Confusion on 1970 alternator

I have this alternator, original bearing, both sides dated late 70 but with this number 3656397.

Perhaps I'm missing the obvious but I've never seen this number on a 70 or 71 alternator. 70 front and rear shown here.

Double pulley alternator..

Well the 70 calendar is full so doesn't this make this a 71 part?

Thats what I was thinking also but the number 3656397 does not show up anywhere that I have ever seen on any alternators of that era.

I searched through all my alternators the other day looking for a 69 front for a 172 alternator that I had a Dixie. In my search I came across an odd ball part number too. I'll post it in the morning.

Your alt part number seems to be 72-ish

Do you have a truck parts catalog?

Looks like a late style 70 case and obviously is cast in Dec of 70. Also apears to have been assembled with a "711" pulley. Part number indicates it was built for 72 and later application. I'm with Chris on this one and would say it's probably a truck application w/air. Any paint marks still visible? This would give you an indication of amperage output. "Squarebacks" were pretty much universal beginning in 72 b/c of the change to electronic ingnition systems.

It looks like a 12-70 case that sat until being made as a 1972 part number.

Thanks for this info....this is a round back alternator.
No paint visible

The odd one that I have is 3438389 dated 33 70

No idea what it is.

I have a 71 Cuda 383 with a SPD of 6/22/71 which had an 3656397 alternator on it when I acquired it. I bought it 25 years ago with roughly 50k miles and most things were untouched. This is an AC car and the build sheet is coded "78" for the alternator. I don't remember the exact build date of the alternator but I remember it was very close to the build date of the car but still within what I felt reasonable for being original to the car. It is my feeling that my car came with this alternator from new but I obviously can't prove it 100%.

I bought a 3656397 alternator rear shell from a Moparts member a couple years back who was also restoring a 71 383 A/C Cuda June 71 build. He acquired it in parts with the car and opted to put on a 178 alternator since that was what is generally accepted because of the build sheet. The strange thing about this one is that the color code on it was orange/red as generally seen on 172 alternators.

I have never found any printed information regarding these alternators but I'm sure most of the posters here are aware of the service bulletin that references some late 71 cars getting 72 style alternators so it's not too far of a stretch that some of these 3656397 alternators could have been substituted as well.

Mike Afflerbach

A very reasonable conclusion....Thanks Mike and everyone else.

Great analysis Mike. I learned, as we all have, never say "always" and "never" when it comes to Chrysler components. There was also a late 7O model year parts counter replacement for the 3438172. It's the "389" that is listed by Morty above. You will see NOS examples pop up for sale from time to time and they are usually dated for late 1970 through 71 production vehicles. They were 37 amp alternators. I have also come across a couple of "537" single field alternators dated late 69 (oct/nov). I assumed they were put together from the "spares" bins and sent to the dealers as replacements for the 66-69 model vehicles.

Yes and I have seen NOS parts counter Hemi alternators....that were listed in the parts book........but that number was never found on an original car.

Cool - learned something on Moparts today

I found this thread while researching alternator part numbers

I have a

3656395
9 71
3 4 2

Anyone ever seen this number

Very interesting assumption by Mike in 2016. The late build 71 cuda I just picked up is also an A/C car with the stated 78 on the build sheet. I just checked and the alternator number is 3656397 with a date of 23 71. I will assume that it is probably the original alternator so no need to swap it out for a 178.

I dug out my NOS alternator that I bought for my GTX. I was reading in the parts book that the one I have is a "replacement" alternator. It said it came with a single pulley but you can change the pulley to meet requirements of your application. When I bought it I had the NOS double pulley installed on it. Here are some pics of it.

If you look at the service bulletin, and the parts catalog, you see that E body got a 3438 series 50 amp 72 alt. Only Fleet got 3656 series 60amp. Not an expert on this, but the AC cars would have the dual pulley and 50 amp. From that bulletin a big block AC E body is getting a production 3438811 with 3" Dual pulley, and the service alternator was the 3438809 (9 could be typo and should be 6). But of course the consensus correct hemi production line alternator part number is not listed anywhere either. But if you examine the part number pulley combo, you do realize it needed it's own part number because it was the only 37amp alternator with the 3" dual pulley.

Who ever was responsible for alternator numbers at Chrysler was either eccentric, or a newbie. Or maybe they changed part numbers depending on the vendor. From the bulletin you could see that the service alt was a 50 amp even for a 37 or 41 amp application.

https://www.hamtramck-historical.com/images/TSBs/1971/71-8-14_page1.jpg

#3656402

I've been looking for the application for this one, if anyone happens to recognize the number.

Thanks