When I got my car mine was already bypassed, using a screw and some tape. Wanting to see all my gauges work, I hooked up the ammeter and it seemed fine for awhile. At this point I was running a 60amp alternator I think, (was 40a factory?) and one day I'm going down the highway and the dash starts smoking. Everything from the ammeter back to the bulkhead had melted! I've since rewired under the dash and put in new bulkhead connectors, but it's not fun. So is it necessary? I'd say in my case, definitely.
After a post from someone else on this forum, I replaced my lights with LEDs from a jeep wrangler. Minor shaving from the rear heatsink was required to fit, but after a few years they're still working 10x better than original. (though I rarely drive it at night)