Oh man sorry to hear this, but glad you got to finish the tour. So nice that car guys still stick together.

Agreed!

So...….We were sitting around the cars last night talking and the subject of the 57 Alternator came up...…. I was asked how I had it wired up.... I explained how I had everything wired and was told...… You Idiot !!!... You can't do that.....LOL..... I ARE Smart !!!!…… Sometimes you do things without thinking it thru and once it's done you forget about it...… LOL...… I had the 6 Ga power feed to the Battery OK...… But … Then came the Stupid...… I ran another wire from the positive alternator stud to the Connect and Cruise Fuse panel to supply it with power...…. DUHHHHHHH !!! …….. Not the Alternators fault but mine...….. Think about it..... The alternator was feeding all the Power rather than the Battery...… So... It burnt up...…. If I would have put a new alternator on in Michigan I would have just burnt it up also …… Nice to talk to car guys a lot smarter than me...….. Duhhhhhhhhh !!!

I don’t think that would fry your alternator. Electricity just doesn’t flow quite like that. You have two voltage sources in parallel connected by a low resistance 6 gauge wire. Where are your fans connected? To the Connect and Cruise fuse panel or to the battery?

It won’t hurt to rewire it but I am doubtful that killed your alternator. The alternator should be supplying the power when the car is running. Otherwise the battery is losing charge rather than charging.

Maybe your alternator was undersized for your load.

Don

Fans were powered thru the connect and cruise fuse box...…..170 AMP alternator

GMPP fan control is simple on/off if I remember right. That could generate some big current spikes so maybe it would help to move the GMPP fuse block to the battery to help buffer those spikes. If you lose another alternator I would consider a better method of fan control. Even a simple two speed controller can reduce the current spikes and average fan current.

This kit adds two speed fan control to the GMPP fuse box. A great upgrade imho.

http://www.pcmofnc.com/product/gmpp-...ric-fan-kit-3/

I am assuming you have dual fans which are needed to use the above kit.

Don

I think Don is right. Your alternator should be able to support everything. I was seeing my volt meter jump a little and did a few basic tests. I was fearful the alternator wasn't charging the battery.

Put everything on, Lights, ac, hot engine to trigger the fans, blinkers, radio, wipers then put a multimeter at the alternator stud it should support all that with no hiccups in my case it was a 13.6v with no fluctuation . Also with everything on check the battery mine was seeing 13.06v again with no fluctuation. your values may be different but at least you'll know.

Also a flir thermal image gun is great. they can be had for a couple hundred dollars and are super helpful. you can check the alternator and battery temps along with any lines.

Good luck.

This car stuff is hard !!!!!....…. I know just enough about Electricity to get myself in trouble...….. When the car gets home I will change the wiring around and put the new Alternator on ……… The bigger problem will be getting my confidence back in driving the car any distance...… Again..... Thanks to Stielow and Gordon for Baby sitting my problem child,,,, LOL...… Then I get to cross my fingers...

Maybe carry a spare alternator until you get confidence in the car. You can always use it on your next build... :)

Don

Powermaster sent out a new Alternator...… But.... I have since found out that the alternator body is based of a GM DR44 body (thanks Donnie)… I wish they would have told me that when it failed, instead of telling I wouldn't be able to find a local replacement...…… So As I remember in the front drive kit there was a adaptor harness to make the 1 wire hookup work..... I'm going to find a stock GM alternator and install that and eliminate the 1 wire function…..

And like Don and Nick said...…. After thinking about it, the way I have it wired might not be book correct... But, if the battery went dead and the alternator was working, the car should still run and function supplied by the unit...….. So... we will go back to Basic's..... If it's good enough for Gm, Well..... LOL....