An true alternator story for you....
I have a MKII with the 948 still in it. We changed over to negative ground
last year & used a 1968 GM truck alternator purchased from NAPA for around
$30.00. Jerry & Allen at www.hendrixwirewheel.com helped with the
changeover. Allen has the bracket kit & the conversion went well. He usually
uses it on big Healeys. The car runs much better & now we have a music also.
So, my wife & I made a one-week, 1,500 mile trip this summer. Everything
went great until we got off the ferry at Okracoke Island in the Outer Banks
on day 5...sounded like a bunch of marbles in the engine. It didn't take
long to figure out that the bearings in the alternator were going out....and
here we were as far east (and in the middle of the ocean) as you can get. As
isolated as the place is, there are a couple of NAPA stores on the
Banks...the closest in Buxton which was about 1/2 mile from the Hatteras
Lighthouse. The next morning we headed up there. Sure enough, the NAPA store
had the GM truck alternator in stock as it is so commonly used. The guys
exchanged it for free and let me change it over in their "sand & oyster
shell" parking lot. 1/2 hour later we were again on our journey up the coast
to Kitty Hawk.
You can see our LBC on the justbrits site or, in this month's issue (2/04)
of the Healey Mark. Picture is of the car on the Hatteras ferry 45 minutes
before the repair.
Bruce Younts
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