Well, it had to happen sooner or later...there was too much going wrong electrically with the Cobra, and finally the voltage regulator went belly-up, overcharging the battery with an output in excess of 16 volts from idle on up.
I went to O'Reilly's and asked them to send their best out to look at what I had...all he could say was that it looked like an aftermarket regulator...looked like a small aluminum "can" for lack of a better term hanging on the back of the alternator. Other than those few words of wisdom, he had no help...no suggestion for a replacement, nothing.
Well, back in the 80's I had shoehorned a built Cleveland into a '71 Mercury Comet and the rear two header tubes on each side crossed over under the pan. The heat ended up frying the starter, so I had taken it to a little hole-in-the-wall shop for repair. I was happy with the work, but hadn't been back in 20-some years. I figured why not try them again.
I parked it in front of the entrance and one of the employees came out to greet me. I explained what the problem was and he asked me to pop the hood so he could see what was going on. After some discussion, he said he knew he could fix it, so off to home I went to take the alternator off and take it back to him. When I got it off I found that it was an original Ford Motorcraft alternator...except for the F'ed up regulator the previous owners had hung on the back of it. I took it back to him, explained that I did not want some cheap Chinese housing and insisted that he use as much of the Motorcraft parts as possible...he agreed and off I went.
Three hours later he called to say it was ready. When I got there I could not believe my eyes...it looked like a factory fresh 1989 Motorcraft alternator, complete with factory parts...looked brand new except for the faded paint on the fan and the pulley. He said that it would put out 75 amps...the original piece I took him was marked for 60 amps...just the icing on the cake!
We started talking cars and he explained that he specializes in hard-to-fix older repairs...old Hudsons, older Ford stuff, even hot-rods that have who knows what in them, he welcomes it all. He absolutely loved the Cobra! We must have jawboned for an hour at the desk when he asked me to come look at his Fords...a very nice 80's T-Bird Super Coupe with the V-6 with the supercharger and a cherry original early 90's Mustang GT.
Guys, if you want first class service, I assure you the drive from anywhere in the Houston area will be worth it--ask for Javier, he's the guy. He'll treat you just like the car he's working on is his own...my voltage meter now reads a rock steady 14 volts, only drops 1 volt when I turn on my huge puller fan. The electric Mallory fuel pump no longer whines and plusates, it just purrs, steady as a rock. Headlights are bright and stable....I have no doubt that the alternator will outlast the car!
Here's the skinny on how to find Javier:
Dick's Auto Electric
1504 Avenue H (also known as Hwy 90Alt)
Rosenberg, TX 77471
281-342-4753
Just so you know, I have no financial interest in this business in any way. I know from personal experience how hard it can be to find good help with electrical problems, just wanted to spread the good news.
Cheers!
Dugly
