65 Valiant charging system problems after repaint (Not a grounding issue)

I'll try and make this as short as possible. Prior to the repaint everything on the car worked as it should. I removed all of the wiring from the bulkhead forward prior to painting leaving all components attached to the harness. After painting I cleaned and inspected all of the wiring and connections including the bulkhead connections. I also made sure all of the grounding points were bare. All of the firewall components were probably the original and looked pretty bad including the alternator so everything was replaced. Alt, starter relay, fusable link, Ballast resistor, Horn relay, and voltage regulator with a Durolast #VR706. the battery was new in Sept and has been on a batt tender all winter. Now everything still works as it should but when I start the engine at idle the amp guage reads +20-30 amps and slightly above idle 1,500 rpms the guage goes to the limit on the + side. Also the amp guage never shows discharge. With the engine off, the ign key on acc , headlights, signals, wipers on the guage doesn't budge. I checked the batt. voltage this morning and it was 15.3 v. I have double and triple checked everything I can think of hoping it was something that I have missed but no luck. I would really appreciate any help/suggestions. thank you all in advance.