1997 Chev K2500 EC 7.4L no idle and no alt charging condition

[Mr_Rich]

In the ongoing off and on saga of the ownership of this truck I've done some more work and discovered more problems. The truck had been parked for quite some time and rodents started to munch on wiring. I think it was limited to the left headlight, fortunately. I repaired that with soldering and heat-shrink, tape, and zip wrap. I think that part is fixed and protected.
I had a no-start condition and felt it was probably the control wire to the solenoid. I had the same problem with a C7 Corvette I recently worked on. Sure enough the terminal was oxidized/ broken. Replaced with a new term and soldered. Bought a new starter and installed it.
This engine has a crank sensor and a dist that need to be in sync. I'm trying to do a quick and dirty job to get the truck running well enough to load on a trailer. I may have been retarding the timing instead of advancing it. I just need the truck to idle and not die when I put it into gear.
My next issue is that the alt isn't charging the batt. The alt tested good at AZ, supposedly. It was actually a new Delco I bought OTC several years ago so I fairly trust it. The power is a good 12VDC on the cable. I'm wondering about the 16 ga wire term that goes on the side of the alt. Is it like a transistor circuit that needs two inputs to get one output. I don't know. Thoughts?