ahh not so fast chris, are they plastic rivits? finds omething such as a very very small screw driver about the size of a pair of compasses (remeber them from maths? ) and you can poke a little plastic stick out and the rivits pop out,
id try putting the volt meter on the back of the alternator?

Plastic case, metal rivets, I might try picking at it tomorrow

bugga, the standards are plastic, someone has replaced them for metal obviously, when you put it back, id see if you can get some placcy ones,
adjusting the reg is a piece of cake, read the thread i asked for help on about it, andf read the hanyes manual, you will need, 1 feeler gauge, and 1 7mm spanner and a flat head screw driver iirc this will allow you to see if the gap in the reg is right, but id put a volt meter on the alternator if pos

What does iirc mean? Ok I'll take a looks in the morning

if i remeber correctly

If you have got a volt meter check the voltage on the battery at engine idle [should be around 12v] then rev the engine a bit quicker while watching the meter which should rise. There are parameters but if you get around 13.5 volts then its charging.

If you don't have a volt meter then use your headlamps, same as above but watch the brightness of the lamps which should be noticeably brighter when the engine is revved above a fast idle.

Brushes on most alternators are very easy to change often just one sometimes two screws and they come out as a little cartridge. Again it will be obvious if they are worn beyond use. Messing about inside the regulator is not recommended unless you know what you are about.

i managed though !! and i had no clue, dropped the charging output down by 3 volts

So yours was charging at greater than 17 volts then? Hows the battery and your bulbs come to that.

no it was about 16.6v ish so tuned it down to about 13.5 ish (average)

Used the voltmeter on the battery already it sits at 11.4 and stays there