I just wanted to post a small success story involving my charging system on the externally regulated 71 142e that I am now driving. The system would not charge, and the alternator appeared to be very old, so I just changed it as it was not too expensive. The new alternator did not fix the problem. So, I went to my local foreign specialty parts store and they found a new voltage regulator in New jersey and I bought it for about $40.
When I picked it up, I immediately noticed that it looked very different that my factory one and I was worried that it would not work. Upon inspection and comparison with diagrams in my factory green manual, the connectors were labeled the same as my factory, but the connectors were a little bit different. Anyway, to make a long story short, I simply connected as laid out in the manual and it works fine. I had to make one simple new jumper wire to go from my existing connector to the other side of the new regulator, but it is easy. I now get about 13.4 volts at 1200 rpm.
I have one question if someone wants to take a stab at it. The old voltage regulator appears to be a mechanical device that is shown in my Volvo green manual. The new regulator is a small black square that is only about 1/3 the volume of the old one. Is this new one a solid state type of device?

Thanks,

Jeremy
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71 142E and a yard full of 240's in Mass.