what alternator would you recommed 69 dodge 383 eng. thanks
Stock?
Stock as in points ignition, mechanical fuel pump, engine driven fans, etc. If so, there is very little electric load.
A stock alternator will do OK. Aftermarket most will be called "60 amp" or something close to that.
With the headlights on at a stop, especially with an automatic, you may see the battery take over. If that bothers you, or this is frequently the situation, then get a 'squareback' alternator. The squarebacks of the same 'rating' generally provide a bit more current at idle speeds.
A squareback will need one field terminal grounded since your car has the positive controlling voltage regulator.
If the car has A/C and you do a a lot of idling with it on, or with lights and heater and wipers on, then prob want an alternator with more output at idle. Nacho and others already covered this.
nacho, if wiring from scratch [think hotrod, custom harness, no bulkhead plugs], how would you tie in an amp meter ? same as the factory method plus using the bypass ?
volt gauge will also be in use.
Well I'm not Nacho
but IMO it all depends on what you are building in terms of electric loads and supply.
A system with internally shunted ammeter really requires just one fusible link. This means the alternator's output doesn't have to run through a restriction.
However if the hot rod is going to be running equipment off of the battery for some of the time, such as EFI, electric pump, electric fans, then a design with an internally shunted ammeter doesn't make sense.
actually the fuse link must be rated to the nominal car load and not the alt
Exactly. Whether its a fuse, breaker, or fusible link it must be sized to be weaker than the weakest unprotected wire or device downstream.
The fusible links are mostly to protect against the battery burning everything between it and a short. The advantage of a link is it can handle moderately high loads.
For exampple, immediately after starting the battery may draw 30 - 40 amps for a few seconds. Maybe Nacho will find that video.
Is like a baby sucking milk! If is hungry, will cry and suck untill gets satisfied,
A good analogy!
Here's a time lapse sequence of charging a battery that is around 50% low. Notice how much it sucks when supplied at 14.2 Volts. Fortunately with a charger we can reduce that.
https://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/thr...post-1972341430This is why recharging very low batteries can hurt a lot of stuff, not just the wiring between the alternator and the battery. It's also hard on the alternator wiring and can cook the battery.