recommend alternator shop in CT?

[JCHinCT]

My '83 911SC, only 60K miles, has been bulletproof. Until a recent day trip. The tach suddenly started swinging wildly, then pegged at the max, then went to zero, and back to swinging all over the range. My speed was constant ~ 30mph and the engine RPM sound wasn't changing. Also the tach swinging changed range when I put my turn signal on, then returned to max when the turn signal went off. I was 2/10 of a mile from home, so pulled into my garage, where the engine promptly died. Trying to restart I heard a click, but apparently the battery was depleted. I disconnected the battery and charged it and now it's holding voltage. But I haven't tried to re-start the car because I'm assuming the voltage regulator is shot, or perhaps the alternator. I'm 98% sure this is the original alternator & VR ... so at least 40 yrs old.
I've been reading the posts and advice re removing the alternator & replacing the VR. The weight of opinion seems to suggest taking it to a local shop to have the alternator bench tested. If it's bad, I'd plan to have them rebuild it with a new VR and perhaps new slip ring and bearings.
My questions: anyone in the CT / Mass area recommend a good alternator shop? Also, does anyone think I'd be better off just buying a rebuilt unit?
Thanks in advance for your comments.

[Bill Verburg]

Hairy Dog in Oxford

[JCHinCT]

TQ Bill ... I'll follow up with Hairy Dog.

[jason2guy]

I've been thru this for 25yrs. Forget about the original alt and update to the 75amp valeo.
It's more pricey than a rebuild, but not by much.
The wiring mod is nothing more than not connecting 1 plug and unplugging the VR

[JCHinCT]

Thank you Jason2guy. Dan Jacobs at Hairy Dog Grrrage was kind enough to spend 10 min on the phone with me ... the result is that I bought a VR from FCP. However the Valeo part I got is a 2 wire VR, and the Paris-Rhone that came out has only 1 wire. Spent quite a bit of time studying the wiring diagrams to see if I could make the 2-wire unit work. I suspect I could, but in the meantime found the commutators so deeply scored, and so much copper debris in the brush vicinity I decided the best course of action is as you suggest, go with a new 75amp Valeo. I don't think re-installing will be difficult, but will post again when I get this sorted.

[JCHinCT]

To wrap up, my Valeo alternator is finally installed. 13.99V at the battery ... no tach bounce, car's running great. But 1 lesson learned. The Valeo alternator has a half-moon Woodruff key, not a rectangular one like the original. Upon sliding the fan back on to the shaft, the key slipped and rotated 90 degrees, which meant the fan was out of position by about 1/2". But I didn't realize it. Upon re-installing the alternator, and attempting to re-install the fan belt (with 4 shims between the two V belt pulley halves & 2 outside) there was insufficient threads remaining to get the nut in place. Took me a while to figure this out, and another 2 hours of trying to remove the fan and re-seat it, while the alternator was installed. Finally gave up and completely took the alternator out again. Then the fan went back on easily, with the Woodruff key correctly positioned. Put the alternator back in the car in about 40 minutes (far far easier the 2nd time!) and got the fan belt on correctly. My advice is, when installing the fan, to make sure all the threads on the alternator are visible and none are hidden within the fan bore. Kind of obvious in hindsight, but there you go. PS TQ again to jason2guy