Replaced the VR which solved the short but the ammeter was still pegged. Battery could not hold 12.3V. Got a new battery, resolved issue. Checked Alternator output which is 14.6 V running fast idle. Battery voltage not running 12.7 V.
Ammeter behavior back to normal - shows load, charge and quickly returns to neutral with little load on it.
If I had to "guess", the battery (which is over 4 years old) had a bad cell which ultimately screwed the VR.