Who does a nice job of restoring them ? I don't really trust the everyday local starter and alternator shops.
Talk to your local shop and tell them your wishes and see how they respond. My shop was more than happy to do whatever I wanted them to do or not to do. The big thing is tell them not to paint anything, just leave it with the bead blasted finish. I'd think most shops blast the housing automatically anyway. Just ask them not to be too agressive. When it comes back remove the pulley and fan and have them silver zinc plated. The fans were originally stamped from glavanized sheet metal. My plater seemed to think it was a hot dip galvanizing process that few places do. I had no success finding someone and decided it wasn't worth the effort when a zinc finish is widely accepted. You can leave the aluminum housing natural or mask off critical areas including the windings visible through the cooling slots and hit it with a light coat of Krylon Dull Aluminum.
The place I use here does a steel shot process that makes the cases look factory fresh. Its a much different appearance than glass beading.
Ken Bruno Motorsports does a pretty good resto on alts. He did my 442 open face alt and I was happy with it. Look online at his site for examples of his work.
I use John Pirkle out of Georgia. The father died and the son is running the business. Very nice guy however not the fastest out there. Mine is out about 8 weeks now. They plate the pulley and even do date coded diodes on the back. You will also get the correct two letter ink stamp if you know your code and the "A" ink stamp also.
John Pirkle NCRS corvette restorations. Very Nice Work !!! John Jr is trying to keep eveyone happy & well worth the wait . They use a mild steel shot process on the case ... Delco Starters also Voltage regulators .....The Lime Lisk GSX has his work !!!
Feel like I'm following your posts around tonight, Nick...:grin: I have to agree that the work Nick sent out to NCRS came back top notch. If you remember original pics of my engine bay, my factory original alternator looked really scummy. As did the voltage regulator and a few other parts NCRS does. Now I have the date coded parts on and they look new. Again, no compromises in results as compared to original.
As I understand it people are having a Really hard time getting parts back from Pirkle Jr. I guess if you're starting a year or 2 frame off job your okay. Pulley is Zinc Dichromate ( yellow). DL
Prob from your hash winters :laugh:. All my originals were dichromate, and that is the standard all the concours classes have been judged in the past. DL
DL, Here are two originals in the pics. I had a talk with John Pirkle toady about pulley color. He said all the pulleys in late 60s early 0's were silver color. He noted the gold ones started to come out in the late 70's on rebuilt units. Not many people have seen more than him. I am not saying you are wrong but silver is all I have ever found including several I took from southern cars.
I just bought a NEW alternator from Advance Auto Parts, at least they advertise it as new. It is a 12 SI, so not suitable for a correct resto, but I bought it because it has an anodized fan and pulley. I was surprised when I saw the pic, but there it was, and it came to the store that way after I ordered it. It looks great. Only 69.00. It will be used on my Cadillac, but the application was a 1984 Camaro Z-28....
