Lets start from the top.

1. When you start your car, your batteries job is done, it's no longer working, it's just sitting there and charging while your alternator powers your car. The battery is only there to work your electronics when the engine is not running.

2. If you had a generator, pumping the gas would seem logical, however alternators work very well above 1000rpm, as long as you're above that line you should have a good 14+ volts

3. I believe your car has an exciter wire, meaning as soon as it sees power and has enough speed, it will start to charge. If this exciter wire is loose, or disconnected then the system will not charge, it's always a good place to look first. HOWEVER it could be bad timing and your voltage regulator inside the alternator may have died, in this case you just replace the alternator and go about your business. I don't believe an 80s VW has too complicated of a charging system so it should be one or the other (is what NORMALLY happens).

4. When your car starts to run low on power, it will tend to screw up your electronics, this is probably why your gauge cluster was acting up.

I'm going to stop numbering already...

When the claims adjuster calls you and tells you what you will be getting for your car, you can typically argue with them, normally it'll be a few hundred dollars difference in a case like this. Given in a previous post you claimed the damage was $2300 which your insurance showed that to be 120% of the cars price, I'm willing to bet they'll cut you a check between $1500-1840 and you will have to toss them a few hundred to buy the car back from them (If they salvage it, they will own it, but you can buy it back). The only thing you can really do is call them up, argue it's worth more because it was in good shape, find comparable foxes and what they are selling for, if they're SELLING at $2000+ then you might get a $2000 check if you can prove this is what it was worth. It all depends on the adjuster you're working with though, in the end it's his or her call to make.

As far as the alternator goes, don't screw around, if it was me I'd take it off, have a local parts store test it, if it's bad then call around, find prices and buy one that works for you (I like to stay with the limited lifetime warranty stuff). It could cost you $60, it could cost you $200, I don't know. If the alternator tests good, you have an issue with your wiring leading to or from the alternator, if you got a jump and it ran fine until the cables were taken off, it's not an issue with your battery.

its not the timing the timing belt got replaced 6 months ago as that got replaced im sure the shop adjusted the timing as well so its not the timing causing my gauge cluster to go crazy and whats this? If they salvage it, they will own it, but you can buy it back). nope if they say its a total loss i will refuse to surrender it to them and then thats when they cut me a check after they deduct the salvage charge since they wont get the car i still will get a check a fender is only 39 bucks the radiator support is only 60 bucks i can pull this stuff off of another fox in my area and fix this myself just requires some tools to remove my bumper and fenders but will use the check form the insurance to fix this myself

and if the timing was messed up it would not of started up right away but it starts immediately so it has to be the alternator i had the battery charged and now i just have to put in the new alternator and go from their

Haha, when I said timing, I just ment 'time span' and not timing belt/chain. Timing would have nothing to do with this :).

what is a time span? confused. im sure the alternator had something to do with my RPM gauge acting up along with when i turn my key to the accessories spot my RPM gauge jumps to 8000RPMs then goes back down usaly it will just move up to the 1000 mark then go down

Haha, you know, forget anything I said with regards to 'time.'

when i got hit it must of knocked some wires lose like my hazzards int eh rear dont light up ut getting my rear bumper wedged in made my taillight get bent back to where it should be strange ting is its ot the first time this car was in a front end accident or a rear end one but all that by the previous owner

You need an alternator/generator... They're not really that expensive, and really, you can do it in your driveway in about an hour or so, assuming you don't have to actively take out things like the radiator and such to pull the part out. Easy fix. :)

thanks for the commetn but i got it fixed see my new journal entry and pics

I noticed, good to see that you're keeping it instead of getting another car. Those little Fox's can take a lot of abuse. :)

lol yes they can it only has 164 thou miles on it

For an 89, that's not too terrible. Little bit on the higher side of miles, but if it ran after being slammed into something, then it's a good car, redneck'ed back together or not. :)

indeed