High volts

Plum Crazy, those are the same redneck fixes I have dealt with in my cars. I see the P.O. also thoughtfully sprayed black paint all over the rust and grease on the firewall (and anything else nearby) as my P.O.'s did (why do they do that? I had to remove to bare metal). When you fix it, don't use those ugly butt splices. Use solder and heat shrink. Cover exposed wire runs with plastic split loom so they don't ground out.

As mentioned re-read all the posts here. It will explain exactly how the voltage regulator works. Don't skim it like a novel. Read slow and take notes.