May as well

For less than $40, a 10SI alternator can be exchanged for a rebuilt model at a parts store, but this car still has a Delco unit. The 63-amp 1102369 Delco-Remy alternator was made Aug. 8, 1973, making it two years younger than the car.

Though it's not the original alternator, it's been with the car so long that it seems only fitting to restore it. At some point in the future, maybe a date-correct 1100950 alternator can be found. Until then, this one looks the part — at least more so than the knockoffs that the parts store sells.

Kits to rebuild these seem to grow on trees. A new rectifier, regulator, brushes and other parts can be purchased for about $20. With a little work to freshen up the case and the few parts that are meant to be reused, this will look and work like a new one.

Buying a new stator might also be cheap and a lot easier than restoring this one, but this one passes continuity tests and with a little work will look new again. If it doesn't turn out looking very good or somehow it gets ruined in the process, a new one is about $40.