Is finished! Just wanted to thank everybody for the help with this.

I got a Nippon Denso alternator out of a 1990 Dodge Caravan with a 3.0 litre engine. The Schucks just down the street from the boneyard tested it & it showed a steady 14.6 volts, and the bearings sounded real smooth. Not bad for $11.50!

When I got home I pulled the old alternator and the mounting bracket & cleaned the whole area up.

I started out by grinding a bit off the front of the alternator mount, then wire-brused, painted & reinstalled the bracket. I doesn't need much, probably about 1/8" or so. The spacer on the new alternator snugged up perfectly, and the alignment of the belt is spot-on!

After the alternator was mounted, I did the upgrade on Mad Electrical, and bypassed the old Amp meter.... The factory 10 gauge wires were beginning to melt together, and before the conversion I was getting a wierd fluctuation on the gauge, so I guess there was trouble brewing! I mounted the ECU on the firewall, and the dual ballast resister next to it. The Voltage regulator mounted on the inside of the right fender. I'm also going to mount the coil on the fender since I like the look of it there, and it unclutters the area around the distributor a bunch!

I just back-traced the wires from the harness I got from the donor vehicle with the ones on the '64 and it went pretty easy.... the most tedious part was just making good, clean soldered, taped & heat-shrinked splices.

After I got it all together, I turned the key, and DANG! Fired right up on the first try & purrs like a kitten!

I can't believe what a difference this makes. The headlights are VERY bright! I turned on the high beams, the heater, windshield wipers, and put it in gear, and absolutely no bog or dimming whatsoever.

If you have access to the parts in the local yard, I'd say this is one modification that will make your Slant a LOT more liveable and reliable, but there's no way I would upgrade the alternator without bypassing the Amp gauge.... It may work for a while, but if it ever lets loose with a 90 or 120 amp alternator in there, it could get real ugly!

I'd say almost anybody could do this swap, and I'm no expert by a long-shot, but if anybody has questions about the swap, I'd be happy to try & answer your questions, or even puit together a how-to if there's any interest.

Thanks again for helping me put the pieces together! .org Rocks!

Mike

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Oldsarge

1964 Dart 170, Some work done, lots more to come!