Took the Gal for a ride on Saturday and everything was fine, volt gauge read about 14, which is its normal reading.
Went to restart it about 4 hours later and it turned over like a "hard start" or too much timing or a "heat soak" deal. Shut it off and it restarted just fine, but I noticed the volt gauge jumping from about 12 to 14 volts at idle. Give it a little gas and its a constant 14 volts.
Tapped on the voltage reg but it didnt do anything. Both the alternator and regulator are about 5 years old.
So what do you think. I SUCK at electrical.

B.S.D.

Basic Scientific Diagnosis.

Begin by checking the specific gravity of the battery. Compare the cells. Even if not fully charged they should be uniform.

If the battery checks out go to the Alternator. Unplug the Voltage Regulator and power up the Field with a jumper wire. That is run a jumper wire from the Hot Wire terminal on the VR Plug to the Field terminal on the VR Plug.

It should show 13.5 to 14.5 volts at idle. As you increase engine RPM the voltage should increase to way more than "normal", probably 16-18 volts.

If the alternator checks out okay, probably replace the Voltage Regulator.

A slipping belt would just give a low voltage reading, not the pulsing that you had.

Keep in mind that you can't properly test the system unless the battery is fully charged. I'd hang a charger on it for awhile and see if the condition goes away. I take it that the car is not in daily use so it's possible there might not be anything wrong at all.

Well you know how those old cars are, once you start having electrical problems, you can never get it fixed right. It will always have something electrical going wrong. Your best action is to just sign the car over to me and I'll do my best to just live with the problem.

Or, you could try to find where the loose connection, corroded/bad ground is and fix it.

The car is in shock from you driving around 'nekkid this past week...

I was thinking it might be the difference in elevation with those 40" wheels.

57 Ford Custom 300 2dr
390 FE,
Holley Street Dominator, 750 DP
Cruisomatic
3:55 Trac Loc

I agree with the above statement.. Running 40" wheels and a 2 ft. lift on your drivetrain, will send your regulator into an elevation anti-loc static compression fluctuation...

Whatever he said, plus it'll give you a nose bleed from the elevation.

I was thinking that due to the dia of the rims, the alternator was turning way too slow and its not enough to charge the battery.

My Gal has done that in the past. Then when it re-starts the idle is low until that first little rev, then it is fine. I'm wondering carb problem, fuel something, vapor lock, W.T.F., kinda like you. Maybe like Ed says, you ought to just give it to him, but I'd be honest to tell you I would pay you something for it. After all there are a lot of parts on it that will work on mine just perfectly. Could be the EXTRA intake manifold you have. You might wanna try getting rid of that if anyone wants it!!!(Me)