The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay What do they call the stock GM wire connector

Hey...

Just finished converting from an external to an internal regulated alternator in my 1965 Chevy truck. I had to pop out the stock metal wire connectors at the end of the 2 wires that connect to the old alternator to fit into the new connector for the internal regulator alternator.

I was wondering if I could replace those metal connectors, thus replace the wire, but have no idea what they are called in order to start searching for them. Does anyone here know what I am referring to and where I can get them? Part number? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Russ

We can help if you post a pic or two.

Nice graphics Kevin.

Russ, if you have trouble taking close-up pictures, do a search on the Internet for Delcotron wire connectors.
Maybe you can find one that looks like yours.
The metal parts than go inside a connector are called contacts and can be "male or female"...not kidding.
You can buy these parts separately. You need a crimper to squeeze the contact onto the wire.
Getting a good crimp on a contact can be problematic so I order several contacts in case I mess up.

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/ECH...eXXnhoCgUAQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&

https://www.amazon.com/ACDelco-PT22...hy=9030078&hvtargid=pla-491373503976

Post if you need the wiring instructions. Post the part number and vendor of the new alternator.
They call it an alternator connector Available many places.

Thanks buoymaker... You gave me the words to search on and I attached a pic of the item. From searching on this connector, it seems they come in many sizes. Now the hard part is trying to figure out what size I need for my 65'...

Hey bartamos... Thank you too.. now I know what to use for the actual plug... I was able to take the old wires out and reuse the old connectors, but was hoping to find new ones for when (if I ever get around to it) rewire the whole engine compartment.

Those are female spade connectors. They come in 1/4 inch wide (your picture) and 1/8 inch wide. Available about anywhere. You can also get them with insulation covers.

If you are lucky there will be printing on the wire giving you a clue to the wire size.
Alternators come in different sizes. More current the larger the wire.
You can also measure the diameter of the wire (less the wire insulation) and compare with the AWG to diameter chart.

Hey... I think they are more than just the female spade connectors because they have that hook at the bottom to keep them in the factory connectors (plugs). I know because I have broken off that tab (from wear and tear) and the connector would not stay in the factory plug. This is why I wanted to see if I could get a few to keep as spares if it happens again.

Your right... the one I was working with is 1/4 inch... My fear is the ones I found on line state they are metric and I don't want to order them only to find they are either too big or too small for the factory plugs on my 1965 (I also have a 66 and 60 to worry about).

Thanks again for your information...

Every auto parts store has the 2 prong Alternator plug in fitting. Usually on the help rack. Also the spade connectors are available separately.

Hey... Your right.. I bet the size of the wire has something to do with the size of the connector. My original fear was finding the right connector to fit the factory plug. I might just bite the bullet, buy the one I found, put it on the end of a wire and see if it will clip into the spare factory plug I have from the old alternator.

Thank you everyone for all of your help... I have successfully installed an internal regulated alternator that I have had laying around for over 20 years into my 1965 C30 dump truck which has been experiencing charging issues for the last 6 months. First the external regulator was bad, which fried the battery, then the plug to the external regulator was causing issues, so I followed the following video to convert it... Hope this helps someone in the future...

Bornco You can trip that hook in the square 2 wire connector to release the 2 wires,then raise the hook a little,put them in your new flat connector that plugs in. If you go to 1-wire alt. that eliminates those 2 wires. If you buy a 1-wire kit it will have a rubber plug to cover the flat plug-in hole. Think I have seen others fill the flat connector hole with silicon caulk.Anyone else see that ??

If I remember correctly they were called Packard wire ends when I was purchasing them from different venders. Could get them in both male and female ends.

Well boys, since I worked for a connector company and in aerospace and on a lot of automotive wiring, I think I need to straighten this all out. You are throwing out a lot words. Connector, plug, metal wire connectors, female spade connector...... none of it is correct. Even some so called electrical supply companies are all screwed up. Then you got your FLAPS commanders and bloggers and so on.

