A lot has happened since my last update. I waited to post until I had something positive to say about the car. lol
It appears that I was having issues with oil, brake fluid, and exhaust leaks as well as an alternator issue the last time I checked in. I put the turbo back on with the new drain gasket and studs, copper sprayed the downpipe gasket, went through the alternator again, and fixed nothing at all.... I was extremely pissed! In fact, I went backwards because I had a new massive exhaust leak between header on the turbo. There's no chance of RTV sealing those pits and warps. I also got mad and ordered a new alternator.
I bought a new Remflex gasket and visited a local exhaust shop. They offered free advice and parts to try which I thought was very generous. Their solution worked, and I'm super happy about it. Why didn't I think to source bigger springs?
I bought a brand new Reybestos master cylinder. Let's hope it lasts a while. I'm glad my old Powermaster bench test stand can still be useful.
Washed, scuffed, and repainted the booster.
And finally learned the tricks/order of installing all the turbo parts so that every nut and bolt can get tight. The drain pipe is not easy to torque, but I finally got it to stop leaking. The new Remflex gasket and longer downpipe springs also sealed up the exhaust! The V6 is finally leak-free!
I finished installing the master cylinder. It's one of my least favorite simple jobs because I always get brake fluid on something. I had water handy, so hopefully I didn't do any real damage.
I was still not convinced that a new alternator was going to fix my problems, so I decided to research the rest of the charging circuit. I had seen a lot of old forum threads about this topic, but nothing replaces a good diagram.
It looks like the L pin ins in series with the volt light which is even simpler than I thought. It helped me realize that yes, the alternator could be defective, but it was the more obvious yet uncommon thing that I've been overlooking. The grounds.
I totally overlooked the fact that I painted everything including accessory brackets and alternator cases. In theory, there is no longer a path to ground and there's no reason the alternator should work, so I decided to give bulb check a closer look. Rolling the key over to run showed a very dim volt light which is not how it should be. However, this could still be a cluster issue, so I did another test. This time, the connector on the alternator was unplugged and the pin was alligator clipped to a header bolt. This way I can kill two birds with one stone. (cluster and block grounds) This time, the volt light came on as bright as day. Both the cluster and block grounds are good. It is concluded that either the alternator or it's painted surfaces are causing a no charge issue. I'm leaning towards paint. If that tiny light comes on at all, but doesn't have a strong enough connection to illuminate fully then the rest of the alternator is REALLY going to struggle. I'll knock some paint off tonight after work! Hopefully I can return that alternator and get $100 back.
Regardless of which issue it ends up being, I think I'm going for a test drive tonight! The brakes could still use a bleed/flush, but I have enough of a pedal to at least putt around the neighborhood.