Blowing alternator in my 73 Riv

[Guest BuickWildcat401]

Hey Boys,

Just got back from vacation and did more diagnostic work on my Riv to try and find out why I am blowing the diodes in my alt (3 of them!).

I've checked all wires for resistence, isolated all components, cleaned and repaired any and all wiring and connections to no avail.

BUT!.........I may have finally found the problem ( I hope ).

When I bought the car the previous owner had a very small battery in it that resulted in a consistent flashing of the "generator" light when the engine was running. It finally went solid red. I replaced the alt and batt. The old batt was a Walmart, tiny cheapy. I got a BOSCH 760 CCA (cold cranking amps) recommended by the parts store of course.

I kept blowing alts with all new installed. Finally checking the manual I see where the spec CCA is about 360 - HALF of what I have in there in the batt. I gotta believe that is what's blowing the diodes in the alt.

What do you guys think?

Thanks,

Mike