...After leaving the newly educated kid at Advance Auto Zone I hit the road and make it to Herb’s. Now Herb and Dee are going to Justin’s wedding and are leaving soon, so when Herb comes out and takes a quick look at my engine he quickly asserts that I’m not going anywhere. My fan belt is no longer turning the pully at all. So after some further examination of the alternator Herb graciously loans me an alternator he has in his garage. Unfortunately removing the alternator means either dropping the engine or breaking the engine down to the point that the fan housing and alternator can be lifted out. I am still trying to decide how to proceed when Herb and Dee leave for the wedding. I opt for breaking the engine down so I take off the carburetor, distributor cap and rotor, coil and even the generator (alternator) stand. Then I discover that the lid hinges are in the way of lifting the fan housing out so I take off the lid and the two rear bolts of the lid hinge that is attached to the car and loosen the third bolt then twist the hinges to the side and lift the fanhousing with the alternator attached straight up and out. Time for a break. A beer would be great right about now but then I’d probably loose interest in putting the engine back together and besides to get a beer I’d have to put the engine back together anyway to drive to the store and get one...so water suffices.
Back to work...I proceed to put the whole thing back together with the new (used) alternator and I have finished and am cleaning up when Herb & Dee arrive back home.
I ask Herb to check to make sure I have everything hooked up right and amazingly I do. I start her up and she runs beautifully though Herb adjusts the carb for me.
What makes this whole story a Zen story is that through it all I just had a smile on the inside and I enjoyed the problems with my car as they arose. I am still amazed that I was able to take the engine down and put it back together all by myself and I didn’t even have an idiot book to guide me! More importantly than that though is the good fortune that is mine for having friends like Herb and Dee and the rest of the VolksFolks who are always so eager to help out in any way they can!