Being able to do work on your own car, because it’s a classic and thus nice and simple does come with certain advantages. While I struggle unevenly against the reliabilty of modern ‘equivalent’ parts, when I can obtain them (which isn’t always) at a pinch I can fit them myself. So the dead alternator whilst annoying (very) is at least not as much of an issue as it might be; for whilst the last couple of days have been a little fraught – not enough sleep and somewhat stressy driving to work (because I was running there and back on one charge of the battery) having got the replacement alternator it’s been fitted in an hour.
I’m quite pleased – one hour to strip off the old alternator, walk to Halfords (wait five minutes for a manager who could do refunds and exchanges), exchange it, walk back and put the new one on. I did this all in weather cold enough to give me an ice-cream headache as I was walking back as fast as I could. I also got a stitch from walking as quickly as I could, which was entertaining.
I’ve just stuck the battery back in, but I’ve not tested it, so let’s all cross our fingers shall we – ‘cos I’d like to sleep in tomorrow. While last night wasn’t horribly busy; it was gently constant until 5am meaning that I (we) didn’t *really* get a break until then. So….
