RE: wiring harnesses

[Sean B <polecat2@xxxxxxxx>]

Anything above about 70 amps can literally melt the amp gauge.  People 
might tell you they have done it, and I believe them, but I've seen a 
lot of amp gauge meltdowns this way.  In fact, Chrysler went with a 
different harness model (in the late 1970's, I think) to prevent this 
from happening.

However, when re-wiring my '64 I noticed these older amp gauges are of 
all metal-on-metal construction.  The problem with cars/trucks that came 
later was the plastic in and around the gauges couldn't stand the heat.  
I installed an alternator tested at a full 70 amps, and it works like a 
charm.  Anything higher, and I would have run an additional charging 
wire from the alternator directly to the stud on the starter relay, 
which would take at least half the load away from the original charging 
wire and the amp gauge.

That is really the way to do it, anyway, and it only takes a few minutes 
to do.  I didn't go that route on my car because I wanted the original 
amp gauge to work properly, and by halving the power that goes through 
the firewall, you render an amp gauge useless, as it needs ALL the 
charging juice passing through it to work as intended.  I just wanted my 
car to have no external gauges inside--it's just not the look I was 
after with this particular car.  If you do add this second charging 
wire, just install any voltmeter and ignore the amp gauge.

Sean


Gary Pavlovich wrote:
> 
> Sean,
> 
> Thank you for your info. on the electrical mods.
> Question; when you say, "Be warned, however, that if using
> an alternator above 60-70 amps, you really should bypass this system."  
> is your mod OK with the higher 60-70 amp output or are you referring to 
> the stock Mopar setup being weak with a 60-70 amp output?


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