got the truck back yesterday with a bunch of new OEM parts and Geico covered it all. i guess the fire was a blessing in disguise. items replaced: Alternator w belt, wire harness, air intake air cleaner and hose, hood insulation, and battery. they cleaned out the engine bay.
My mechanic said that the Yellow Optima battery i had in could have weakened the alternator or something. said sometimes the alternator could work too hard to charge up a bigger battery. interesting at least. never thought of that as being an issue.
now just waiting on plugs coil boots and wires so that my brother ( has a gen 1 as well ) I can tackle the spark plug project.
wish us luck!
and thanks again everyone for the support.