One wire alternator selection?

So we need a replacement alternator for our 79 200.
Next fall we intend to rewire the vehicle with one of the American Wire Whole car harnesses.
These require use of a one wire alt.

Alternator went bad so we need an alternator now.

Looking for a 100 amp 1 wire unit.

Seems all the units I’m finding require modification or relocation for installation.

Question: are there any one wire options available that don’t require modification to the brackets or movement from stock location for installation?

Thanks,
Harlon

in no special order:

locally we can get the broken/old 1 redone & upgraded to 1 wire for 100$.
Worth a try...only takes some research time...
/OR/
Used? - car-part.com by Y/M/M (U gotta know which fit ur specific vehicle). When U get on the site click on a wider geographic radius to assure a find or increase shipment cost due to weight.
AND
Next, at local big box store where the look thru puter or a book, again by Y/M/M for the bolt holes to match up a Delco/Remmy 1 wire, but it's chancy due to their level of knowledge & patience.
AND
Lastly, isn't there a thread on here re: that. Didn't Seth (econo) cite a che**y swap in? I know ford came around eventually...

A 90's 3G alternator with 7" spacing is the one you need iirc. like this one for a 95 V6 Mustang:

https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.ph ... 5&jsn=1129

If you can only use 1 belt, I'd recommend using the 90 amp version. Otherwise don't use more than a 2:1 pulley ratio, might be a good idea with the 90 amp one as well. 2:1 is ideal, @ 600 rpm idle and 2:1 ratio the 130A alt is already putting out 60 amps or so. With the 90A it will be putting out 30 or so.

You will need these connectors as well:

https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.ph ... 5&jsn=1242

The other one is the stator connector, I can't find it right now, but they are available. Or you could probably find both pretty easily are the junkyard and maybe the alternator to. All the 3Gs use the same connectors regardless of the housing type.

People think they need a GM alternator to have a "1 wire" alternator, but you don't. The 3G is a great alternator, bolts directly into the mount for a 1G or a 2G. And only needs the excite signal from the dash lamp to turn on. Besides that, it is a better alternator than the aftermarket or stock GM 1 wire alternators, more charging at low rpm, and it has an integrated but externally mounted regulator that comes with and is screwed to the alternator itself. So if the regulator goes tits up you can just replace the regulator. Best of all you can get the alternator or the regulator at any parts store. Unlike some custom GM 1 wire with a Ford mount type frame. The 3G is an example of something Ford did right.

You always have 2 wires anyway. One to the starter and one to excite the field and indicate failure.

A good tip stanyon, aka Jerry, turned me onto was that the 130 amp 3G alternators have 2 holes in between the 'spokes' on the face and the 90 amp ones have 4.

Thanks for the help.

On the front end we went for the big box OEM reman. Needed a short term win after all the troubleshooting dead ends we’ve gone down as of late. In the end we ended up with a bad regulator, alternator and battery.

Econo, thanks, I’ll keep the 3G in mind when we start upgrading down the road.

On the 3G's 3 wire connector you have a wire to excite connected to the dash lamp(that's your '1-wire'); a wire to sense voltage which is hooked to the B+ terminal and a wire straight to the stator terminal. The B+ charging wire is connected to the battery via the starter. You may need a thick washer to align the belt or get clearance to the alternator. The pulley will need to be replaced, it's 17mm bore iirc. If you measure the diameter of your balancer pulley and divide it by 2, that is the size you will need for a 2:1 pulley for the alternator. The charging wire should be sized to carry the maximum possible output from the alternator, be it 90A or 130A or whatever. That is measured by taking the total length of wire from the alternator to the battery, both + and - and look on the chart. Rule of thumb on sizing is to take the length of the + wire and double it for the total circuit length. Be it from the battery or from a buss fed by another wire. But in the later, the feeder wire has to be sized for the maximum possible load it will see. Generally, the amperage sizes for AC will work for DC runs under 10-15' total length. If the charging wire is larger than the starting wire and you are connecting to the battery through the starting wire, it will need to be upsized to match the charging wire. That's what I was getting at there I guess

Good luck