Alternator wiring Help on 350 rocket

[Cuttboy]

My wires have been hacked up from the previous owner and i am trying to install a new alternator(the right way).......I have three wires coming from the fire wall (two red and one brown).......where do they go?

 

[Bonnewagon]

Standard GM set up goes like this- A big red 10 gauge wire goes from battery to the stud with the nut on the back of the alt. It can also come from the starter on the same big stud that the red battery cable attaches to. That stud on the alt is the output that charges the battery. The brown wire goes to terminal 1 and is the field wire which excites the alternator. It should end at the volt gauge or idiot light that says "gen" or "batt". A red wire goes to terminal 2 and it "should" be from a point in the electrical system that measures the entire load on the system. Sometimes it goes to a fusible link that comes off the batt cable on the starter. Sometimes it goes right to the alt output, the stud with the nut on the back of the alt. But it should go to the main car harness where you will find a bunch of red wires all soldered together and that is the "heart" of your electrical system and that is the best place for the alt to determine the voltage needed to run the car as well as charge the battery. Your car may differ slightly from this but basically it needs the stud wire going to the battery, brown to gauge or idiot light, and red to positive voltage somewhere. Confused?

 

[Cuttboy]

Ok let me get this straight......Brown wire to terminal #1 on alt. I got that .......So i need to run a 10 gauge wire directly from the battery to the stud on back of the alternator....i got that......A red wire goes to terminal 2.....i got that.....now i have one red wire left that i dont know where it goes or even if its needed.

 

[Bonnewagon]

Could it go down to your starter? Judging by your pic that's a likely place. Are there fusible links on the starer, they look like fat rubber cylinders. They may heve been clipped off. What year/type car is this?

 

[Cuttboy]

its a 1983 cutlass 350 rocket motor.

 

[Cuttboy]

i have a mini starter that i brought from summit because i got headers on it.

 

[Bonnewagon]

OK, I'm looking at an 83' Pontiac manual, V-8 motor, and the 2 red wires, 1 from the "batt" terminal and 1 from terminal "2", both go to a fusible link that is bolted to the starter same place as the battery cable. All a fusible link is, is a short piece of smaller gauge wire than the line it is in, that acts as a fuse when the line gets shorted out, and saves the wiring downstream. Any auto parts store has them and you size it to the wiring you are repairing, 8 gauge, 10gauge, etc. But from the picture you have I think all 3 went to the alternater. One or maybe both reds must go down to the starter and the brown to the firewall. Can you follow those red wires and see where they lead?

 

[Cuttboy]

Bonnewagon....thanks for the help.....i did exactly what you said and so far so good. Thanks again.