Piston,
About your alternator, I've had simialr issues with alternators. I've been thru about 15 or 20. Yes really that many. About 2 a year. A couple of things, I keep a spare with me when I'm at the track and the rebuilt stuff from autozone, advanced auto, napa, etc is crap.
The best longest lasting one I've had was a genuine GM new unit. A close second was the couple I had rebuilt locally. Buy 2 of the cheapest "lifetime" units and hang on to the reciepts.
Good luck.