Jerry's on Vacation.

So...

I've spent time pouring over the phone book this week, and made several trips around the Lancaster area in search of a machine shop or welding shop that might be able to do something about those sloppy holes in the rotor part of the alternator. Most of this has been futile...well actually all of it has been futile. I don't know, several of the places have been abandoned, some seemingly non-existent. Two of the places actually had signs, but alas, no people.

Today I found an old welding shop that was open. Actually it looked like it had been open since shortly after the Civil War, and while the guy who seemed to be in charge was most definitely not a Civil War veteran, his pappy may have been. I looked around as I walked up to him and it was the most unlikely place you'd think to go to get something fixed, but I'd had that feeling before. It called to mind that taxi shop I was led to by a policeman in Bennetsville when that Cavalier broke down on the way home from the beach a few years back. That turned out to be a pleasant surprise and a bargain as well, so I was not immediately discouraged. After all, their ad in the Yellow Pages proclaimed that "Anything Manufactured Can Be Rebuilt." (Just maybe not by us.)

Any way, we talk and I ask him what I'm thinking "Can these holes be welded up, re-drilled and re-tapped?"

"Yup" he says. "First I have to cut away all this metal up here, and around here and then I build it all back up and you have to find someone else to recut all this and drill the holes cause you need one of those things that holds stuff so it doesn't move while you're working on it. " 'Course," he said, "you'd have to take it to him first so he'd know what it looked like and be sure he could fix it after I got done with it."

"Is there anyone around you know of that could do that?" I asked

Some guy who came over said "Maybe ol' what's-his- name."

First guy says "maybe."

By now a couple of other guys have moseyed on over to see just what was so interesting. One of them says what is that thing anyway. I tell 'em it's a part from a 30 year-old motorcycle and one of them kinda makes one of those whistling noises people make when they're astonished or impressed or what-ever. One of the guys studies it for a while and says maybe the holes could be drilled out and some inserts placed inside the holes rather than all that cutting away and welding. I looked at the old guy hopefully and asked, "Could you do that?"

He looked at me and said "Hell son, you're talking about millionths of inches here." Then he wanted to know what one of these things cost. I told him about $150 but I couldn't find one anywhere and he said that what I was wanting to do if I could find someone to do it would probably cost $400 to $500 dollars.

There was some discussion about California and the Internet and I told them about the futility of that process so far. One of the guys wanted to know if I'd talked to Jerry about this. I told him I didn't think so but who was Jerry anyway.

He says, "Jerry runs C D Motorcycle and i bet if he doesn't have one he can help you find one. Shucks he may have one on the shelf!"

And so there it is. The consensus of the forum was that I should go to see Jerry. "He's out 903 past the bypass right next to Sambo's."

Jerry's on vacation.