1100884 alternator

[Mark #28455]

I bought a restamped front

I bought one on e-bay for $60 several mos ago - I figured it had the correct case configuration and since I was going to use it on my "driver" who cares about the restamp. It is actually a pretty close copy, but the "1" stampings are different than the ones on my original parts (a few of the other characters are a little off too but I doubt they are as obvious). I also have bought several Olds and Pontiac alternators with the correct case styles for about the same price and with them you get the correct rear case as well - so you get a few points there.

You have to decide on the points per dollar "value" of each part for your car, but at a total cost of about $150 for the front case I bought, a spare rear case I had, and the guts from a working later model core, I think it was an OK deal!

Mark

[D S.]

Re: I bought a restamped front

I actually did something a bit different. Before all this hoopla about restamped/reproduction 1100884s the alternator rebuilder and restorer I use in Dallas, American Armature, offered to build me a 1100884 from a blank front. This was over three years ago. I said okay and it is now on my '70 LS-5. I have no concerns about it being a reproduction. For all intents and purposes it has all of the characteristios of an original 1100884. I made every reasonable effort to make the engine appear as correct as I could. I do have an authentic 1100884 dated to the engine and car thanks to a guy I met while showing his '69 427 convertible at the 2006 NCRS Nationals in San Antonio. I keep it in a safe place. Four years ago I lost a numbers matching '70 convertible with a real 1100884 on it in a garage fire.
I didn't have any concerns with the seller trying to sell a reproduction or restamp. My gripe was that the seller alluded to it being a rebuilt original, waited until people bid on it, and then told the rest of the story, like, "Oh, yeah...by the way.". Bait and hook.

[Joe L.]

Re: I bought a restamped front

Scott------

Where did American Armature get the "blank front" from which to build the '884' alternator? If they used the GM/Delco drive end SERVICE case half available for about the last 35+ years, it would not be even close to the configuration used by original '884' units.

[D S.]

Re: I bought a restamped front

Joe, I will get back to you on that tomorrow or Friday as tomorrow I need to take the real 1100884 to be rebuilt/restored by them. I recall that Cindy and Chuck said that they could get an exact blank front and an original rear, install new guts, and stamp it any date I needed. At first I was hesitant but then I thought since I already have a real one what could I lose. I'll let you know what they did. The problem with the stamping on the reproduction is that it is too neat and the characters seem broader or deeper among a couple of other things. They told me that they don't stamp them, that they are stamped before they are sent to them. They are still doing reproduction 1100884s upon request. Also tomorrow I'm going to look at that one they built for me to check for the differences in the casting seams on the front.

At the NCRS Nationals recently I saw a 1100884 on Thad LeJeune's '70 LS-5. It had the NT broadcast stamp on it and then I thought I saw another ink stamp. Seems like it as an A. Were these stamped twice?

Thanks,
Scott

[Joe L.]

Re: I bought a restamped front

Scott------

I'm only familiar with the single, 2 alpha character ink stamp, usually ink stamped in the area of the part number. However, some may have been otherwise ink-stamped. My original 1969 alternator only has the one ink stamp as I described and several NOS alternators that I have are similarly so-stamped. However, that does not mean that all only had a single stamp.

[D S.]

Re: I bought a restamped front

Joe, I had to go to one of our local swap meets this weekend to visit with American Armature as they usually set up at them. It's only ten minutes from me. The owners, Chuck and Cindy, tell me that they get their blank six spoke fronts from piles of cores they sometimes find or were sold to them. They say that there are also three and five spoke fronts but those aren't correct for 1100884s. Sometimes they run across sellers who try to pass off 1100884 fronts with the wrong spokes. Chuck says that at one time he could get the blanks from the GM dealerships but are getting harder to find even in core lots.
When I looked at the one they did for me about five years ago there is a distinct difference between the casting seams. The original ones are rounded and the "service replacements" and blanks are squared. And the alphanumeric character stampings are too uniform as in the reference to that recent eBay 1100884.

[Joe L.]

Re: I bought a restamped front

Scott-----

They're correct about the "884" using the 6 spoke drive end case. At least, the 1969 versions of the "884" used the 6 spoke case. The "884" was also used for the 1970 model year. I believe that sometime during the 1970 model year the case changed to the 5 spoke, OPEN FACE style. This continued until sometime in the 1971 model year, probably late in the model year. Then, I believe that it changed to the 5 spoke, CLOSED FACE style. This style was used thereafter.

I don't think that the 3 spoke case was ever originally used for a series 10 SI alternator. The 3 spoke was used for the Series 10 DN (i.e. 63-68) and I think they can be used to build up a series 10 SI, but I don't think that they were ever originally used for a 10 SI.

Did American Armature indicate that they had gotten the 6 spoke cases new from GM dealers? That would really surprise me. This case half has been out-of-production for 37 years. Even the 5 spoke case half has been gone for about 35 years. Neither were ever available in SERVICE for very long, if they were ever available in SERVICE.

[D S.]

Re: I bought a restamped front

Joe, Chuck only said he was getting them from GM from time to time several years ago and did not indicate whether new or not. But he said that when that fizzled out he began relying on piles of cores and finding one in the piles were iffy. However once in a while he'd find one and save it back.

On an unrelated matter but related to an earlier post regarding car covers I came across two eBay sellers that have several Technalon Evolution 4-layer car covers for $25-$40 not including shipping. Many of these were used only once. I bought two and may buy one more at that price. I was surprised how nice of a condition they were in and smelled like new. No storage bags come with them.