fluctuating ammeter

On my bulkhead connector, I found the 12-gauge black battery feed wire going to the ignition switch had totally burned out its spade lugs inside the bulkhead connector! I'm surprised the car ran at all. And the 14-gauge red "ignition run" line going from the "run" terminal of the ignition switch back out through the bulkhead connector to the ballast resistor, etc. wasn't much better!

I eliminated those spade lugs by running 12-gauge wires straight through and soldering them on each side. I did the same to the 12-gauge red alternator output wire, even though its spade lugs weren't too bad. It made a huge difference in the way the vehicle starts and runs. It takes a pretty big soldering iron to solder two 12-gauge wires together nicely, though.