Got me on that one.

 

this may be way off base but check your battery cable ends as well. mine were shot and it would be fine when it was cold but once things heated up there was too much resistance for the weak connection. New battery cable ends are cheap, get some at walmart or something and change them out. May help for cheap money.

 

There may be items connected ahead of the fuse block. Be sure there are no inline fuseholders installed for things like the radio, etc. that might be causing the draw. Speaking of radios; it's very common to have a radio that has power when the key is off, so sometimes installers connect that feed ahead of the fuse block. This will cause your meter or test light to illuminate when everything is off, but isn't a short, nor a draw that's large enough to cause your problem.
Also, make sure you mark where all your fuses are and don't pull them one at a time. Sometimes people tap things into the wiring and end up tying two wires together, and backfeeding the fuses. So if you pull one at a time, they may still be powered from the backfeed. You need to pull one at a time, but leave them out until you get them all pulled, or see the test light go out.
Remember to unplug your alternator wiring too! A bad diode in the alternator will cause a drain, and draw your battery down too.

 

A bad alternator diode was my thought too. The diodes are what prevents the alternator from draining the battery. Look at them as an electrical one way check-valve. Once the car cools down, feel the alternator and see if it's warm or hot. Or, just disconnect the main power lead to the alternator and see if the battery still drains. Some of the under-hood accessories, such as the alternator, horn relay, etc. get their power before the fuse block, and they are protected by inline fusible links. So, pulling all the fuses inside trying to find a drain doesn't always tell the whole story.

 

You're not off-base chaos, I actually did install new battery ends when the battery was changed a month or so ago. BB427, the radio was the first thing I thought of, it's still got the factory 8-track player (if anyone has any old "tapes" they want to part with? lol) I see NO inline fuses anywhere. The wiring under the dash looks like someone hacked into it pretty good and I'm a bit concerned about that. Didn't think about backfeeding so I'll try to pull the fuses like you said, thanks! Something still tells me that it's the alternator, I didn't pull that wiring yet but I will. I have ordered a new alternator, optima battery and new msd distributor as I'm gonna need them for the rebuild anyway. This problem is starting to irritate me, I really appreciate all the insight guys!

 

Forgot to ask, anybody using the 1-wire alternators these days? That's what I ordered as it sounds a lot easier (and cleaner) than the 3 wires. Hoping I didn't make a mistake there.

 

I am, and it's been working fine for me. It's really not necessary to convert to a one wire if you already have a working multi-wire system.

 

OK.... I now have all the fuses out of the car, took the wires off the alternator and the test light is still glowing bright. Any other fuse panels that I'm not aware of? Is this even possible?

 

Thats why I would use a meter. A light will light regardless. An ammeter with tell you if its .05mA (radio memory) or 15A. Big difference there.

 

I used the meter and set it on the 10amp setting. I get a reading of 0.44. When I touched the terminals to the battery cable and the post on the battery I can hear a clicking sound inside the car by the fuse box. I'm not the best at using/understaning the multimeters. The battery seems to be holding the charge with the negative cable removed.