Another Ammeter bypass question:

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Your the self proclaimed 20 year aerospace welder right?
Wheres your videos? Or "how to" article?

Yeah I had forgotten about that. Someone who "knows" as much about welding as he "does" HAS to know some basic electronics. "I just GUESS" he just gave hisself away "THERE", didn't he? LMAOROTF.
 
To get back to the weaknesses in the system... IMHO one of the big problems that leads to problems in the installation of a high amp alternator feeding new electronic equipment that create loads that were never there stock. The original alternator in a 70 Dart was (I think) 34 amps. If you had AC then a "heavy duty" 45 amp unit was used. Chrysler recognized the issue with the weak connection at the bulkhead when they built fleet vehicles like taxi cabs and police cars and put a grommet in the firewall and routed the main power wires there when they used those "really big" 56 amp alternators for cars that did lots of idling and had lots of extra equipment added - 2 way radios, sirens and lights, fare meters, etc. Now go check what the amperage on a new alternator is... 60, 80 100 amps is common. If you wire the add ons with separate fused sources from a battery source not under the dash, life is good.

I wanted a chrome alternator on my show car, found a round back and installed it. When I slowly fried the under dash wiring harness and bulkhead connector, I had the alternator tested - 105 amps! After research here I went looking for a 45 amp alternator, but to get one I had to take an old one to a rebuild shop.
 
Chrysler recognized the issue with the weak connection at the bulkhead when they built fleet vehicles like taxi cabs and police cars and put a grommet in the firewall and routed the main power wires there when they used those "really big" 56 amp alternators .

I've said pretty much this. In the early 70's my 440-6 RR suffered bulkhead connector damage, I think at the time it had a 45 or 50A alternator, I was an amateur radio operator and did have some gear in the car from time to time. It also "just barely started" to damage the ammeter such as shown on the MAD site.
 
Another issue is the crappy charge rate of any factory alternator in this era. If the alternator actually had the required output at idle a lot of the issues may not appear. However that isn't reality.
 
Another issue is the crappy charge rate of any factory alternator in this era. If the alternator actually had the required output at idle a lot of the issues may not appear. However that isn't reality.

LOL Back then we just took it in stride. My first 2-3 cars had a GENERATOR, so even the "crappy Mopars" were a huge improvement. 57 Chevs, a 60 Falcoon along the way, and my 63 Chev SS powerslush I traded the 63 and some coin, with a leaking heater core, to a guy who had bought his kid a used 69 383 RR 4 speed, and wanted to slow him down

Me'n the 63 stopped by Treasure Island, May of 70 on the way from home up north, down to Miramar, where I'd be for 4 years This was at the old ham radio club, and that was a hell of a place, back then

K6NCG - Treasure Island Radio Amateur Club 1969-1970

Hams_011.jpg
 
LOL Back then we just took it in stride. My first 2-3 cars had a GENERATOR, so even the "crappy Mopars" were a huge improvement. 57 Chevs, a 60 Falcoon along the way, and my 63 Chev SS powerslush I traded the 63 and some coin, with a leaking heater core, to a guy who had bought his kid a used 69 383 RR 4 speed, and wanted to slow him down

Me'n the 63 stopped by Treasure Island, May of 70 on the way from home up north, down to Miramar, where I'd be for 4 years This was at the old ham radio club, and that was a hell of a place, back then

K6NCG - Treasure Island Radio Amateur Club 1969-1970

View attachment 1715426234

Cool picture, Del. Always liked that one. You look happy.
 
As it goes, I consider the direct line from battery to alternator stud to be a must have. Unless you like watching your car burn from the side of the highway. Use a fusible link appropriately sized, no how to needed beyond googling the proper size fusible link (although I still agonize over the proper wire routing).

It renders the amp meter useless but there's not much discussed here that doesn't do that anyway, and there is no risk of shorting your ammeter studs to the dash frame like I've been known to do, since you don't even fiddle with the instrument cluster.

And it doesn't have to permanently alter ANYTHING. That's why it's on my must have list.
 
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