Hey all,
Sean here again.  Well, yesterday we wrenched out the old alternator and today
we put in a rebuilt one.  Actually, we had a place rebuild my old one as no one
else around had one in stock.  But the place that did the rebuilding has a
reputation for doing good work.  Guy who rebuilt it said that all the diodes had
been blown out from my dad putting the battery in backwards.  Anyway, we got the
new one in (and there really should be an easier way) and the alternator light
on the dash goes out like it's supposed to.  The voltage regulator apparently
survived this encounter with reversed polarity electricity as it seems to be
working.  Also, (thank God) the fuel injection system is working as well as
ever.  I'm glad that there was no damage to any of those components.  The
backwards battery did cause a 12 amp fuse in the power line to my stereo to blow
but that's been fixed.  This was a successful job with minimal swearing and
busted knuckles.  However, I don't want to have to do that again anytime soon.  

Till next time,
Sean