I will keep this thread updated as time goes by. There are a couple thing worth mentioning that are NOT talked about in the instructions. Which are basic instructions and NOT 03-04 cobra specific.
The kit comes with a bolt that I found out was to big in diameter to fit in the lower alternator bracket. I retained all the oem bolts.
Here is the complete kit, I decided to purchase the 2 gauge wire upgrade with inline fuse. The pulley on the nations measures out to about 2.9 inches or so, and my stock one was around 2.6 inches.
That blue square on the external regulator is for adjusting the voltage. It has some silicone over that needs to be peeled off. A little screwdriver is used to turn the dial up or down. I have mine set where the volts on my aeroforce gauge is reading in the 14.2-14.7 range.
My biggest mistake and it wasn't mentioned in the instructions is to place the supplied washer in between the alternator housing and the oem alternator bracket.
This caused a misaligned belt and it was walking off the backside of my crank pulley!
I didn't drive the car with it like this and only ran it for 5-10 minutes. This was enough to ruin my factory belt tensioner.
Here is a YouTube video of the noise.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQ-h220NTYU
Here is a picture underneath with the 2 gauge power wire going from the alternator up to the fuse power block. The instruction do tell you what wire you need to tap into from the factory alternator harness to the white wire coming from the regulator harness. You connect the red wire from harness and the factory terminal to the alternator. Pretty simple.
I added a bigger ground from the motor to the frame. Here is a picture of the factory one and the 2 gauge I replaced it with. This one is located by the oil filter.
I ran a 2 gauge ground from the alternator bolt up to the negative battery terminal. And I also added a 8 gauge accessory ground wire that goes from factory green bolt in front of battery behind the head light. That goes to the ground terminal on battery
Here you can see the wires coming up to the battery. The inline fuse is between battery and fuse block
In these pictures you can see the alternator and the external regulator which I mounted in towards the bumper, hopefully away from heat.
I took my first drive today, only about 45 minutes of city driving. Voltage stayed in the 14.2-14.7 range on a 75 degree evening. Even with the ac on it stayed in that range. It's very early obviously but I will update date as needed. I will be doing some data logging soon as I need to revise my e85 tune on 21 psi, so I will be monitoring voltage.
I hope this helps anyone in the future at least a little bit if plan are to install a Nations alternator.
The kit comes with a bolt that I found out was to big in diameter to fit in the lower alternator bracket. I retained all the oem bolts.
Here is the complete kit, I decided to purchase the 2 gauge wire upgrade with inline fuse. The pulley on the nations measures out to about 2.9 inches or so, and my stock one was around 2.6 inches.
That blue square on the external regulator is for adjusting the voltage. It has some silicone over that needs to be peeled off. A little screwdriver is used to turn the dial up or down. I have mine set where the volts on my aeroforce gauge is reading in the 14.2-14.7 range.
My biggest mistake and it wasn't mentioned in the instructions is to place the supplied washer in between the alternator housing and the oem alternator bracket.
This caused a misaligned belt and it was walking off the backside of my crank pulley!
I didn't drive the car with it like this and only ran it for 5-10 minutes. This was enough to ruin my factory belt tensioner.
Here is a YouTube video of the noise.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQ-h220NTYU
Here is a picture underneath with the 2 gauge power wire going from the alternator up to the fuse power block. The instruction do tell you what wire you need to tap into from the factory alternator harness to the white wire coming from the regulator harness. You connect the red wire from harness and the factory terminal to the alternator. Pretty simple.
I added a bigger ground from the motor to the frame. Here is a picture of the factory one and the 2 gauge I replaced it with. This one is located by the oil filter.
I ran a 2 gauge ground from the alternator bolt up to the negative battery terminal. And I also added a 8 gauge accessory ground wire that goes from factory green bolt in front of battery behind the head light. That goes to the ground terminal on battery
Here you can see the wires coming up to the battery. The inline fuse is between battery and fuse block
In these pictures you can see the alternator and the external regulator which I mounted in towards the bumper, hopefully away from heat.
I took my first drive today, only about 45 minutes of city driving. Voltage stayed in the 14.2-14.7 range on a 75 degree evening. Even with the ac on it stayed in that range. It's very early obviously but I will update date as needed. I will be doing some data logging soon as I need to revise my e85 tune on 21 psi, so I will be monitoring voltage.
I hope this helps anyone in the future at least a little bit if plan are to install a Nations alternator.
Last edited: