attached to it). This comes from any vehicle that had a 3G alternator to begin with and can easily be found at the wreckers. You will need to take about 4" of wire with it as well.

3. 4-gauge wire. This is the minimum I would recommend for this application if you are running the 130A alternator. You can buy this in foot-lengths from Canadian Tire, basically, its battery cable and has a gray sheathing. You can also use Car Audio wire, welding cable....etc, any heavy-gauge wire that is well protected. 10ft is enough.

4. Tie-Wraps.

5. 160A In-line fuse. This is also available at Canadian Tire and is relatively cheap. Its a "straight-through" style fuse with copper ring-terminal style ends on it, "Candy" shape to it with a black body.

6. Ring Terminals, 4-gauge, you will need 4 of these.

7. Propane Torch, Flux, and Solder and soldering iron.

8. Exacto Knife/Razor Blade.

9. Wire cutters capable of cutting 4-gauge wire.

10. Dremel or die-grinder.

11. Bolts that fit through the fuse with nuts (short as you can get).

12. Electrical tape (Liquid and the conventional kind).

13. Breaker-bar with socket that fits the tensioner.

14. Metric socket set.

Installation Notes: This is a non-destructive procedure, we will not be removing any of the stock wiring, so, if you ever decide to sell the vehicle, you can put your stock alternator back on it quite easily and keep the 3G and all the related wiring for your next project!!!

Steps for installation:

1. Unhook the negative battery cable.

2. Use breaker-bar to loosen the tensioner and remove the belt. Unplug the "D" shaped plug and then the larger power plug from the alternator.

3. Un-bolt the stock alternator and wiggle it out of the bracket, tuck the stock wiring out of the way.

4. Test-fit your new 3G, figure out how much material you will need to remove from the bracket, and grind away with the die grider/dremel until the alternator fits.

5. Place long bolt through alternator to hold in place (but give you the ability to move it back and forth) and begin to work with wire.

6. Strip one end of your 4-gauge wire and solder on a ring terminal. Seal with liquid electrical tape and then wrap with conventional electrical tape. Alternatively, you can use Shrink-wrap here. Bolt this to the back of the alternator, then feed the wire however you see fit (I fed it along the back side of the rad cradle) to the solenoid. Once the wire is laid as you want it, Tie-Wrap it in place.

7. Cut the wire about a foot from the Solenoid (leaving some slack to work with a bit here) as this is where we are going to install the fuse. Solder on ring terminals, bolt to fuse, then bolt to "live" side of the solenoid. Don't forget to tape/shrink-wrap your terminals. Once the fuse is setup, wrap the entire assembly tightly in electrical tape, using several layers.

8. Get out your exacto knife/razor blade and on the "D" shaped connector (which you may notice, will plug right into the new alternator) locate the white wire, which should be the middle one. Strip off a small portion of the insulation and then splice and solder on our female spade connector. Seal your connection.

9. Plug the "D" shaped connector into the alternator, and the spade connector into its spot, then proceed to bolt in the alternator, tuck the stock wiring out of the way (it should fit under the one side of the alternator and be pretty much hidden) and then put your belt back on.

10. Fire up the car and make sure its working!!



And that's pretty much all there is to it.

NOTE: If you have underdrive pulleys, you can use the stock pulley from your 2G alternator on the 3G alternator so that it will charge at idle.








hope this helps you
 

scrutmonkey

Member
Jan 17, 2003
243
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16
San Jose, CA
Jun 23, 2007
#4
  • Jun 23, 2007
  • #4
sorry DB post
 

scrutmonkey

Member
Jan 17, 2003
243
0
16
San Jose, CA
Jun 23, 2007
#5
  • Jun 23, 2007
  • #5
sorry, i hit the quote buton instead of EDIT...please delete.
 

65fastbackresto

Active Member
Apr 13, 2007
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Jun 23, 2007
#6
  • Jun 23, 2007
  • #6
WOW

Thats looks a little intimidating.....But thanks for the info.
 

scrutmonkey

Member
Jan 17, 2003
243
0
16
San Jose, CA
Jun 23, 2007
#7
  • Jun 23, 2007
  • #7
well, just read through it...i decided on the 3G conversion since it had better idle amps and the internal cooling fan. Besides, it's probably a cheaper way to upgrade if you can find a 3G from a mustang or taurus with the harness....or buy the harness from a site.
 

65fastbackresto

Active Member
Apr 13, 2007
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Jun 24, 2007
#8
  • Jun 24, 2007
  • #8
It looks like the one wire setup

May be pretty easy, I bought an Optima battery so it not charging good at idle may not be such a big deal with the hotter battery.

I finally got the frame rails fixed yesterday, they were bout gone from the rad support to the bracket that holds the sway bar on, we boxed em in, looks pretty good. Motor is ready at the engine shop and almost every part is in.

Its fixing to get FUN!
 

CraigMBA

New Member
Mar 24, 2007
783
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0
Orange, CA
Jun 25, 2007
#9
  • Jun 25, 2007
  • #9
65fastbackresto said:
May be pretty easy, I bought an Optima battery so it not charging good at idle may not be such a big deal with the hotter battery.
Click to expand...

It's actually exactly the same. They are both 12.8v when fully charged.
 

65fastbackresto

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Apr 13, 2007
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Jun 25, 2007
#10
  • Jun 25, 2007
  • #10
Its the amps thats different

not the volts. Its supposed to have alot more cranking amps then a standard battery, plus its gel cell so its maintenance free.
 

65 fastback

Founding Member
Mar 17, 2002
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Jun 25, 2007
#11
  • Jun 25, 2007
  • #11
Here is the thread that ScrutMonkey sited - http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=409944&highlight=alternator - It is a very straight forward and worthwhile upgrade. It's a 2 hour driveway job, don't let it intimidate you.

Tim
 

65fastbackresto

Active Member
Apr 13, 2007
1,229
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Jun 26, 2007
#12
  • Jun 26, 2007
  • #12
After it read it thru real good

It didn`t look that scary any more. I`m gonna try it. Thanks.
 
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