The wiring “killer” appears to be when the alternator tries to charge the battery. Has anyone attempted to bypass the ammeter and wired the alternator directly to the battery? Any advice or opinion would be greatly appreciated.
Key here on a '64 with stock electrical items is:
a. not to run the battery down and then charge it off the alternator.
see Charging Battery with Alternator - Warning
b. have a good circuit (minimal voltage drops under load) to the voltage regulator so it senses system voltage correctly.
I would suggest adding a fusible link (as was done in '65) to help prevent the rare but not unheard of short to ground from burning up big wire.
I would also suggest headlight relay system if you drive at night, especially using any headlamp other than the original 6012 40 Watt lamps. The relay redirects 9-11 amps from the bulkhead connection as well as the relatively long headlight circuit that only has 18 gage wires in the final legs.
You can do a "wire around" directly from the alternator to the battery positive. I recommend if doing so to also include a fusible link or maxi-fuse. With two fusible links in parallel it will take longer to break a short, but better than nothing. Also add a voltmeter as the ammeter will only show discharge to main splice, but not battery charging.
