I made an interesting find in the junkyard this morning. I found an 85 Dodge shorty van, powered by a slant six, that had a factory 100 amp alternator! I have never seen a slant six in any vehicle with a factory 100 amp alternator. I grabbed the alternator, the brackets, the (+) battery cable, and all the field wiring to the firewall connector.

The field terminal on this alternator is different than the usual double-terminal style alternators we are used to seeing. Instead of two separate male spade terminals, this alternator has a stacked pair of male spade terminals. THis is why I grabbed the entire field wiring to the bulkhead connector.

To install this alternator on an 83 Dodge van, what will I have to swap? I know I need to swap the brackets, and the field wiring, and the fatter (+) battery cable, but will I need to change anything else? Vans still used ammeters in the dash in both 83 and 85, and I am worried about melting dash wiring if I install this high-amp alternator. However, I believe Mopar went to a passive shunt style ammeter in the mid-70s. Further, My 1983 Dodge parts book only lists one ammeter for all vans, even those equipped with the 100 amp alternator. Can I just bolt the alternator on, run the fatter (+) cable, patch in the field wiring, and call it good? Or will I have to get some extra bottles of smoke for when my wires start leaking due to the increased alternator output?

Thanks!

Reed
If they dont call out any other amp meter I would think you would be fine. Just make sure the connections are up to par.
Frank

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Scrapple: Because a mind is a terrible thing to waste.
73 Duster - Race Car
66 Dart Wagon - DD
178" FED
82 D150
All Slant powered

Will do, thanks. I am trying not to use and crimping or soldering other than the factory ones, which is why I actually took the time to remove the pins from the bulkhead connector and the VR and starter relay connectors.

Reed did the parts van have..pwr windows,locks&air cond.? I ask as the FSM for my 78 NYB calls for 100amp alt with afore mentioned items,so I'd think it to be standard with extra extras maybe

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83 B-150 slant 6,4 speed. 79 B-300 360 pathfinder 4x4. 74 W-300 318 4x4 git-r-done 80 B-100 sl6,4speed

It was a shorty window van, 150, but it was a Royal trim level. No power windows or even A/C, but it did have the electric defroster grid on the rear window. I know that when you ordered the electric defroster grid you had to also get the 100 amp alternator. My 83 has the defroster grid and the 100 amp alternator. The reason is that the defroster grid draws something like 35 amps when it is used, so the beefy 100 amp alternator was part of the electric rear window grid package.

I would actually have loved to get more parts off this van. It had a full compliment of factory tinted windows, the nice fabric factory bucket seats with armrests (they were blue though), and the single window in the big back door actually opened! But I was running out of time and money, so I had to just grab what I could.

Ok duh for me the window grid defroster was the main deal calling for the 100amp'er.Helps to read and refresh ALL my memories before opening mouth

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83 B-150 slant 6,4 speed. 79 B-300 360 pathfinder 4x4. 74 W-300 318 4x4 git-r-done 80 B-100 sl6,4speed

Hey Reed, the ammeter in the 5th is a shunt type, so yours should be too. Are you going to put this on your brothers van, or yours? If your putting it on your 318, you'll need the bracket for that (even better is a nippon-denso alt). Intresting about the 100amp...I have power everything including the rear window defrost and I only have a 65 amp alternator.

I thought I remembered seeing a reman sticker on the alternator on the 5th. I could be wrong though. The 5th is LOADED with all options, including a rear window electric defog, so I am very surprised it doesn't have at least a 75 amp, if not a 90 or 100 amp alternator. I would upgrade, if possible.

My van already has a 100 amp alternator due to the heated rear window grid. I would be putting this other 100 amp unit on my brother's van, or *possibly* his Duster. I know the 74 Duster still has the full flow ammeter, so I would need to due some other upgrades/modifications to the under-dash wiring harness. If he doesn't want it, then I have a spare for my van and some rare brackets and wiring for a slant six 100 amp alternator.

My original intent was to grab a new style Nippondenso alternator, but I didn't find any with a v-belt but I found this 100 amp alt and another old style alt off a 84 van. Eventually, I want to get the Nippondenso alternators and the mini-starters.

My '79 volare' has a/c,and the heated rear window and it had the 65A alternator.the ampmeters might be the same,but the output wiring will be different for the different output alternators.I bought the car knowing it had the heaver duty wiring,so I wouldn't fry it jump-starting junk cars like I did with my 71 duster.I connected the ampmeter over a longer span of the charge wire,so it was more sensitive and told my if it was charging 5A,or discharging 5A.

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V8?? We don't need no stink'n V8!!

Yeah, thats true. I've got an 8GA wire running from the power terminal of the alternator. Must be why there are so many fusible links on the car! A 100 amp alt should have a 6GA wire.