What do I need for an Alternator?

[69chargerboy]

Maybe I should know this, but I need some professional suggestions. I have 69 Charger with mildly build 440 with Mopar Performance Conversion kit. Do I stick with the regular stock alternator? Or do I go for a larger amperage output? The only accessory electronics that I will have would be a aftermarket cd player (in the glove box) and a Sirius Satellite radio. So, I'm confused as to what I exactly need. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance...

[Ghoste]

You are probably fine with the stock output but one thing I would do is to make sure all the wiring and especially the connectors are up to snuff.  How hard is the ignition being worked, is it a high compression engine?

[NMike]

bigger is always better. especially when cruising on a cool summer night. lights on, radio on, idling. do that too long and the battery WILL go dead with th stock alt. only 45 amps i think. radio draws about 10 amps, ignition 5, lights 35.

remember, that is MAX output, not idle output, which is way lower.

[Plumcrazy]

I haven't done it yet but pretty soon i'm going to install a Nippondenso alternator from a 93-97 LH car.  They appear to be the alternator that would take the least modification to fit.

I'm going to run an additional wire from the alternator output over to the starter relay.  Then I'll run a wire into the car from there to a relay that will supply the power for my CD player, subwoofer and electric choke.  That way those accessories will no longer be running through the original vehicle wiring.

[Chatt69chgr]

You could switch to the one used on 70 and up Mopars.  It's called the square back but looks about like the original 69 one unless you look at the back side.  You would need to use the separate electronic voltage regulator with it and add a wire to the harness.  These alternators are available for around $60 rebuilt and the voltage regulator is about $30.  The benefit will be that the output is 60 Amps and the electronic regulator is much better than the old electromechanical one at keeping a steady output from the electrical system.  Also, all the parts are Mopar.  The other alternative is the Nippendenso.  It puts out about 90 Amps and has a built in regulator.  I don't know what they cost.  But you might need to upgrade the wiring system if you use one of these.  That's a lot of additional current.  I think Mopar had one that put out 100 Amps too.   I don't know much about these. 

[69chargerboy]

I just bought the Power Master 75 amp square back alternator. So this means that I need to buy the 1970 style Mopar performance voltage regulator and new engine harness from Evans Wiring, Right? Or I guess I could go with the FBO restoration Voltage regulator where it seems with that I could use my new reproduction engine wiring from Year One? Am I making any sense? Car electrical isn't my specialty......

http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=PWM%2D17519&N=700+115&autoview=sku

http://www.4secondsflat.com/regulator_tech.html

[histoy]

The latest edition of Mopar Enthusiast magazine has an article about upgrading the charging system using a Mopar 78 amp unit.   The article is on page 78 - 81.

[ChgrSteve67]

Obviously I have a pre-70s Charger and have had to do some rewiring of the system.

I run a powermaster from summit racing.
I have converted over to the 70's electronic voltage regulator going from a single field 38 amp alternator to a dual field.

I removed my AMP gage as suggested in this article along with rerouting the power wire from alternator wire from going through the bulk head connector as displayed in figure A.  http://www.madelectrical.com/electricaltech/amp-gauges.shtml
Big Sugar sent me this and its a really good thing to read.

The wire that comes from the alternator normally goes through the bulk head connector, I rerouted that wire to the starter relay where the power lead from the battery goes then ran a 10 gage wire from the starter relay through the firewall and soldered it to the power wire that went to the inside of the bulk head connector. If the connectors are not already melted you should be able to remove them pretty easy from the bulk head connector. If they are melted you will have to cut the wire.

I was running into a voltage loss problem in my Charger (running under 12 volts) and it turned out to be the bulk head connector.

Here another article I used for the voltage regulator conversion.
http://www.mymopar.com/charging.htm

uscartool.com also make a conversion kit.
http://www.uscartool.com/DualAltKit/index.html

Careful how much you add to the car you may need to replace some of the wiring to thicker wire to compensate for the larger draw.
I added electric fans, AC and plan on still adding a new stereo so for me these upgrades were in order.

I'm sure others will have additional suggestions. Hope this helps.

And thanks to everyone that helped me with my electrical issues.

Steve (Now if I can just get my engine timing problem solved)

[Nacho-RT74]

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,33574.0.html

[69chargerboy]

Thanks for all of the GREAT advise! I'm a bit numb to electrical wiring..... Thanks a million!