Porsche Repair: starting my 1981 911, high tension, beautiful car

Question
Hi Dave,
I have a 1981 911 Targa with about 190,000 miles. I have not driven it in over a year, and I am wondering if it is OK to just crank it up and see what happens or is there something I should do first. Do I need to do anything with the fluids or oil?
On top of that, the battery won't hold a charge, so I guess my alternator is shot, but could their be another problem? I had the car completely checked out two years ago and have put nop more than 50 miles on it since then so I can't understand why I would have a bad alternator.
Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated. It's a beautiful car and I want to drive it regularly.
Thanks very much.
Michael

Answer
Hi Mike,

I'm sorry, I'm a bit confused.  If the car hasn't been started yet, the alternator hasn't even had a chance to spin...but it's bad?  Are you saying the alternator was determined to be bad a year ago?

As far as cranking the engine, I'd sure like to see you first change the oil and remove the spark plugs and the high tension lead from the coil.  Then crank the engine to get some new oil circulating without any compression and without a chance it will start.  If everything seems normal after several short bursts of cranking (let the starter cool down a bit each time) then I'd put it back together and start it up.

Dave