Powerbastards Fitzall 220+ installed! Options

[raytrace]

Greetings all, this is my first post at 6gc, and I think it's a good one. I've been wanting to find a high output alternator success story for our cars, but have come up pretty much empty so far. I decided to take a chance on the Fitzall 220+ unit from powerbastards.

After dry-fitting it up, it was clear that I'd need to have an adapter block custom machined. I set the new alt in place, approximating where it would sit to clear the manifold heat shield and line up with the belt.

Here is the size comparison:



And the block I had machined. It's made of mild steel and painted yellow for protection and to stand out a little:



Installed in its place:



The factory alternator sits in a bracket that has an internal dimension of 58mm and is held by a 10mm through bolt. The Fitzall has a mounting tab with a 1/2" hole.





For the tensioner side, I had to cut a sleeve to length and obtain a new, longer 8mm capscrew. I also found that I had to bore out the upper side of the notch a touch to allow a wee bit more tension on the belt. Note also the cut on the bolt block next to the alternator frame. This was necessary for clearance:



After wiring was installed, witness the alternator in its new home!



I used #1 welding cable to supply the juice to the battery. A 300 amp fuse is inline. This is not the one-wire version of the Fitzall 220+. I asked Mike to retain the Ignition, Sense, and Light wire options so I could have an install as close to factory functionality as possible.



As you can see, the belt lines up perfectly. I intentionally aligned it so that the 5 groove belt would catch the innermost ribs and not the outside 5. It's both easier on the alternator bearings and adds much appreciated clearance from the exhaust manifold.





Onboard I'm powering 4 Rigid LED lights, 2 VHF/UHF radios, 1600 total watts of Alpine PDX power, and a 1000 watt pure sine inverter.



The Powerbastards website says it will do 110 amps at idle, but does not specify any RPM numbers to go with it. I can report that at idle, and with the alternator spinning at 2000-2100 RPM, it will only put out about 50 amps. I have a contact tachometer and DC clampmeter to verify this.
This of course is generally OK considering the stocker maxed out at 70, but I will need it to supply serious juice to the inverter at idle. Anyway, once the throttle is goosed and the alternator gets up to 3000 or so, it puts out 130 easily. Mike at powerbastards told me that it should do 110 amps at about 2700 RPM.
I have been wanting to adjust the idle screw up a bit to get rid of the shimmys at stoplights, and now seems like the perfect time.

I plan on taking it to a shop and having it load tested; when I do I'll report on what it can really put out!

This post has been edited by raytrace: Jul 13, 2016 - 3:38 PM

[mgnt232]

A bit off topic, I had Mechman alternator with my old 7a (not sure if they made them for the 5s) but it worked great. Idle/load Amps, about the same.
It was a direct swap, just needed a different size belt.
I still have it I believe if anyone is looking.