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Hey guys, i have an 84 corvette. It has the stock alternator it came with. 46,000 miles on it but im always wondering if i should change it or just go with it. How many of you are still on your stock/factory alternator?
My 84 with 43k miles still has the original alternator. It works fine and I will use it until it gives up the ghost. My 93 and 95 both still have the original alternator as well.
If you've a known to be original and it fails ++++++ DO NOT USE IT AS A CORE ++++++ A rebuild DIY or by a 'local' rebuilder would do you much better than any thing off the shelf. An exception might be if you wanted to increase performance/output then you would want to retain your original to maybe offer with the car when you sell OR if it can be confirmed as OE with date stamps there's always a market for NCRS verified components. Many times a sale would be several $$$$.
My 91 ZR-1 is still on it's original at 60,000 miles..........So does this mean by saying that, it will fail this summer As my year is going , yes it will.
My 89 with 65k miles needed a new alternator. Old one stopped charging. I upgraded to a 97 camaro alternator. Required a little grinding of one of the mounting tabs. I believe this resulted in more Amperage, 120 Amps to 140 or something?
My 1991 with 140k miles I got and one of its previous owners had evidently replaced the alternator.
My old 85 with 130k miles I believe is on its factory alternator.
St. Jude Donor '05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16-'17-'18-'19-'20-'21-'22-'23-'24
NCM Sinkhole Donor
I can tell you, I bought chrome alternator kept old the one.
My big mistake was having it Chrome, kept the heat, and burned out the diode every 20,000 miles and even had it rebuilt by builder and it didn't last, when removing it installed the original to drive around in and never failed me, or got me stuck.
My original is in a box in the garage. It was rebuilt sometime before I got the car and the voltage regulator had failed. Replaced it and used it for a while. Just needed more output with the upgraded parts I have on the car now. I would say while not the highest output, the stock alternator is (like others said) a lot more robust than anything you could replace it with as far as a core.
05-01-2023, 08:41 PM
How many still have their stock alternators?
As my year is going , yes it will.
