OK, further update. Wyatt is almost done getting the car ready for Volo. In the past few days, he has found the time to:
1. replace the valve cover gaskets. He let the stuff cure over the course of a couple of days, for good measure, taking advantage of the fact that the alternator was off (see item 3 below) and the car was not being driven.
2. take the steering apart to replace the upper input shaft seal (the steering box was leaking, and the educated guess is that this seal was responsible) and to check the steering coupler.
@saforwardlook was (as he has been throughout this sprucing up process) most generous with his help -- thanks to him, we got the special tool to change that seal. Here is the new seal, ready to go in:
3. check, while the steering column was out...
...the steering coupler. Discussions with @saforwadlook were again very helpful, teaching me a lot about the coupler. FCBO threads on the topic prior to talking with Steve had me somewhat more up to speed, so thanks for the contributors.
For the time being, I decided to not change my original coupler as the rubber is not perfect anymore but seems to have some life left. Here are a couple pics, so that everyone can chime in with their opinions regarding this decision:
Truth be told, if the replacement part had been available this week, I'd have changed it. But, the necessary part for a proper replacement won't be available for 2 weeks, so we did not. BTW, it will be a
Land Rover NTC3486, ordered from Dave at Atlantic British and modified by a friend as explained in
this thread. Note that the OEM part is not available anymore from Land Rover, but the one sold by AB is made by a current OEM supplier to LR. It is 4 times the cost of some reproduction pieces I have seen, but I was willing to pay the $20 premium for it based on credibly positive reviews of that specific part and of that merchant.
4. replace the alternator. The alternator on the car when I got her was incorrect -- wrong year, wrong brackets, and as a result wrong belt length. Wrong output, too, it seems as the voltage regulator got to leaking. Finding a proper, round back, two-field-terminals, 45-amp unit took way, WAY more effort than expected as units now on the market typically output 90 amps (and I had no intention of beefing up the wiring or bypassing anything). I
searched far and wide, but on the advice of
@saforwardlook I decided to stick to what was specced for the car. I finally found the right one through Neal at
Obsolete Parts in Cincinnati, OH. That one-man shop is a solid old-fashioned (paper, phone, USPS) operation: Neal knew what he was talking about, was great to talk with, and a remanufactured alternator was delivered to Rockford in less than 2 days. Call me happy.
Medina had the correct brackets already. Whoever installed the incorrect alternator just put the other ones over the correct ones. So, Wyatt installed it this afternoon, here is a picture after (for a picture of the previous incorrect setup, see
here).
