130 Amp Alternator

[Geoff]

I bought one or two from that guy. The brushes wore out within a year, leaving me stranded. Some wierdo stopped to offer "help" and by "help" I mean he offered me a bucket "to take a crap in."

C900s, especially early ones are notorious for voltage loss to the headlights. Grab a multimeter, with the car running and lights on you should have 13.8V at the battery and at the lights. If you have 12V at the lights you're down something like 40% on light output.

You probably have a 65 or 70A alternator on the '80? Maybe an upgrade to a 90A would help.

[Saabguy70]

I have Saab 9-5 130A Alt in my Saab 1970 95 V4. Works great!

[RadioFlyer]

Thinking about sticking in a later-model alternator from a '90 c900. Looks like an 80 or 90 amp. Problem is that the mounting hole is different. I was thinking about drilling out the stock mount and the bushing sleeve, but the bushings are all totally shot. Where do you guys pick up new bushings for the B-engine alternator mount?

[Luke]

Thinking about sticking in a later-model alternator from a '90 c900. Looks like an 80 or 90 amp. Problem is that the mounting hole is different. I was thinking about drilling out the stock mount and the bushing sleeve, but the bushings are all totally shot. Where do you guys pick up new bushings for the B-engine alternator mount?

I don't think you can get the bushings anymore. The best bet might be to have someone make some delrin or bronze or even aluminum replacements. BTW, Only the 900 B motors had the rubber bushings on the alt brackets, the 99's were solid mount.

[RadioFlyer]

Thanks Luke!

[Geoff]

The solid B-motor alternator mount won't work on a car that had the rubber bushings in the alternator mount. The alternator mounts with rubber bushings are different; they allow for the power steering pump to fit below the alternator. To use the solid alternator mount you'd have to remove your power steering pump.

I used a power steering pump and bracket off of an '80 900T that I parted out (twin to your car) on my '76 99 and had to use the alternator mount from the '80 900T as well. I cut the bushing mounts off and welded plates on the bracket and then drilled the plates for a later alternator.

I think the later alternators use a larger diameter bolt. If you don't want to mess with your bushings you could probably get some spacers to press into the alternator.

[RadioFlyer]

Thanks Geoff! I was thinking about cutting off the bushing housings on the old alternator mount and welding on a set from a newer alt. Might work?

[Geoff]

All the later SAABs used aluminum alternator brackets so fitting/welding one of those housings to the B motor bracket wouldn't be easy. I think I might have a cracked 900 B motor alternator mount (bushing style) at home. If I do I'll take some measurements of the bushings and see if there's any easy way to come up with a replacement for the bushings with a larger ID to accept the later alternator.

[reiernumans]

Scored a 9-3 130 amp unit at the ez pull. Toyed with mounting it to a c900 engine. In order to use stock mounting hardware a sleeve will need to be pressed to compensate for the smaller mount bolts. The belts just don't line up properly. Either the whole unit needs to move forward 1/4 inch or so, or a new pulley with a different offset needs to be sourced / made.

Yes the pulley just swaps from the c900 alt. but youll need to use the nut and washers from the 9-3 alt.

Bumping an old thread, but has anyone ever actually done this? My stock 80A alternator is a little noisy, and I feel it's a bit underrated for a fully specced out 16v turbo with AC and an underseat woofer. I dig the idea of using a 9-3 alternator as they get parted out by the dozen over here and should be very easy to come by. If nobody has any further info I'll guess I'll have to grab one from a yard and experiment a little myself.

[Scott]

I am curious as well. I got an alternator for my 92 turbo earlier this year, and when I got around to installing I found it was not quite right. It was clocked differently than the original and in contacting eeuro they said we have finally gotten to where rebuilds aren’t available easily.

I clicked around the casing and it should be fine but if we had an easy refit with more modern alternators that would be cool.

[Scott]

How about a modern alternator for the 99? Has anyone put say a 9-3 alternator into the 99? I was just reading that external voltage regulators can be problematic.

Thanks

[99Super]

Scott,

It's easy to convert to an internal regulator.

Remove the external regulator plug and brush holder.
Install a new Bosch-style internal regulator.
Remove the red wire/spade connector from the old plug. Insulate the spade w/ some heat shrink tube.
Plug the wire to the D+ plug in the back of the alt.

Now, it's only been like, 25 years since I've done this so double check on that connection to the D+ : D

I used the 80A Bosch from an early 900.

John

[Scott]

Interesting, i'll check it out. Thanks!

[sonett]

I fitted a 130 amp from a 9-5 back in 2008.
http://www.uksaabs.co.uk/UKS/viewtopic. ... 9&start=20

[reiernumans]

I sourced a 130A alternator (NG900, OG9-3, 9-5 unit) to try and make work on my c900. As I posted earlier, my car currently has the stock 80A alternator on it. For comparison's sake I borrowed a 70A c900 alternator from a friend to see what I'd need to 'convert' the 9-3 alternator to work on a c900.

From my measurements it looks as if the double v-belt pulley of the c900 alternator sits about 10mm too far towards the firewall when mounted on the 130A alternator. I think it's pretty easy to make it work on single belt setups (99's and very early C900 with the 8V B201 engines), but I can't see it working on a 900 with the double belts.