The alternator in my old '62 died. I'd be happy if I could find the round back 45amp replacement just like the one it came with but I can't find one. The parts store replacements are all converted square back parts. I'm thinking about going to a one wire conversion. I like the small Denso idea but they don't come with a dual belt pulley. My car has ac so I need a double pulley. I don't have any high amp accessories so the $200 100amp PowerMaster parts are an overkill. I'd like to hear what the guys here have to say.

Ground the second terminal (either one) and bolt the square back on. Or add a second wire and run the new regulator with the square back. A later 90' truck alternator will work with the correct pulley and a few spacers as well if you use the 71 and up regulator.
Doug

Why not get your existing alternator rebuilt by a local shop?

I would suggest avoiding a 1 wire alt & instead get a 78 amp alt for an 85 M body. it has the thin stator (ribbed section inbetween the two cases) so a slight spacer adjustment will be needed & possibly a slight swing arm adjustment but no big deal. for a true bolt in just get the highest amp alt they have with the regular width stator & what DVR said ground one of the male field terminals to one of the (3) case halves mini bolts with a ring terminal and brass 1/4 female terminal (NAPA 725145) 99 cents + tax & a short pigtail piece of wire then run your regular long green field wire from reg up to other alt field terminal

IMHO, avoid the local/chain re-builders, been down that route, always ends in failure/inferior work, either a Powemaster replacement (they do have a Mopar restoration line of NEW alternators) or contact Jim Ridge at Dixie Restoration (Mopart Member) about having your original restored

mike

if you go with the newer m-body one, on a sb at least the 10 gm chrome swing arm from mr gasket at any parts store, is long enough to make that work. you need spacers to pull it away from the engine to line up.

no idea on a bb.

You could send it to chic's
http://www.yellowpages.com/ogden-ut/mip/chic-armature-generator-products-496808301?lid=496808301
I send everything to them, usually a couple of day turnaround. Tim

Since the electrical systems on these old Mopars was marginal I'm hesitant to install a high amp late model part. I think the original '62 alternator was 45 amps. So far no luck finding a local rebuilder.

If you feel handy

http://www.aspwholesale.com/repair-kit-ch-chrysler-round-back.html

That is a common misconception.
you are not supplying 78 amps.
you only pull what the system requires.
it has the potential to supply 78 amps, but if your system only pulls 30, that is all you get.

What's marginal is the dash amp meter, if you want an aftermarket alt, install one, but bypass the dash amp gauge, and convert it to a volt meter instead, lots of volt meter conversion kits offered to retain the stock look on the dash, often times using your original gauge/face

in that case I'd keep it simple and get a 70's square back dual pulley alt & put it in & you're (pretty much) golden). I would suggest cleaning ALL terminals/connections expecially the bulkhead & doing Nachos' bulkhead parallel bypass is a good move which is simply to run the (2) main in/out circuits, the feed in from the battery past the fusible link into/thru/past the bulkhead and the feed out from the bulkhead (same deal) to the alt: solder in 2 pieces of wire for a direct connection as opposed to the 2 pairs of male/female brass terminals that connect those 2 circuits now. you are replacing those (2) high current connections from brass pull apart terminals which are subject to corrosion to a direct wire on both of em. EDIT #1 clean all terminals #2 strive to keep the ammeter needle as close to 12 o'clock as possible which tells you the system is in equilibrium (neither charging or discharging) and that the alt is supplying only the current the accessories are on are demanding nor is the battery being charged or discharged. #1 culprit is using the alt to charge a dead or partly depleted battery. Use a battery charger on slo charge

This is right Ron

With AC means its hard to fit nice non standard alternators like the Denso. If you really want to keep it all stock, rebuild by a reputable shop seems best as mentioned... but even that is a risk with a ?45 year old core.

Maybe time to beef up the charge circuit and install a higher capacity new square back. Lots of ways to do the upgrade. The weakest link is the bulkhead connector. Bypassing it alone with a 10 gauge or better wire for the charge wire + bulkhead hole + grommet is a big upgrade. Next weak link is the connections at the ammeter. Clean and tighten helps.

If you are willing to install a voltmeter on a switched circuit, it gets easy. A 10 gauge or better wire from the alternator stud to fender relay gets the job done with 2 gauge size smaller fusible link or fuse sized equal to alternator output + ~25%. With this the ammeter and bulkhead connector will effectively be bypassed.

FWIW I believe the upgrade is a good idea even with the stock alternator since I have roasted a bulkhead connector that way.

Understood. But I assume if the battery was low enough the output of the alternator could easily exceed the 45 amps the wiring on a '62 was designed to handle? That concerns me. Maybe it shouldn't?

Why not just buy a rebuilt 50 amp Remy alternator off E-bay. They have them there all the time from about $50 to $90 bucks, depending on the seller. Looks exactly like your original mopar one does. You can even get a double pully one. I just got one for my car a couple of weeks ago.

If you want to fix it, you can do as sugguested above. or do the mad wiring bypass to eliminate the weak points in the charging system.

I went a step further for my 65 and was able to handle actually charging over a 100 amps without anything burning up in the car, for 20 min or so for a test.

but it depends on how stock you need your car to look.

I appreciate everyone's input. I'm more concerned about reliability than I am originality. I understand the higher amp alternators don't produce rated output amperage under all conditions. But they are capable of charging at maximum rated amps if needed. The stock ammeter is designed for +/-45 amps. Police cars had an amp gauge rated for +/-60 amps. If modifying things by eliminating the amp gauge to accommodate a higher amp alternator makes sense, then maybe it makes sense to simplify the charging system by going to a single wire alternator and eliminating the voltage regulator. Internally regulated Mopar style alternators are available. Does anyone have any experience with this?

I never thought a powermaster was worth it but last year my delco reman burnt up. It always charged kind of funny. In my other car I also had a local rebuid done and I was never happy with the way it charged I wasn't doing that again. I tried to put a cs144 on that I had and it was a no go. I thought about rebuilding it myself but even the high amp kit is kind of pricey. I decided to try the powermaster. I've only had it about a year, so I can't speak for longevity but it has never charged like this. Volt meter doesn't move much, and it even charges good at idle. One thing that sucks about the dual field system is thee lack of quality voltage regulators.

I have the Powermaster 75 amp. Works great, puts out a constant 14.5 volts. Lights stay bright and the electronic ignition likes it.