Most of the time the ammeter is bypassed when converting to an alternator. That is because the alternator can put out more current than the ammeter can handle. I recently purchase a non Chevrolet car that had been converted to an alternator. I wanted information on the health of the system while operating the car. I purchased a charge monitor from an Ebay vendor in the UK. It is a tiny LED display that changes color for different voltages. So with the car not running, turning on the ignition causes it to display green, if the voltage is 11.8 or above. It will show yellow below that and red if it gets further down. If the charging voltage gets too high, it will flash.
