Reply to "voltage regulator 3 one smoking"

I sympathise- I hate working on Pantera wiring too. There are two different regulators possible. The original was a fully mechanical one with 3 sets of contact points inside. Sometime in the mid-'80s, a fully electronic replacement unit came out. Yours could be either. The mechanical one could be disassembled & the points cleaned up, and if you really knew what you were doing, the action could be adjusted for a bit more charging. The e-regulator either works or it doesn't- no middle ground & no adjustments. Best part- they're cheap. But it sounds like you have a wiring problem- maybe in the alt, not in the car's loom.