There's generally a lot of discussion regarding converting the outdated 1g alternator to a 3g in our cars. I'd like to document what I did to make the conversion look as stock as possible.
For reference, I chose a 130 amp alternator from a 1995 Ford Thunderbird (ironic, eh?). It has the correct mounting points and only required a quick reclock to get the plug facing the right direction.
Obviously the 1g requires the use of an external voltage regulator, whereas the 3g is internally regulated. I found a kit that retains the original wiring harness and replaces the external regulator with a new box. The new unit was pretty tacky, so I decided to get creative to make it look more original.
For reference, I used PAPerformance 1g-3g wire conversion kit. It's a good price at $35 and comes with most everything you need for the conversion (you have to get yourself a larger gauge wire and fusible link for the B+ connection). Here's a link to the product:
https://www.paperformance.com/1g-3g-conversion-462802c/
Here's a picture of my original voltage regulator and the new one side by side:
As you can see, the new unit has a shiny, ridiculous sticker on it that makes it stick out. I decided to swap case covers to fix that...
I began by drilling out the rivets holding both covers to each unit.
Then I swapped the original FoMoCo cover onto the new unit - you can see there isn't much to the new unit.
I used pop rivets to rivet the cover back in place. You can also use nuts and bolts, sheet metal screws, whatever tickles your fancy. I kept the original gasket as it was still in great shape and far superior to the other paper gasket. Once that was finished, my new "sleeper" regulator was ready for reinstallation back into the car!
I was able to keep my original harness with few modifications to the alternator side of the harness. I certainly recommend this item. It makes the conversion very easy and simple, plus looks good with a few simple modifications!
