Perhaps some of you have been down this road before and can offer some advise?
Discharge light is on and with the engine running and headlights on the voltage reading across the batters remains the same if the regulator is plugged in or not plugged in.
Here are the things I've already done: Checked wire connections (three times), replaced or repaired any bare wires, did point to point continuity checks from the connector that plugs into the regulator to the other end of the wires, installed new regulator (the old one looked really rough and wires were burned at the connector). Inspected brushes, they look fine, move freely and are way above minimum length. Slip rings were a little dirty so I lightly polished and checked continuity between the rings and checked that they weren't shorted to ground. The diodes on the rectifier appear to be good and top and bottom plates are isolated from each other.
Is there a way to temporarily bypass the regulator and energize the alternator to see if is functioning at all?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.