Hello,

I have a 302 from a 1980 Ford truck that I am installing into a 52 Ford F1. I have bought a GM one wire alternator to run on the 302 but I am having a terrible time figuring out how to mount the darn thing on the engine. My question to you guys is have any of you ever put a GM one wire alternator on your 302? If so could you share a picture? Or would you recommend me exchanging the GM alternator for a Ford Alternator?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Jon Preston

 

I did this years ago, on a Cobra replica. I used the stock 302 alt brackets, but had to ream out the holes in the alt to fit the Ford bolts thru the GM alt. GM uses a 3/8" pivot bolt and 5/16" for the slide adjustment, while Ford uses a 7/16" pivot bolt and 3/8" for the slide.
I don't recall whether the adjustment arm needed clearanced for the alt fan, but it's possible I did this as well.

 

I just put a GM out of a Monte Carlo on my 86 Ranger. I used the original bracket the alternator pivots on, and had to modify the one that it slides back and forth on for the belt adjustment.

Do you have any brackets at all? If not, you can easily make one. Look at the picture below. You will need a long bolt or a piece of all-thread to screw into a hole in the head in the area of #2. Right in area #2 also is a spacer, you can make one out of a piece of pipe. If you use all-thread, slide the alternator up on the all-thread and position it so the pulley lines up with the crank and waterpump pulleys. Then measure what you need for a spacer.

Slide the spacer on, and then slide the alternator on the all-thread. Leave enough length on the all-thread for bracket #1. Bracket #1 is just a flat piece of metal, 1/8 thick will do, and it goes over the all-thread, and then you can bend it and cut it so it can be bolted to a bolt over at the waterpump area. This bracket supports the all-thread when all the tension is put on the belt. When you get this all set up, you can keep the all-thread, or take it out and buy a bolt to replace it with.

For underneath the alternator you will need a slotted piece that a bolt can slide in to adjust the tension of the alternator. You can find chrome ones at the parts store in the hot rod Mr Gasket section of the parts store. Don't be afraid to bend and put offsets and cut to length the chrome bracket also to make it all work out.

All the brackets that are used in the 80-86 trucks have a smog pump mount built into them, and are pretty ugly.

 

Sounds great guys! Thank you all very much for the help!!

Jon Preston

 

or you can go with a ford 3g alt, its a direct bolt-up in most cases, but some installations may need a corner trimmed off something. wiring is simple as can be too. puts out 130a in stock form, i've seen up to 250a in the aftermarket