Tuff Stuff Alt from 4secondsflat

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Rice Nuker

Rice Nuker

Let the Coal Roll!
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U.S.A.! Near Jackson CA
Well, here is the alternator for our Jensen Interceptor. Took 1 month to get here. Made in America! Thing is really heavy which makes me think its got American balls in it, ball bearings.. Appears they mod a regular unit with an externally attached VR.. They must also cast a 100 amp spell on it. This is a one wire unit, 100 amp.

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Pretty neat. Do they have an "as cast" finish or one that isn't polished/chrome?
 
YEap, they have a normal cast looking one. Personally I like cast aluminum finish but for the Interceptor, my associate wanted chrome and I haven't the ultimate say since it was willed to him from a family member.. 4secondsflat has a ton of American made parts like 98 percent of their offering is USA!!, it even tells what state they are made in.

From what I understand it is a small operation run by a racing guru, so things take a long time to get to you as he is slammed all the time.

Some folks dont seem to like the guy others love him. I would imagine it is a matter of if you have patience to deal with a stressed out racing guru business owner in order to wait and get your American made sweet custom race parts..

I am going to be ordering everything I can from him in the future.. Alum radiators, mini starters, all types of race carbs, electronic ignition variations and kits.. Of course some folks talk a little static because they can build or create some of the parts he sells, so simply do that rather that talk static is what I say.

www.4secondsflat.com

America

Yep..
 
looks like a powermasters one wire alt. the box on the back of it has got to be some kind of regulator..
 
Looks nice, my local shop builds me the same ones....in as cast, but we blast/paint them so the finish lasts. Definitely the way to go to get rid of the VR on the firewall.
 
redfastback said:
Looks nice, my local shop builds me the same ones....in as cast, but we blast/paint them so the finish lasts. Definitely the way to go to get rid of the VR on the firewall.
Click to expand...

Hey, what do you paint them with in order to make them look like as cast??
Do you clear them after?
Thx!
 
Rice Nuker said:
YEap, they have a normal cast looking one. Personally I like cast aluminum finish but for the Interceptor, my associate wanted chrome and I haven't the ultimate say since it was willed to him from a family member.. 4secondsflat has a ton of American made parts like 98 percent of their offering is USA!!, it even tells what state they are made in.

From what I understand it is a small operation run by a racing guru, so things take a long time to get to you as he is slammed all the time.

Some folks dont seem to like the guy others love him. I would imagine it is a matter of if you have patience to deal with a stressed out racing guru business owner in order to wait and get your American made sweet custom race parts..

I am going to be ordering everything I can from him in the future.. Alum radiators, mini starters, all types of race carbs, electronic ignition variations and kits.. Of course some folks talk a little static because they can build or create some of the parts he sells, so simply do that rather that talk static is what I say.

www.4secondsflat.com

America

Yep..
Click to expand...

I've met Don in person, he lives about 35 miles south of me. He recurved my distributor, very happy with the results. Very, very knowledgeable guy. Wouldn't hesitate to do business with him again.
 
x2 Havent met him but man that fbo stuff is good. The fbo ign I installed 6 yrs ago is still running strong.
 
Don @ FBO is a great guy. I've bought many things from him since 2007 and have NEVER been dissapointed or let down with either his products OR customer service. He's there on chat usually and the phone if need be. He's always been more than willing to spend time with me on my crazy questions and patient.

He can be a little rough around the edges and he does get busy sometimes but that's just normal. He's got alot of tuning experience and knowledge.
 
I dealt with him (Don) in the chat/texting function of their website and he was a pleasure to deal with. I just bought their mini-starter to go with my new TTI headers & exhaust system, and their alternator (in chrome, of course) is next.
Thanks for the post; good to see the product.
 
Just an update. The alternator is still going strong. I even discovered the main hot wire was loose (nut was a little loose) and arc-ing somewhat on the alt stud last summer. Tightened it up nicely and it keeps on working perfectly. This alternator does have similar (to most Mopar) voltage drop at idle but a little less of it.

Battery is optima yellow which I think is the wrong way to go since it tends to take a charge rather slowly if you run it down by listening to music for several hours or leave the acc on for 10 days. I had to charge it at 5 amps for 30 hours last time it was totally dead from the acc being on.


.
 
Nothing wrong with a yellow top optima - as long as you charge it properly.

Batteries have changed a lot in 45 years. Many charging systems are set too low to fully charge the newer chemistry, and it shortens battery life dramatically. VRLA batteries like the Optima & Kinetik require higher charge voltages at the end of the cycle as well.

Read the research your tax dollars paid for:

http://www.nrel.gov/vehiclesandfuels/energystorage/pdfs/evs17pres.pdf

And you will see that the Optima is happy with end charge voltages well above 15v. Not uncommon to see a resting voltage on a VRLA above 13v. If your charging system is not getting to at least 14.7, the battery is never fully charged.

If you pull that chinese can regulator off of the back of the alternator, you may find an adjustment on it. Looks like a WAI D7018 from the pic.

If it is adjustable, set it for 14.8v @ 1500 engine rpm with the battery temp above 70f

If you have a cheap (harbwhore freight) float charger, check it open circuit. Any small charger with an OCV over 17v should do the trick Some of that HF stuff will check as high as 22v, and that is just fine. Put the float charger on the Optima for a day or two to pull it up all the way.

B.
 
Apparently FBO hit a snag with Tuff Stuff and he's not selling their stuff anymore.
 
Criscobath said:
Apparently FBO hit a snag with Tuff Stuff and he's not selling their stuff anymore.
Click to expand...

Hmm. Thanks for the update!

Probably because of that weird aftermarket voltage regulator on the back of the one wire units. So far so good... Be screwed it mine blows up while I am on a switch back in the blue ridge mountains at 2:40 am.

.
 
Update:

Small voltage reg on back of alternator seemed intermittent. My voltage was at or below 12 a lot with the head lights and fans on and sometimes near 15.

I removed the wires off the little VR which hooked to the two field plugs on the back of the alternator and hooked up the factory harness field wires and the alternator is pumping 14 to almost 15 V at cruise and appears totally stable.

My summation is the provided VR is failing. I cut the wires off it from the POS post and the two which ran to the field posts for now and it is still on the back of the alt.
 
Thats the same alt. that now sits on my shelf, dead as a door nail.
junk... it didn't even last a season.
 
you can buy a replacement voltage regulator for it.
 
This kind of failure is why I don't "like" specialty alternators, and one wire

But..........there is NO reason why you could not go back to a Mopar regulator, either a 69/ earlier solid state replacement, or a 70 / later isolated field, and............

I have seen those "universal" "one wire" regulators so SOMEONE sells them.
 
I'd rather die than get a replacement for the specialty tripple chrome plated twelve wire regulator. I learned my lesson on specialty stuff. I like parts that I can sub in a junk yard or napa part if needed in an emergency. Fortunately running the factory 74 Mopar VR from the still factory wiring harness, connected to this alternator appears to be working great.
 
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