When is an alternator correct for a custom ?

I'm working with a mid 60's small journal 327 In a 57 Chevy wagon. Beautiful aluminum GM high rise intake OG Vette valve covers, and headers. Mounting the heavy generator without the stock manifold bolts took some work. Now I realize I'm hitting the front oil fill tube, and looks like the upper hose will be a biatch too. I'm not giving up yet, just gonna have to remake the intake bracket and move it to the passenger side. FNG mistake I know.... All this had me thinking, the car is gonna have a mid 60's vibe, and a low mount alternator would be quite simple. When did GM make the switch to alternators ? I can solve my problem with the gennie, just pondering hot rod history.


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Who cares......It's a Kustom the hood should remained closed...

 

I agree with the above comment. But, to answer your question....IIRC, the '62 327 engines got alternators and in '63 all models did.

 

If that mount you made puts the generator more or less on top of the water pump (sounds like it from it hitting the oil fill tube) you won't have any or much belt to water pump pulley drive, unless you run a second belt just to drive the water pump. Something else to think about.

 

When you actually drive em
See ya at crackle barrel

 

Use the alternator and if tradition is a problem use the early style with the external voltage regulator. The voltage regulator will throw some people off when your hood is open.
In 1967 I ran a 283 with alternator (64 vintage) in my 39 Chevy 2-dr sedan. The alternator came with the engine. At that time the alternator was considered an upgrade.
Sure miss those days.... running junk yard motor with all the bells and whistles for less than $300.00. Jeff

 

Alternators were around for a long long time- eons before the 1961 valiant had them as standard equipment.

 

You know I'm not scared brother. I was dressing this thing as an earlier style, but some other parts came in the mix and ya know... I'll still probably use the generator and fix the brackets. I just dork out on details sometimes. See ya there, hopefully In this wagon .

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I really dig the Mopar alternators, being a Mopar guy myself. They look good and came out in '61 or '62. I put one on the Chevy 283 I had in my old Model A.

 

It mounts to the top intake bolts and pivots side to side. Then there's the long front bracket that goes off a water pump bolt. Believe me when I switch to the other side I'll scope out every first.. Its pretty close to a stock position, obviously not close enough though.

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I agreee, no reason things shouldn't look good under the hood though. I can't ignore details, that's the fun stuff right ...
When I bought the motor it had the "mullet speed shop" special treatment. MT valvecovers w pcv and oil fill holes, ugly intake, huge hei, yellow plug wires, cheesy Edelbrock vato zone air cleaner etc... runs great though. Im just making it look like it belongs in a period correct mid sixties mild custom. Again, I'll make the Gennie work, my situation just had me pondering the gen/alt situation at all & when would have it been truly period correct to run one.


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I'll take a look at em, thanks.

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327 came with an alternator, what's the big deal? Although a "low mount" would look out of place.

Of course we need pictures to see what the problem is...

 

I drive my cars. On my 50 Ford sedan I stayed with the generator because it looked better on the flathead. On long trips I always carried a spare generator and regulator. Never needed the generator but have had to change the regulator on a trip once (mid-night on the side of I-85). But now it's getting harder to find the 6 volt stuff and/or someone to repair them. On my 57 Chevy I also was running a generator but before a trip a few years ago, I swapped it out for an alternator. You can pick up an alternator at any parts store for next to nothing. Try to find a generator when you really need one. I like to be period correct but sometimes you just have to bite the bullet. Especially if you drive them.

 

If it's looks you are concerned about but want the reliability of a alternator there is a alternator offered by Power Master that is designed to looks like a generator. HRP

 

lame!

 

quite right

 

I'm not at all concerned about the reliability of my generator. I've run them for years. Mounting issues just brought me to wonder about what year gm switched to an alt on a 327. Originally I was making the motor appear fairly stock, like you would have seen in 57. The build has eveolved to a mid 60's style hence the inquiry. On a pre 69 327 would an alt have been used from the factory ? I Just think the history is interesting, especially for those kind of small details. Don't worry, I'm not lookin for a pass to run a janky chrome one wire alternator.

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And I know they didn't have a 327 in 57

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1962 factory a/c cars were the ones to get an alternator all others had gen

 

as has been stated a few times, yes. Almost all GMs had alternators by 1963.

But they had an external regulator, not the internal one. The case was smaller than the 1973--80s alternators.

 

If it works better...use it!!

 

^^^^^^ THIS. I build my cars to drive........often and far. Having grown up on things like generators that let my lights dim at low speeds, I refuse to not use something better and more modern just because it might not be PC.

Put an alternator on it and you will not be afraid to actually use the car. If you lose one 500 miles from home your fix is as close as the nearest auto parts store.

Don

 

Don's right.

Sitting at a light, in the turn lane, at night, raining, cold. Lights on, heater on, wipers on, blinkers on, brake lights on, radio on.....and the lights go dimmer and dimmer because at idle your "traditional" generator isn't making enough power to run everything and the battery is slowly being drained. You've got 45 amps of desire and only a 35 amp hose to feed it.

It's at times like this, nobody is looking at your alternator.

 

Dilemma... gen's look cool, but charge crappy at idle. Back in November, I was stuck in a few hours of bumper-to-bumper freeway traffic with the headlights and heater on. I kept my eye on the voltmeter and had to shut my headlights off many times and keep the engine revving. At the time, I wished I had an alternator, but I just can't bring myself to do it.

Good times, good times.

 

I don't worry bout that stuff. I have had customs with both. I ran em' with what they had on them. but if the generators ever took a shit, an alternator was the easy option for me. if someone thinks my alternator isn't custom enough for them, then i'm sorry. the term ''custom'' is pretty broad. I wouldn't see any reason to use one.

 

Only a certain type would chop, channel, dechrome, french, and hot rod his car then get worried about the charging system not looking stock.

 

You could always PowerGen it, if you want the look but want the charge capability for other stuff.

 

heck, my wife's Dart does that with an alternator.

 

Thankyou, so in actuality if it were "correct" to a mid sixties build you could run one of that style and it would look right. Just for the record guys, I'm ok with generators, I run them and will still run one on this build. I don't care for the powergen to much $$$.I prefer genuine factory parts cleaned and rebuilt anytime I can. I'm just looking to learn a little history, I don't worry about what others like on my builds, I just run what's "right". Just interested in the details, I know its boring bs to some. Thanks for all the replies, if I could get a damn pic of my project to actually show up here I would... At least give yall something to look at. That's why I like this place better than google.

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