What you may want to do is check the line running from the battery to the distribution block just to the right of the battery for damaged connections. I had one fail and lost power to the car plus a buch of smoke.

Use a meter to check the line from the alternator to ground to see if there is a short. Typically if the regulator fails you are going to either get no power or very high voltage. To check remove the alternator line from the battery clamp and conntect the clamp so you are feeding power to the car. Check alternator line for voltage once the car is started.