I had a crazy electrical adventure this week. My alternator had been making
obnoxious noise for a while. The bearings were apparently shot, so I took it
to be rebuilt. It was worn out beyond rebuilding. After purchasing a new one,
I went to put it on. The car still wouldn't start for some reason. Upon
examination, I saw that the connection to the solenoid had become very
corroded, and was effectively not working. In the process of removing it to
clean it, I broke it. After purchasing a new one and installing it in the 40
degree weather of my driveway, I went to turn my car on. White smoke started
pouring out from right in front of the firewall and through the defrost ducts.
Splendid. I jumped out and turned the battery cutoff off (thank god I bought
one of those) and saw that I had stupidly left the cable to the water valve
laying on the positive contact. I realized later that I am incredibly
fortunate to have a battery cutoff not only because it saved my car from
catching on fire, but also, I am sure I would have grabbed the now live cable
to move it and electrocuted myself pretty damn well. I guess I was actually
lucky that I didn't just grab it anyway, because I am infamous for making
stupid moves like that around the Spitfire. At least the damn alternator
stopped making annoying noises.
The moral of this story is to make sure you don't leave the water valve cable
on the positive contact the next time you work on the car.
Kris Powell
1974 Spitfire 1500
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