Why wont my alternator charge

Lee Smith said

I bought a new alternative for my 65 dart gt slant six had them test it before coming home installed the alt and still it doesn't charge over 12 volts I have a 85 pickup dodge it charges when I put it in the truck is it a bad voltage regulator what else could it be It also has a electronic ignition the plate style in the distributor its never charged since I installed that.

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Isn't a 65 and an 85 going to use two totaly different, opposite regulator and wiring setups?

Does your 65 have only one large output wire attached with a ring terminal and one field wire that slips onto a flat spade terminal? I think the other field wire would be grounded at the alternator itself. This would use a regulator on the input side of the field wire to the alternator.

Does your 85 have one large output wire with a ring terminal and then two different field wires that slip onto flat spade terminals? This would use full battery system voltage in one field wire and then a regulator on the other field wire to control the alternator by adjusting the grounding to the wire.

The newer cannot run properly on the older system without grounding one of the field terminals.