On closer inspection I noticed it was a Ford alternator and packed up for the day wondering if I could remove it and shim it up to get the belt aligned correctly. I had to fit a new fan belt anyway as part of going over things ready for the maiden voyage..
Next session I removed the old fan belt and took the alternator off. I cleaned out its contacts and gave it a brush up. It only has two mount points, enough for the two front brackets, but no mount point at all for the 'through-bolt' that holds the alternator to the engine block itself. I couldn't find a way to shim it 100% straight with the other pulleys. If I moved it behind the front brackets and packed the top bracket out to bring the alternator toward the fan.. I found the bottom bracket had to be packed out too which caused the notched timing indicator to fowl the drive pulley. Oh well.
So I fit the new fan belt and added a more suitable alternator to my list of future jobs.
I recorded the voltage across my battery at 12.4V with the engine off, up to around 13.8V at a fast idle. Opinion seems divided on whether this is "tired" or not, but it's certainly charging to some degree so I'm going to leave it to swap in something better later on. I can risk some road trips this summer I think as I won't be using the lights or heaters like I would in winter.
