My father is driving his 1979 Mercedes-Benz 450sl from Colorado to Vermont roughly along that route above. He just called me from western Nebraska with a dead alternator. 🙁
Needless to say, the parts stores in Nebraska don’t carry a suitable alternator, so he’s doing the logical gearhead thing: He bought two spare batteries and a charger and he’s going to keep driving until he can find one.
Here is where you come in dear reader: Anyone know what sort of alternator he needs? I assume it is a Bosch, but googling so far is just getting me link farms. A Lester/Rebuilders number would be great! If you don’t know that, how about a hint of reasonably honest Mercedes service locations (dealers or independents) anywhere from Elkhart, Indiana to Cleveland, Ohio. That is where he’ll be Monday morning.
Thanks in Advance!
Update, 11 PM PDT: I posted this to a couple of car-related mailing lists, and received a ton of useful information, part numbers, potential sources, and a good selection of service operations along his route. I’ve passed it along to my Dad. He & my mom made it to their hotel before dark, and have their battery on the charger. He said the car ran great all day.
Thanks to all who provided information!
bugger…. Merc’s and the northern hemisphere are not my area of expertise! 😉
good luck Chuck…
Jerome