HELLO ALL. Good news, the wiring problem has been fixed!!
JAG: I checked the two diodes one was bad, so since I was in the area of the diodes I extended the length of the three wires and moved the mount atop of the Yoke rail near to the firewall, MUCH easier to deal with the diodes there. Since I have a "parts" Skymaster I checked those diodes and found one was okay and installed it. Re-wired the battery contactor to original configuration and now the bus is not hot when I re-connected the battery! Many thanks.
Regards, BILLS