Just a name of rebuild company
It is just the name of the rebuild company in Virgina.
http://www.nsaproducts.com/pages/657797/index.htm
NSA's web site says they are ISO QS-9000-Certified manufacturer and 100% OEM compliant. That is nice words and it probably does assure some Quality Control.
My guess is it will be better than what you got from Van's. That's not saying much. Van had a poor supplier of alternators in my opinion.
NSA looks like a good company. I find it interesting how they explain how the rebuild market is going new.
http://www.nsaproducts.com/pages/684690/index.htm
That's true. The market is flooded with cheap China made aftermarket alternators. (Wounder why the US has a trade deficit with China?) What they don't mention is not all aftermarket parts are good. There may be three or four manufactures of parts. Its just cheaper to sell new (china clone) units than rebuild a used unit. ND (nippon denso) stopped making this model years ago. I guess the patent has expired so they can have at making clones and there is a market for them.
If you go to the neighborhood Auto Emporium you can usually pay about $130 and get a LIFE TIME warranty! You may want to try local part stores verses mail order. If they want a car ID or plate number give them one or just say its for a Suzuki Samurai not licensed for road use. Don't tell them plane.
You also may want to keep the old alternator and just get a new Voltage regulator at about $25-$35? You can bolt it in with hand tools. There was a whole batch of bad alternators Van was sold in my estimation and opinion. ND (nippon denso the original manufacture) are very reliable.
If you want a replacement voltage regulator go to an auto electric rebuild specialty shop and tell them you need a VR for a Lester #14684 (Suzuki samurai). They may even throw it in for free and bench test it. It will take about 5 minutes to bolt it in. It comes out as a module.
For the new alternator, make sure you have cooling air blast tube on the back of the Voltage Regulator fins and put a small heat shield on the #1 pipe to block radiant exhaust pipe heat from cooking the VR.
I'm curious, HOW LONG DID THE OLD ALTERNATOR LAST?