Generator to Alternator swap.....????

Well last week my old generator on my 283 chevy that i have been running on the car for the past two years finally went out.


So i ordered a one wire 80 alternator from summit.
I removed the voltage regulator and have rewired it in but i just want to make sure everything is fine before i start a fire in it!



But now i have just one wire going from the alternator to the solenoid instead of having the 3 wires going from the generator to the voltage regulator and then from there one wire going to ground and the other going to the solenoid.
Does that sound right?

My battery is neg ground.


Should i be able to start her up with no problems???


any and all info wanted,


Thanks

Luke

 

as long as your on the constant hot side of the solenoid your good to go.

 

Rebuild the gennie. They work great.

 

i dont know anything about starters.....
but is that what it would have been hooked up to with the generator??

 

Thats what i did. Got it rebuilt for 144 bucks and the guy threw in a new voltage regulator for free. Nice guy, hes been rebuilding generators and alternators for 65 years.

 

where did u get it done??

 

It was down here in San Bernardino. A ways away from Reno but im sure you can find someone who specializes in Generators. I would ask around.

 

Man, just hit up a wiring diagram for like a '64 Chevy Bel Air and copy how it's run and you should be fine.

Actually, I take that back, I forget they used external regulators for a while. You need an application for a one-wire alternator car. But still, it's already in and your money is spent, no sense redoing it all and spending still more money. The problem I always had with generators is they eat up brushes; and all I'd added to the car was a stereo. I must have put 4 or 5 sets in in 30,000 miles, including a generator swap, of course I was scrounging them and they weren't all new sets, but still.

 

There is no such thing as a factory "one wire" alternator. There's a reason why GM used 3 wires, especially since they will usually try to save every penny when building a new car.

Converting to a three wire is easy. I did this on my 62 Olds with a 12SI. There are two wires from the old generator to the regulator. Remove them when you remove the generator and regulator. The remaining two wires on the regulator should be a brown one and a red one. The brown one should be wired to the no. 1 terminal on the alternator plug and runs to the GEN light on the dash. The other one should be red and runs to the junction block on the horn relay or to the battery post on the starter solenoid. This wire should connect to the threaded BATT post on the alternator. The no. 2 terminal on the alternator plug also should be wired to the junction block or solenoid post.

 

thanks for the info guys,
iv got it wired in and drove it today. no problems so far.
I just have the one wire going to the solenoid from the alternator

 

Joe, I am not positive about this, but I think I ran into some Delco 1 wire alternators on John Deere tractors yrs. back, and they sure looked original. I have always kind of had it in my head, that might have been where the idea came from. Now you have got my curiosity up, may have to do a little research.