Well, my generator finally crapped out on me, so I decided to put in an alternator. I did a lot of internet searching to see how to go about it. I was confused more than anything else, but by taking bits and pieces from these, this is what I came up with.
***************DISCLAIMER*********************
I am posting this in an attempt to gather additional information and suggestions. If you attempt to follow what I did, you do so at your own risk, meaning that in doing so you may do damage to your person and your property.
1. Obtained a mid 80's GM alternator (this happened to come of from a 1984 Oldsmobile 88 with a 231 (3.8) V6.
2. Obtained an alternator bracket off from a late 70's Toyota Corona, hammered it straight, relocated the bottom bracket whole over 1/2”, cut off the top, and old bottom mounting holes, smoothed out the lines and painted it gray. I also made a spacer (0.350 inch) for the bottom bracket (stock generator bracket), and used washers elsewhere to help get the pulley in line with the water pump/fan and crankshaft. This setup is pretty flimsy and I'll more than likely replace it.
3. There are 3 terminals on the back of the alternator, the "BAT" wire, which is the large threaded lead with a nut. The other 2 have a harness and are often referred to as 1 and 2, 1 is the field (Brown), 2 is the sensing wire (red). If you are looking straight at the pulley, 1 is at the right, 2 is at the left. (Counter clockwise).
I extended the red (sensing - #2) wire using 14 ga wire and installed it on the fuse block. You will also notice there is also a black wire, this wire goes to a volt meter in the cab of the truck that is not stock. On the Oldsmobile, this wire had a round terminal end and connected to the BAT terminal, I have read that this not the way you want to use this wire, you can, but if you are under high loads (wipers, lights, heater all running) it may not be "sensing" the high load and it may not tell the alternator to put out more juice.
Wire #1 (brown) I extended with a white 14 gage wire (should have used brown, but it's what I had). I ran this wire up a ceramic resistor (it's for a 70's Chevy pick up, they're common on Mopars too, I have read radio shack has them too). I tied it into the right side. I removed the red and white wire off from the "A" block of the old regulator and attached it to the left side of the ceramic resistor.
Wire #1 is the field wire, and it needs to go to a source that is getting juice from the ignition when it is in the "ON" position. This wire needs to have resistance for it to work properly. It is often suggested that this be routed to an indicator light on the dash, and that should provide resistance. I believe that the red and white wire that is in the "A" spot of the regulator is tied into the Stouts indicator light; if I am wrong, please let me know as soon as possible.
For the BAT terminal, I used a 10 gage wire. I would not use anything lighter. I ran this around the firewall, and spliced in a 14 gage fusible link and attached it to the positive terminal of the battery, I am using a 40 amp blade style fuse. I used the kind that actually takes a fuse, and it's a good thing I did, because I went through a few fuses before it was all said and done. I have read that this wire can also be ran to the starter terminal, and then to the battery. I went this route, as it seemed a little cleaner.
Before starting, watch that when you put the key in the ON position, your charge indicator light on the dash goes on. If it doesn't, something isn't hooked up right. Once it's running, the light should go off. You may have to rev the engine a little, and you might pop the fuse. The resistor I had also got very hot, I haven't tested it to see if it's still working, but will update this if it is not right.
I am open to any suggestions, criticisms etc. This is the first time I have converted anything over from a generator to an alternator. I have been driving it around and I haven't had an issue... yet.
Still driving it around as of 06/12/09, I had some issues but they had to do with the wire splicing. I also got rid of the resistor and tied the white field wire from the alternator into the red/white wire for the indicator light. I am fairly satisfied and will solder and shrink tube my splices and clean up. I am also going to upgrade the fusible link to handle a little larger fuse.