Alternator gauge is smoking

It looks good in that there are no signs of heat and its clean and shiny. Also the insulators look OK.
That doesn't mean it is good. You have to tell us if the threaded studs are secure in the metal plate.
You can measure the resistance from one stud to the other but unless its really in bad condition, it will show zero resistance.(illustrated here)

Look at the rest of the connections, if either ammeter ring terminal touched ground anywhere, there should be signs of heat damage.