Hi guys!

Looks like I'm going to put an electric fan on my 'bird. My question is, will I have to get a new alternator for the car? Right now, I've got an 80 amp external regulator alt. on the car. The car has the following electrical items on it: headlights, taillights, dash lights, heater w/fan, turn signals, dome light, radio w/cd player. No air conditioning or huge speakers. Do any of you guys know how I can figure up my total amp output? Or if anyone knows, I can get away with a 13.5 amp fan with all this stuff?

Jerry

you should be fine with an 80 amp alternator
here is how i figure it
the stock alt was about 63 amps at the most (right guys?)
and the only draw you are adding is the fan at 13.5 amps
your cd player takes very little power and should use close to the same amperage as the stock radio
so by that you should be fine
another way to look at is that I have a very similar setup with a fan that draws something like 25-30 amps but i have a 100 amp alt and everything is fine, with the fan, headlights, cd player and heater going i still have close to 13 volts

but i dont know what kind of fan you are looking to put it that only draws 13 amps, what is the cfm of the fan?

Yep, I think the real original alternator was truly rated at 55-65 Amps, depending on the year (67-69) and the load based on options.

I'm using a 100-amp and have no electrical problems or load issues when running the VERY LARGE elec fan and other things non-stock (CD player in the glove box, alarm systerm, etc).

One thing for sure, if your BATT voltage goes to 12 or below with all these things turned on, then you are drawing more than the system can reproduce.

Battery voltage should always be well above 12 (mine stays above 13) at all times even with a strong load. Unless of course I kill the battery due to leaving lights on, CD on, etc, which I'm known to do.

Yes, its a 12-VOLT system, but a solid battery and system will push 12.5 to 14.5 volts at all times easily. In my humble opinion of course.

Thanks guys,

The fan is out of Summit and has a rating of 2150cfm. I will be using it as a pusher to help out at idle and am leaving my clutch fan on the car. I like the original look of the clutch fan.

Jerry