Wow, looks like I've got a lot more to look into.
I was taking my dash apart and noticed wires coming in through the firewall behind the kick plate. That is not good. Closer inspection reveals that at least one of these wires may be the main power coming from the alternator into the cab. If so, I need to double check, then it looks like they may have bypassed the engine harness layout. If this is the case I'll need to rethink this whole situation and by an engine harness and re-wire ... again. I may also by a dash wiring harness to make sure I have a good fuse box in the car. This is daunting to me to say the least but, it can't be helped if this is the issue. Or at least if this is hacked in this way, I won't feel safe unless I re-wire the these two components of the wiring system.
Thanks guys for the input, I now have a source if information to come back to. I'll keep ya posted as to my progress. I'm starting to believe it's the exciter wire that may be the problem and not the ground but, I need to look into how much the wiring "might" be hacked as it comes into the car. As I said previously, the exciter wire was actually tied into the main power wire coming from the alternator under the hood.
Anyway, wish me luck!