Thanks for the warm welcome all.
I'm not sure what I'm more excited about.. Having a damn fine new toy or now having a car to work on that doesn't require a PhD in Electronics. I've always wanted to move past the "I can change the
oil without losing a finger" and move up to "Not completely incompetent with a wrench."
The car actually runs pretty well right now. I think it could use a tune up as it had a pretty drastic change in elevation from where it lived previously. Other than that, the electrical problem I believe I have isolated down to the regulator on the alternator.
The problem lies in that as it runs, the battery is getting drained. The car can sit parked for months and not lose power, but after a bit of driving the battery is wiped out. The car has a new style alternator with a regulator that takes it back to being a 1 wire type. The regulator seems to only be putting out about 12.5v when its running which is likely the problem. There is a small resistance adjuster built into the regulator but I don't see much change in the voltage output when I've tweaked it a 1/2 turn either way. Likely I just need a replacement regulator and I'll be good to go.
Thanks for the recommendation on the insurance folks. I'll be giving them a ring today.
I doubt I'll be able to make the run this weekend and the tags are expired and from out of state. Unless I can get out of work early and get it knocked off today.
