I have a suspicion it was the original for the car I removed it from. It would be very coincidental for it not to have been. It was covered with grime too. Maybe they had some in stock for a while?
Jim I agree with you. An alternator is a very high volume, low cost item, and an excellent cadidate to be a poorly rotated inventory item, but in all probability it was not. It certainly could have been the original. Of course, there is no proof either way. I assume your car is spring of 70, that 69 December coded one from Pat is much closer, and personally I would go with it, as 3 months is well within a reasonable window, 9 months is the outer limits with maybe 1% of cars getting a date that far away. And thanks for the pict Scott, I never would have found those #'s without it. :TU: Get this, I rub it with scotchbrite and the #'s appear! I see what looks to be "0" then clearly a "H" (a month before my build date). uzzled: But I clearly recall replacing the alt when I bought the car (give or take a week) with a re-built unit. :shock: uzzled: The I rubbed a bit more, the "0" turned out to be "6". :laugh: ou: And then I noticed a different I.D. # on the casing, with a mysterious machine/grind mark next to it. uzzled: The I realized the 55A was gone, so I assume the re-builders must have had to grind that off because (I believe) they increased the amp rating with the re-build. o No:
I may go back to Pat's frame but I have plenty of tme to continue the search for March 1970 I actually found two of the correct alts.and both appear to be original on 70 Buick boats and both were dated 6-12 monthe before the build date of the car. There is no way to prove they were original but hey had bed there a long time judging from the thickness of the road grime.
Jim, Pat,s alternator predates your car by 4 months, that seems a bit too early for me. I generally see them as being no more then 2 months previous to the build date and some are even closer. If you could find one closer it would be better, but that's up to you. The only parts I generally see being more then 4 months apart are AC hoses. I have looked at quite a few cars where all the hoses are close but 1, and it was almost a year earlier. As far as the boats, the alternator build date might be closer to the build date of the motor. The date of the motor in relation to the date it was installed in the boat may be real far apart. You need to remember, they built cars quickly and the parts flow was fast, so the date of the parts would be closer to the date of the body. I don't think they built boats the same way. If you check the dates on the motors you will see what I mean. Duane
Jim, You will find one, they are all over the place. I would check with that rebuild shop and see if they can help. PS. I just found a 455 waterpump while digging through my parts bins yesterday. It is dated either Jan or Feb of 1970, are you interested. It will need to be rebuilt. I would also like to check to make sure it is the correct length for a 70. Does anyone know the correct length? Duane
It is the short one but I already have painted the engine so I may talk to you at BG or Salem about it.
Jim, I don't have another here to measure it against. If you could let me know what the distance between the base gasket and the pulley flange is that should do it. Thanks. Duane
It's not a alternator but it is a voltage regulator and i was wondering if these are coded to match the alternator? Here's what i have. Does "9L24" on an alternator mean - 1969 Dec. 24th?
George I have some but not as close to the Build dates as I would like. I need something close to but before the 2nd week in Dec 69 (12B) and the send week in April 1970 (4B).
I will have to verify this one on Sat. It is in a 70 Chevy pick-up. Engine was a collection of BBB parts: 68 TH400 BT shortshaft, 70 heads and intake, 04B??? alternator (can't remember if it was a 55 or 61 Amp unit). Send me an email direct at GStage1@buickperformance.com and list the part number you need w/amp rating.
Alternater date codes I don't mean to steal this thread but I have an alternater which has a date code of 1063 and I don't have a clue as to what it represents. The part # is 1100260 Y 78 amp. Could somebody tell me what it is? Thanks Keith.
