The voltage regulator on our 1981 Ford 41610 went out on us and overcharged the battery,ruining it. I went to our local auto electric shop and the owner had a voltage regulator that attached directly to the existing alternator and made the connection with it. The only thing I had to do was to get the ignition switchable wire from the firewall and run it to the new regulator. The regulator was $32 and three feet of wire and a spade connector and we were back in business. This is a pretty easy fix for anybody that has problems with their charging system and has a regulator that is remote from the alternator. in our case our wiring was all kluged up by the original owner who broke a battery and had the acid destroy the main harness connector.