Alternator interchangeability

[rockiemosley]

Hey Folks,

My new GTV has been down all week with a bad alternator. I took it to a local repair shop which usually gives 1 day service , although it's been 10 years since I took them anything. He's been putting me off all week, something about waiting on the UPS truck, yada yada. I think the guys on crack and now he's got my alternator. Anyway the question is...ive got a friend with a bunch of Fiat spider parts from various years. Any chance one of those alternators will bolt right on? I was looking forward to driving this weekend but now thanks to the rebuild shop im going to be stuck working on the house. yea!

[Zunige]

My '75 Fiat Spider has a 1.8 liter engine, and I'm not sure about how many amps the alternator puts out, but IIRC the alternator design is very close, if not the same... Now, IAP sells parts for both Alfas and Fiats, so you may want to give them a call...

Best regards,

[robtechno]

The Amperage is not the biggest issue, it's the fittings. When the mounts are the same as your defective alternator than it's not a problem. When charging the battery and it's fully charged it will stop charging by the voltage regulator. So basically you only need a higher amp alternator when you have high amp end users. If you fitted your car with a heavy amplifier end speakersystem then you need more power.
You can also easily switch from external voltage regulator to a alternator with an internal voltage regulator.
Are you sure it's your alternator giving you the problems and not a defective or weak ground or bad contacts, check all your contacts from your alternator and batery and ground also the ground from your engine to your bodywork.

Happy motoring
Rob