My 82 has a in cab voltmeter.
I had the same electrical demons. I swapped over new alternators and IC Reg's about 3 times before I said "no more" and fabbed up some brackets for a 120 amp 1-wire Gm alternator. $100 and no hassel. Took me 1/2 day to fabb up the brackets right, had to tweak it a second time and hasn't let me down. In fact, all my lights are much brighter, and my stereo doesn't even come close to draining the battery. Plus it's blingin' chrome!