1. The TERMINAL I see at post 1459096 is a TERMINAL.....NOT A CONNECTOR. DO NOT call it a connector.
It is NOT a spade configuration. A spade is a fork. (of the insulated crimp on variety) NEVER use a spade. The one shown is not a blade configuration either. It is a unsealed female Packard 56 terminal for use in a Packard 56 connector. The male and female Packard 56 terminals are of a special design.
2. The one shown can be soldered or crimped to the wire, or both. A good crimp is all you need for our stuff.
3. Spade, Blade, Bullet, Ring tongue, Flag.... terminals are crimp on. The ones everybody uses to do wiring. Insulated usually. See no. 7 below. The blades and bullets have male and female which can mate together to connect two wire ends together. So the aftermarket calls them "wire connectors". Don't use them for that. No hook terminals either.
4. There are male and female blade terminals. In electrical, there is male and female everything. Terminals, contacts, connector shells. The term plug and receptacle is used both in aerospace and home wiring making us all screwy. They are different animals. anyway............
5. The uninsulated female terminal shown in this thread is used INSIDE a connector. That's why is has a stick up tab, to retain it...... in....(are you ready?)...A Packard 56 connector shell. The connector that was used in 50's, and up, in cars and trucks. I think it appeared in 1956. Packard became Delphi. The uninsulated/unsealed male counterpart is used inside a connector and is kind of a blade that is split to create a spring that catches in the side of the connector shell. Both are front release/rear removable.
6. When a male and female connector shell is loaded with terminals ("contacts" in the aerospace world) with wires attached to the terminals, it makes a connector. You plug them/mate them together or onto a component that has a built in connector half. like a radio. Part of a harness.
7. The automotive aftermarket wiring vendors invented a insulated crimp on terminal line long ago. Blade terminals, butt splices, ring tongue terminals, many others, but don't use any but those three if you must use crimped insulated terminals/splices. They are OK for most things. You can shrink sleeve over the opening if you want. An example use for a female insulated blade terminal is to attach to a built in male blade sticking out of a wiper motor, heater motor, lighter, horn. An example of a connector half with female uninsulated terminals in it, like the terminal in this post, is a headlight bulb.
8. You DO NOT use a insulated or uninsulated male and female blade or bullet terminal to connect two wire ends together. There is hardly ever a reason to do that . Run a new complete wire. It's cheap.
9. I got more but back to the specific question and task here: If a person is changing from generator or Delcotron to a 10si style alternator, like in a 12V conversion, you rip out and throw everything away in the trash. You get that connector with pigtail that I posted and you butt splice or solder splice it's tails to wires that are "other end" terminated according to how it is advised to do a three wire alternator. I have given, and others have given, much info on that on Stovebolt. It ends up just being two 14/16 ga wires and a 10ga to the alternator stud. If I missed the question, hit me again.
10. In the connector industry and in general, you can have male terminals/contacts in a female connector shell or male connector terminals in a female shell...and vise versa as Yogi would say....or male in male and female in female. The shell determines the connector's gender. The male terminal/contact is the cold side of the voltage (when disconnected, the male terminal won't shock you or short out)

The only terminal to use on a screw is a ring tongue terminal. There are certain eras of our trucks that have inner fender terminal blocks for headlight and turn signal lamp. Direct wire that stuff. Those are unprotected corrosion getters and voltage droppers and are totally unnecessary. Early automotive "engineers" were not really electrical types. Bad ideas were carried for too long. There are other bad ideas too , like little or no fuses. Cloth insulation, spade terminals, wire routing outside the frame rails.....
Some like the look of the old ways and materials of wiring. I support all those who feel compelled. It's OK if "new" original style components are used and modern insulated wire inside nostalgic insulation. It looks pretty nice. I am a TF and up guy and that kind of avoids a lot.

Thanks Bartamos. Very informative.

Mea Culpa. I called it a spade terminal because it looks like a garden spade.

I know that flag terminals are available either in blade or fork configuration. There are a number of the latter (flag-fork) on AD trucks, including on the screw terminal block on the fender liner. That was probably for ease of assembly and not having to completely remove the screws.

Thanks for the info.

Heat shrink sleeving. The basic heat shrink is irradiated polyolefin. It is expanded to 2X diameter by some kind of radiation that crosslinks it. Allows it to be expanded and then recover, actually in length. When reheated it can "shrink" to 1/2 the installed diameter. Try to size the heat shrink you buy to not be too tight on initial assembly. It is possible, but not real likely in our trucks, that further heat from some after install source, will split it open. There are other shrink ratios now as well as adhesive lined. Good stuff. I have started using solder butt splices when a splice is unavoidable. They also shrink on the wire. A little sketchy in that you have to push the stripped ends of two wire together axially. You MUST have a heat gun with a wrap around nose for those. When solder melts and you remove heat, don't move for 15 seconds or it will sag in a crooked heap. A soldered splice is the best way if you have to splice. I do use the good old blue crimp jobs too. There are places you have to butt splice or T splice. (3 way)

Time for a little comic relief at Jerry's expense...sorry about that Jerry.

Hot Rod Lincoln only uses aerospace electrical panels and assemblies on his 700 HP 216 engine creation dubbed the TVC (Tennessee Vomit Comet).
The drivetrain has an Eddy Current Coupled Clutch that is direct-connected to an Infinitely Variable Ratio rear axle collectively dubbed the BTO (Big Tennessee Overdrive).
The most important part is "Big Red", the red mushroom stop button mounted near his right hand that shuts off the engine.
You have to overcome the G forces and press this button just before you pass out because if the TVC ever became airborne, NORAD would detect it and scramble their fighter jets.

Play time is over. When I was a teenager, my first experience with wiring was replacing the connectors on my headlight switch. I made a bad mistake. I failed to crimp a 2 cent connector tightly. Coming home in the dark one night my headlights went out and I couldn't see the road. I couldn't stop in the road for fear of someone hitting me. A car came at me and it gave me a few seconds of light to see and scramble over to someone's driveway. I stuck my had under the dash and touched the wiring harness for the Headlight switch. My headlights came back on. The point I'm trying to make is that the job of wiring a car or truck is just as important for safety as having seat belts.