Alternator Woes...

[KDMatt]

Ugh... well some of you may have seen my post in the Electrical section about a weird negative spike in my voltometer reading... and I inquired if it could be the signs of a dying alternator... well... today I inadvertanly answered my question... in a bad way... If it hadn't been for my cell phone my Z would have left me stranded.

Basically, I overworked the alternator I suspected was not working too well already, and now I need a one (windshield wipers + headlights + stereo = 'crippled alternator' and battery with about 7 volts of power) Once jumped the alternator provided enough power to keep the car running... but tacking on any additional accessories led to rapid power loss... that and the car was not running too well... I somehow suspect that my lousy alternator was barely providing adequate power to make good, clean, sparks.

Well anyway, I took it to a local shop that I know does good work for rock-bottom prices, and told them to give it a good once over and tell me what they found out... In the mean-time I searched for a place that could get the part to me... (two places said they'd have to overnight it from Atlanta... which isn't TOO bad... So long as I could actually get it some place... I called about a dozen local outlets around town, and none of them stock the part)...

Anyway, so I'm all set to order the part the moment the mechanic notifies me that, yes, the alternator is shot (I only had my suspiscions at this point) ... and when that phone call arrives, on a whim, I ask my mechanic (Jim) if he also checked the voltage regulator, and I am shocked as he says, "Oh it's part of the alternator..."

Me: "Come again?"

Him: "The Voltage Regulator is part of the alternator."

That leaves me baffled, since I was under the impression that the voltage regulator was seperate until '78?

I mean I know that the first couple of owners made some weird mods to my car (i.e. 5-speed tranny, electric mirrors that don't really work...) but is it possible that I somehow got a 78-a-sized electrical configuration to boot? Is there any advantage to even doing that?

Hell... maybe someone dumped a whole new drivetrain in there... which would certainly explain the 5-speed on a '76 and the need for an internally regulated alternator.

Anyway I'd appreciate some insight on this matter... and comments beyond "Your mechanic is a lying scumbag..." ... since I trust him more than I would some young guy who goes "Datsun? What's that?"

[seerex]

Well the alternator can be changed to several diffrent types including general motors and with the right Diodes can be made to work easily. It very well could be a later unit , very hard to tell without pics of the wiring to it and such. Well its probably as you suspect if someone changed out lots of drivetrain stuff and upgraded / updated , they probably did address the alternator as well. Again with a photo most of the guys here could tell you lots more. If the alternator is a later unit , it probably will be much easier to find than the original one that you thought you needed on the brightside.

[KDMatt]

Yeah, I've done some digging around, and I didn't realize that the later alternator was of a higher amperage rating than the older ones (hence, a good reason to upgrade I suppose), and that, furthermore, the external regulator could be easily bypassed by snipping and taping off a few wires.

Actually I have a question about alternators in general in relation to this car... Are they somewhat "interchangeable" between makes, models, and years? Like, say, right now, there's an AC Delco alt. on there for some reason, would that have required a lot of modification to accomplish? ... I mean like, would it be hard to go back to an alternator that was meant to be in there, if someone had changed the setup to accomodate an off-brand one? I only ask because it could save me some time if I could order the alternator this weekend while the shop is closed, so that I could possibly have them do the work on Monday. (I know I know, I should do this myself...)