68 Valiant dies and runs lumpy, then suddenly runs fine.

Last week I started the car and when I shifted into gear, some sparks came out from under the dash. They looked like they originated from the left side of the steering column. After that, the voltage followed the rev of the engine, and it wouldn't run off idle.

I replaced the voltage regulator, and the alternator gauge now sits steady at highway speeds, but shoots up momentarily the middle of the right side of the gauge. There's no noticeable change in how it runs when that happens.

I had the coil and alternator tested and my buddy at the parts store pointed out that the alternator only has a single field connector, but the listing for the car showed a two field alternator. I have one connector on my car. I've seen some threads on one vs. two wire alternators, but didn't look at them much. Gonna start reading.

There is also an audible "tick" as the alternator gauge goes from 12v to ~17 volts. It almost sounds like the turn signal relay click. At idle in park, you can hear a slight change in revs when it happens.

I replaced the ballast resistor, and cleaned up every electrical connection I could find with dialectric grease and sandpaper. Pulled the bulkhead connectors and cleaned them.

I've heard that alternator gauges themselves can go bad. Is there any harm in bypassing it?

Solved the lack of guts... turns out the trans kickdown linkage had slipped in the channel. So far, it runs good, and pulls decently up hill. I'll see tomorrow if its still grumpy in the morning.