Thursday, July 16, 2026

A couple afternoons ago I took time to replace the alternator in the wagon.

There wasn’t anything wrong with the one on the wagon; in fact, it hadn’t been on for just over a year. But given the fact that I am **still** considering trying a 12v compressor AC system on the wagon, one of the common complaints you hear is that the 12v compressor systems have a very high demand on a vehicle’s charging system.

The new alternator is a 200-amp one. Its a nice chrome one, much like the 110-amp one I replaced. Its a heavy duty one. In fact, it was noticeably heavier than the 110-amp one.

The alternator on the wagon mounts on the passenger side; a long bolt installs in the pivot point on the alternator with a spacer to keep the pulley on the alternator in line with the other pulleys. The problem I had was holding the new alternator with one hand while trying get the long bolt threaded into the cylinder head. I struggled with holding the alternator up with my left hand and tried unsuccessfully to thread the long bolt into the cylinder head.

I was bent over the radiator for quite some time working on it. I finally grabbed some cardboard and stacked it up under the alternator to help support it, which allowed me to finally get the long bolt threaded in place.

Of course, this morning my back was stiff as hell. A day later, its still stiff but less so (thankfully). But the new alternator is installed, and I’m waiting the arrival of a set of matching valve cover screws and valve cover clamps. When I ordered them, I only got enough screws and clamps for one valve cover.

LOWERING BLOCKS? I want to remove the lowering blocks from the Chevy before we go to the Tri-Five Nationals. My son is a heavyweight like me, and I can only imagine how bad the exhaust will drag, so I really want to see if removing the blocks will give me a little more clearance.

Actually, I’ve considered trying the car first without the lowering blocks, then maybe installing them as lifting blocks to raise the rear of the car a couple of inches.

I’m reasonably sure that if I bought a new set of leaf springs for the rear that the wagon would likely ride higher in the rear. The truth at this point is that I’m not sure if the solution is raising the car or redoing the exhaust so it doesn’t hang so low. My real fear is that if we go to the Tri-Five Nationals and the car drags as bad as it does now, that we’ll actually drag the exhaust (or part of it) off the car.

I guess I need to take a look and see what’s exactly dragging. I’m certain its the exhaust, and not the frame or other chassis parts.

My back this morning is still sore, so I’m not going to be doing much activity unless I need to.

BLOOMFIELD DEPOT STREET. Weather for tomorrow’s Depot Street car show in Bloomfield isn’t looking very favorable. Fifty percent chance of storms, with scattered storms for Friday afternoon. Which basically means the National Weather Service isn’t sure if we’ll have rain or not by 5 p.m. tomorrow. Gotta play it by ear and keep an eye on the radar, I suppose.

Well, its nearly 2 p.m. and I’ve not gotten much done. No shortage of chores my son and I can tackle today, so I better get moving. More later!