John S's Journal

I’ve done a lot since acquiring the GT in September of 2020 and got to enjoy the fruits of my labor for about a year now. There seems to always be something that I can do but it’s a short list so putting small jobs off while the cold weather remains is par for the course. I bought a bargain 105 amp alternator off the BST forum and decided to see about fixing it. It was a 123Ignition conversion that just needed a battery post repair and came with a repair kit. Since I’ve never pulled one apart, I did a little internet and YouTube research before I tore into it. Watching someone step through disassembly on a video was a bonus and made the job a snap. I didn’t do a total disassembling since I had access to the battery post without unsoldering the rectifier pack. I just needed to get the front half of the alternator including the rotor off so I could make the repair. The post that came with the kit was too short so I re-used the old post and scrounged up a nut to replace the old stripped out nut that secures the post from the inside of the case. I dug out the old post insulator and used the new one from the kit so the kit wasn’t a total bust.

Today I took the alternator down to the local O’Reilly’s and they tested it for free once they could find a cross reference that they could use as there are no visible part numbers on the alternator. Fortunately, it passed with flying colors and although the original 16ACR alternator is still working, I now have an upgraded 105 amp alternator ready to go.

Other things on my short list are to go through the rear Armstrongs like I did when I rebuilt the front suspension. Remove and clean them up, drain all the old fluid and add some new fluid. The rebound straps are trashed and I’ve got some new ones from The Strapping Lad to go on.
The front valance is still waiting for me to finish up. It’s been hammered and dollied and rattle can primered but has been awaiting some warmer weather for me to skim it with some filler and hit it with some paint. The front bumper had some love taps applied with a wood block and a rubber mallet so a quick clean up of the brackets and it will be good enough for me. Not perfect but the paint is past the born on date so the bumper will fit right in with the decades old paint work. Another item on the list is to figure out why the speedometer quit working late in last years driving season. The good news about my list is that I can drive the car without doing any of these jobs.