MAD electrical upgrade question??

I guess if you can, reach up and disconnect the wires from the ammeter. But... you may not have enough length/room to do what you need to do, space is pretty limited back there and you most definitely do not want to half *** splicing those two wires together. They need to be joined with a butt connector, soldered and heat shrink tubed, not just twisted together and taped.

All I am saying is that if you don't want to pull the cluster then at least make sure you can splice the wires competently with it in place. If not, then it's really not a big deal to pull it out.

You could also do what Rob suggested and put the charge wire to the relay but the other part of the equation is the ammeter wire connection at the bulkhead. The connections inside can corrode over time causing excess resistance which is why the ammeter can melt.

If you don't splice the wires behind the gauge, at least pull the ammeter wires out of the connector, clean them if necessary, pack with dielectric grease and re-connect making sure they are tight.