Your experience reminds me of mine. I learned an important lesson the same way, replace the battery, alternator and voltage regulator at the same time
As for the hard starting, check that the starter is not getting "baked" by the exhaust pipes/headers. You can have the resistance checked on it, and it is very common to have it fail due to high temps in the manner you describe. I had a similar problem with a 360 (FE) on a Ford truck. I put in a heat shield, better known as a piece of aluminum, between the headers and the starter to protect it from heat. This may or may not be your problem, but it is worth a check as most places will check your starter for free!
Tom "stranded with dead battery" Johnson