Saving gas......

Glad to read that your car problem wasn't anything catastophic! Alternator easy fix then back on the road! 

Ger, been there.....

Not just me then

I just called the place where I dropped off the alternator this morning, they have ordered in the bearings, be ready tomorrow.......

Its a little local auto electrical shop that's been there since the '70's. Its run by a couple of guys in filthy overalls and oily black hands. Chaotic piles of Dynamo's/alternators/starters/batteries etc in every corner. The counter is ingrained with decades of oil and grease......Everything is labelled with a little card tied on with string. Not a computer in sight...and, when the phone rings, it also rings a proper bell on the workshop wall

Not  a "free" coffee, attractive Receptionist, or comfy sofa anywhere. They can REPAIR almost anything !

Remember when autoshops were all like this????

And they can instantly look at part and tell you what its from --- vs asking make/model/year. Ah, good old days. When I had British sports cars, Betty's Foreign Car Parts in NJ knew me by name and the bank my checks drawn on.

Glad it's minor. And big ups to the dudes in the greasy overalls. I got a place like that round the way. Muffler shop and used cars, but Mike, the big guy inside, is always helpful and breaks out the torch, cutters and bending machinery at a moment's notice. He's made stuff for me for nada--on Thanksgiving eve no less.

Ger:

We used to have an electrical shop like that around here.  Two old (really old) guys ran the place.  Both wanted to retire but they couldn't find any younger guys who were interested in taking over an alternator/starter rebuild shop - even though they both had plenty of business.

Eventually, they both got into their mid-late 70's and the place just closed.  Lots of older machine shops around here are going that way, too, these days.  Sad.