Hey everybody, Just some more advice. What would you recommend as replacement alternator and power steering pumps. I can see the original alternator was Delco-Remy 1100924. I looked for some replacements but I was a bit confused as they all seemed to only allow 1 belt on the front, whereas mine has 2 because of the AC. With the power steering pump, some seem to include the reservoir and some don't. Is that just incase you only need to replace the pump and don't need the reservoir?
Adam -- see if you can find a local rebuilder for both. The rebuilt stuff is JUNK and often doesn't fit. What you get are a bunch of GM parts from here and there bolted together and cleaned. So often it fails in short order. Here in the States getting a Delco Remy alternator rebuilt is not hard or expensive. I suspect they were widely used in UK cars too. So, a google search for a local rebuilder and a few calls should bear fruit. It takes a couple of days and you know what you are getting. The Saginaw power steering pump may be tougher but you can buy a Gates brand rebuild kit from Rock Auto for maybe $15 USD and then find someone locally to rebuild it. Not hard but you need a few tools to take it apart and restore it.
A lot of GM’s parts were used by Jaguar and Rolls Royce (and likely Rover, too). You should be able to find a rebuilder on your side of the pond. If you buy a rebuilt alternator instead, you can swap pulleys. We have to do that here sometimes. Patrick
Probably not. I’d much rather have an original GM part rebuilt by a local specialist who lives or dies by the quality of his work versus a shiny crapshoot full of chinesium. Patrick
Contact Stellar here on the board. He's in PA and I know shipping may come into play but he's rebuilt 2 OEM alternators and a voltage regulator for me in the last year and is very reasonable. He may even have what you're looking for on a shelf, ready to go.
Is there a problem with your alternator? If so I wouldn't hessitate to use one of the Powermaster replacement alternators such as this one. Plus it is rated at 100 amps. There are a few other brands on their site that you could use. Possibly you could source them locally? What I wouldn't use is one of the cheap rebuilt models unless $$$ is the biggest factor. At that point, as suggested go with a quality local rebuilder. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/pwm-47127/year/1972/make/buick/model/riviera In any case whatever alternator you get you can always swap out the drive pulley. You do need access to an impact wrench to do it right. At that point it is easy off/on. Another thing about your particular style of alternator is that there are really very few parts inside. The biggest problem would be if it had intermittent output which may indicate a shorting field coil or armature. At that point a complete professional rebuild or replacement would be necessary. Otherwise about the only thing that wears out are the brushes and possibly the bearings. Brushes easy to replace, bearings a bit more work but not impossible. The regulator/diodes/sense diodes can go bad but that would be evident if you measured the loaded output voltage just above idle rpm and it didn't put out 13.5-14.5 volts which is easy enough to check and the regulator and diodes are easy to replace if necessary. Something like this will repalce everything inside an alternator as long as the field coil and armature wiring/brush contacts are good. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/tff-7700b
Adam sadly the new replacements, with a few exceptions, are not made to last. Made with low cost bits and often universal so you have to start "fixing" the new piece to make it fit. Based on prior posts I think that's a poor choice for you. A local rebuilder will do a nice job and give you back the same item so it goes in the way it came out and will probably be good for two or more decades... I don't get all sentimental about old vs new...this is the practical and cost effective choice with lowest hassle. FYI on your other post, wix makes napa gold filters... identical. The part numbers are even same except Napa adds a 5 as the leading digit.
Thanks very much for the info guys! Good to know these things from people with experience such as yourselves. I never would have known that rebuilt is a better way forward.
