msicks, I suggest the following action, use Post 30 as a reference:
1. Confirm wiring to/from alt and VR.
2. Also, confirm wiring from ign switch to VR #4.
3. I believe the resistance of the 24 ga wire could be 35 ohms, I haven't found any documentation on this wire, just what other members have posted. A length of larger gauge wire, say 16 ga and a 35 ohm resistor, maybe 25 watt minimum to begin with would good start, and wire in place.
4. Ensure the terminals of all connectors involved are actually making good contact onto their female counterpart. All terminals should be the same depth into the connector as viewed from the rear of the connector.
5. Disconnect the battery, BATT stud wore, and alt connector, and once again, measure the forward and reverse resistance on the alternator between BATT stud and R terminal. One direction should read, with DVM on 'diode' postion, the arrowhead with a line in front of the arrow, less than 600 ohms. Swap leads and should read infinity. If not, bad diode, again.
6. Use the mechanical VR until the problem is solved.
7. You can install between the BATT stud and the red wire just removed, a Harbour Freight 0-50 amp ammeter. They're cheap, $10. Don't really care the direction of ammeter indication at this point, just looking for movement to show current from the alt. If you use #10 ga wire between BATT stud and ammeter, ensure the gauge can not touch the engine/ground, pipe foam works great.
8. Connect battery, start engine, fast idle, and make voltage measurements across VR connector and alt plug with reference to ground, or neg battery post and report.
9. Externally charge the battery first. This action would be to remove giving a heavy load on the alt after start-up.
10. You might even hook up a terminated ground wire between the alt GRD stud and VR mounting bolt to eliminate any difference between the two chassis. Or run two wires from alt GRD stud to bat neg post and VR mounting bolt to bat neg post - better choice.
