Aspire alternator in a carb'd Festy?

[georgeb]

Remove the belt and start the car. If the light is not on the warning circuit is open (one of those thin wires on the alt).

[Mustang196t8]

I got the Aspire alternator swapped onto the vehicle today and one thing is giving me grief: the charge light doesn't come on when I turn the key to ON. Before the charge light would illuminate alongside the CEL and oil light, but the car appears to be charging normally once running. I get 15 volts at the battery while running, and 13.9 off. My lights no longer flicker! 8) Right now I have my choke heater hooked up to the 12v line running to the MAP sensor so that I can test the system. I plan on dropping the voltage with an LM317T Adjustable-Voltage Regulator once I make sure everything is functioning properly. Radioshack link here.
I'm very positive I have my wires hooked up correctly. Should I be worried about my charge light?

The voltage reg idea made me think of a similar idea - on older Ford's they had a small voltage regulator for the gauges. Interestingly they didn't change the design all the way from the 60's up into the 80's. The original style was a bimetal element that basically heated up and switched off and on from 12 volts to no volts - so the gauges 'saw' an average of 5-6 volts. Here is an article that shows how to replace with a IC regulator like what you described - maybe this can be used to regulate the voltage to the choke.

http://www.turbotbird.com/techinfo/ivr/improved_design_solid_state_IVR.htm

Also - maybe one of those 'ballast' resistors that come with some of hotter coils (MSD Blaster, Accel SuperCoil) if someone has a spare. They are made of ceramic and have a hole in them so they could be mounted to a bracket or the firewall. Or the older MoPar's (Chryslers) use one in the ignition system as well and those you should be able to buy at your local parts store for probably around $10 or less. It should drop the voltage down to around 7-9 volts.

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=ballast+resistor&hl=en&safe=active&sa=X&biw=1432&bih=353&tbm=isch&prmd=imvnsfd&tbnid=_JGm_BM43N-UiM:&imgrefurl=http://www.mopartruckparts.com/group-08.html&docid=nz4jMvuo6QKvpM&imgurl=http://www.mopartruckparts.com/images/ballast-resistor-5206436.jpg&w=333&h=307&ei=NnjVTpPCPMjcgQeB8vWNAQ&zoom=1