'71 Duster 340 Battery getting overcharged

MrDuster said
. Can you shed some light on how a voltage regulator does what it does? It appears both field wires from the alternator hook directly to the voltage regulator with no other input...just curious. Also plan to remove the voltage regulator I have and clean it up good as I thought perhaps it is grounded to the firewall--am I wasting my time??? .

Look at the simplified diagram. The "I" terminal goes to 'switched ignition' and that branches out and feeds power "to" the blue field wire.

On the 70/ later systems, the VR is powered off the switched ignition, same as the pre-70. The DIFFERENCE in 70 / later (isolated field) is that the VR controls the 'amount of ground' via the green field wire. In other words, what you have done is to power the alternator field, and permanently grounded the "normally green" wire connection, thus "full charge"

GROUND.........The regulator and ignition box MUST be grounded. Scrape around the bolt holes and get some star lock washers.

MrDuster said
. I suspected the auto zone "guru" wasn't such a "guru" when he told me it was a direct replacement and I could leave the other field wire off with no problem.

He very well could have cost you some trouble, like a blown up stereo or lights or other damage. With no regulator, the only thing preventing the voltage from going sky - high (over 100 volts) is the RPM, the condition and output of the alternator, and the load on the system, IE "how big" is the battery