Finally found the solution to my problem with the alternator putting out a measured 34.5V at idle. I now believe it was due to the way my mechanic friend had hooked up the wiring after he cut off the triangle block with the fusible links coming out of it. I mentioned that he had put in a fender mounted fuse block to eliminate the factory splice and he had hooked the return wire from the alternator along with it's fusible link to a port in the fuse block and put a 30a fuse in it. When the battery was fully charged (like when I first put it all back together) the VR was calling for no charge, and the alternator was putting out no significant voltage. At that point the 30a fuse held just fine. But when the vehicle operated for a bit, and was started repeatedly, the alternator put out too much current for the 30a fuse to handle (thanks Andrewh for that tip) and the fuse would blow. As soon as the fuse blew, the circuit from the alternator output to the battery was interrupted and there was no 'load' on the alternator, thus (I think) the alternator was 'freewheeling' and putting out whatever voltage it could. Since the return wire from the alternator still had about 5" of the fusible link attached, I decided to try putting a 'load' on the circuit by attaching it directly to the battery via the + post of the new fuse block, eliminating the extra fuse (but still having the protection of the fusible link). So I cut off the female spade connector the mechanic had put on the fusible link and put on a round terminal connector and bolted it dirctly to the + circuit coming from the battery. I started the vehicle and measured the voltage at the alternator. At idle, it showed 13.5V, and at a cruise rpm, went up to about 14.2V. It appears then, that the alternator MUST have the battery connected to it's output circuit in order for it to put out the correct voltage. Prior to starting the vehicle for this test, the battery was measuring at 11.2V, due to the three days of multiple engine starts for testing without getting a charge.

So, I do believe the problem is solved. I will continue to monitor the battery charging condition to see if the voltage coming from the alternator drops when the battery if fully charged.

Thanks to EVERYONE who contributed to this thread, your posts helped me look at some things differently which eventually led to fixing the problem. You guys are the best.

Once again, MOPARTS to the rescue!