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HybridZ

altair

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Everything posted by altair

  1. I have a '79 280zx, with the Hitachi alternator and built in regulator. The original alternator lasted ~29 years, and then the car blew through two rebuilt hitachi's in a year. They always blew at the worst time. When I tore each down to find out what failed and it was open diodes in one and the regulator in another. I didn't think these alternators were well designed for heavy use. The cooling for the diodes isn't great. Though the rebuilt's had lifetime warrantees I got sick of swapping them out. I was also sick of the fact that the replacements were special order and took 3-4 days to get. I did a really thorough check on the wiring harness and electricals to make sure it wasn't my Z that was blowing the alternators. So I purchased a 63A Delco-Remy (10SI type) and did the swap. I toyed with a higher capacity Delco-Remy, but my electrical demands are modest and I didn't want to spend the extra $50-60 plus the more expensive core (that I'd eat because I don't have a core to return). I left the very slightly smaller diameter pulley on the Delco-Remy alternator, figuring I'd have better charging at idle, and thinking the smaller 10SI rotor would tolerate my pretty infrequent red-line acceleration runs. This was a great retrofit guide and I wanted to say thanks to the author for putting this post together. Here's some tips I'd like to pass along to "pay it forward": The 1979 280zx alternator bracket appears identical to all the earlier Z brackets, and I was able to trim it down to 1.7 inches wide by putting it in a good vise, and hitting it carefully with a fresh hacksaw blade and lots of oil. It can be done. A handheld hacksaw will cut very accurately if guided carefully. I suggest scribing all the way around with the help of some T & combo squares, so that you can keep the hacksaw aimed properly. Use the same care drilling the hole. I ran drills through it starting with 7mm, then 8mm, then 9mm, and finally 10mm - again lots of oil. From opening the hood to cleaning off the tools it took 5 hours using just hand tools and lots of elbow grease. I would have saved a good 1/2 hour if I'd had a metal chop saw, and another 1/2 hour if I hadn't wanted to lengthen the wiring harness a little and solder all connections. As far as the wiring, I didn't have the Delco-Remy alternator connector, so I just used individual crimp on female spade connectors. I did completely cover them with shrink tubing to prevent them from shorting out to the alternator frame if they bent. I also soldered the connections as the alternator is low enough that I worried about road splash. My parts store only had the alternator variant with the 9 O'Clock connector orientation, but there was plenty of room for the wires to clear the block. Plus that variant was the least expensive @ $49 with lifetime warranty (core was only $15). I noticed that the Hitachi's tended to regulate at 14.1V, where in typical GM fashion, the Delco-Remy was close to 14.7V. This results in the dash mounted voltmeter needle pushing close to "red" on the gauge, but otherwise this is not an issue. The car runs far better at 14.7V than it did with a busted alternator and a battery at 12.8V or less. I ran it with a dead alternator for the summer using no accessories & charging at night till I had time to get into this. My drive to work was short so I never used more than 5-7 AH from the battery and it isn't any worse for the wear. I'll report back if anything odd happens, but I highly recommend this swap.
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