i have a 83 yota that is over charging and makin the battery swell up a good friend of mine has a 82 that is also behaving the same way. any thought would be helpful

 

Sounds like the voltage regulator is not working. They used to be external... but most are internal to the alternator these days.

 

x2 on the volt reg

 

both rigs have a new external voltage regulator

 

In that case, what I'd do next would be to check the voltage at the battery (with engine on of course). Check it at idle, and check it at 2k rpms (roughly).

Should be around 13.75v-14.5v at idle, and go up a bit with increased rpm.